With the passing of two bills set to take effect September 1st, 2023, Texas is trying to reign in the child welfare system. The first bill, HB 63, amends section 261.104 of the Texas Family Code to ban anonymous reporting of child abuse and neglect in the state of Texas and replace it with a confidential reporting only model. The second, HB 730, amends section 261.301 of the Texas Family Code to strengthens the rights of parents under active investigation by Child Protective Services (CPS) in Texas- known locally as the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services (DFPS).
As of the publication of this article, all states and Washington, D.C. allow both confidential and anonymous reports of child abuse and neglect. Some states do not have anonymous reporting codified into law, but still allow it. In 2021, Tennessee introduced a similar bill to ban anonymous reporting of child abuse and neglect, but it failed to pass; New York State has a bill banning anonymous reporting that is currently in limbo, but it is not expected to pass. This makes Texas the first state in the country to ban anonymous reporting and move to a confidential reporting model exclusively. As only a small minority of reports to child abuse hotlines are made anonymously and an even smaller percentage of those cases are substantiated, the effect it is expected to have on reports of legitimate allegations of child abuse and neglect is expected to be minimal. If anything, this is expected to reduce intentionally false reports (those that are made in bad faith) to the child maltreatment hotline in Texas.
HB 730 is a broader piece of legislation. Specifically, it requires Texas DFPS to provide written notification of the investigation to all alleged subjects. This written notification includes a summary of the allegations against them and an overview of the investigatory process. It also requires DFPS to advise alleged subjects of their rights, including the right to retain and confer with counsel, to refuse DFPS entry into the home without a court order and refuse requests to submit to drug tests without a court order.
HB 730 also limits DFPS’ ability to change a determination after a case has been closed or reopen a case. Per HB 730, DFPS cannot change the determination or reopen a case for at least 60 days after it is closed. The idea is that once a case is closed, it needs to stay closed. If there are additional concerns that arise in the future, a new report can be made and a subsequent case can be opened at that time. In addition, HB 730 tackles the issue of hidden foster care. Hidden foster care is the term given to temporary out-of-home placement made without a court order- often in response to an implied threat that CPS may seek a court order if the placement isn’t agreed to. This is often a kinship placement with no accountability for when a child may return home. With HB 730, such placements are limited to a maximum duration of 90 days before a court order is required.
Such significant moves won’t change much in the child welfare system, though- even in Texas. HB 63 is one advocates across the country have been wanting for a long time, but since anonymous reports are such a small percentage of the reports made, the scale of any positive effect will be small; at the same time, any case of child abuse or neglect that wasn’t reported and resulted in a death could sway the political winds in the opposite direction fairly quickly.
Despite HB 730 informing parents of their right to confer with legal counsel, the affordability of legal counsel will remain an issue for many families. If families jump to outright refusal to cooperate with DFPS entirely, this may force DFPS to rely even more heavily on court orders- thus slowing the courts down even more and reducing the discretion families have. HB 730, in its attempt to reduce Hidden Foster Care, may actually force DFPS to place more children in formal foster care with a court order, so it has the potential to backfire. It remains to be seen how much scrutiny judges in Texas will show DFPS when presented with such orders after the 90 day limit. Where HB 730 may be a strong benefit to parents in Texas is that it imposes additional procedural requirements on CPS investigators that, if not adhered to, could result in a successful expungement of allegations upon administrative review. Regardless, these are small wins for parental rights and they should be celebrated.
Texas should be commended for passing such important legislation- even if it is a small step in the right direction than it’s made out to be. Whether other states will follow suit and if so, how quickly remains to be seen, but it only takes one state to set precedent. Hopefully, this will start a trend and we can look forward to more bills like this passing across the country in the near future. If you need help preparing for or navigating a CPS case in Texas or anywhere else in the United States, UrgentAssist by Heartwork Defense can help you preserve your rights and protect your family.