Gov. Abbott signs ‘landmark’ child welfare bills

Gov. Greg Abbott signed four child welfare bills into law on Wednesday, measures that aim to recalibrate how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services works with endangered children across the state.

The bill signing comes just two days after the end of a legislative session that began in January amid headlines describing a state child welfare system stretched thin, with children sleeping in state offices and, in some cases, dying on the state’s watch.

Since October, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus have pressured both the department and legislators to make long-awaited changes to how the state helps children recover from abuse and find better living situations.

Abbott said during the 20-minute ceremony that legislators came in knowing the state needed “a true reform from top to bottom” and made that happen.

“With this landmark legislation, with the direction and pathway we’re now on, I expect the Texas Child Protective Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to strive for, achieve and to accomplish No. 1 ranking status in the United States of America as it concerns taking care of our children,” Abbott said during the signing ceremony at the Department of Family and Protective Services headquarters.

During the ceremony, the governor signed:

▪ House Bill 4, which allocates about $350 a month to families caring for abused and neglected children who are related to them.

▪ House Bill 5, which makes the department a standalone agency outside of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

▪ House Bill 7, which changes how courts work with the state’s child welfare agency.

▪ Senate Bill 11, which lets the state create a “community-based care” model, contracting with nonprofits to oversee children in foster care and adoptive homes and a relative’s home. Abbott named the state’s child welfare crisis as one of four emergency items during his State of the State address in January and warned legislators that the issue would “haunt” them if did not make the most of their 20 weeks at the Capitol.

All four bills Abbott signed touch on various areas of the child welfare system, but HB 5 and SB 11 in particular make substantial changes to how the department operates.

Under HB 5, the department would get full authority on issues like adoption placements, child abuse or neglect investigations, parental education programs, medical services for child abuse victims and protective services for people living with disabilities and the elderly. However, department officials would still share responsibility with the commission on creating medical service plans for children in the system and what information should go into a child’s medical records, also known as a child’s “health passport.”

The bill also re-establishes the Family and Protective Services Council to help make rules and policies for the department. Proponents have said the bill will allow the department to make decisions on their own faster and may help deter future crises.

HB 7 focuses more on how the department and the courts work together with families facing abuse allegations. The legislation directs the department to only remove children from their homes over allegations of violence or abuse, not for reasons like a parent having a low-income or being charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor.

The legislation also gives parents more access to the child welfare agency’s evidence about allegations against them; prevents courts from terminating parent-child relationships without evidence; and stop courts from ordering medical or mental health treatment for a child before consulting a health care professional.

Under HB 4, kinship care families would receive monthly payments to help them with ongoing costs of caring for young relatives who have been abused. Families who have had child relatives placed with them by the state have often expressed a willingness to help but lacked the financial resources to do so.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Gov. Abbott signs ‘landmark’ child welfare bills."