By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Reform legislation providing a "systematic change" in protective services agencies in Texas cleared its first hurdle Wednesday as Sen. Jane Nelson's (R-Lewisville) SB 6 was passed to third reading on the Senate floor.
Nelson's "Protection Act for Children and Adults" was amended on the floor and will now come up for third reading on Thursday.
In describing her bill, Nelson said that during the interim following the 78th Legislature, state officials' eyes were opened to the problems in the state's protective service agencies that she said could only be described as "horrifying."
She said Texas seniors were suffering in "deplorable conditions," Texas children previously in the system were dying and foster children were being administered psychotropic drugs without proper medical authority. Several of those instances were highly publicized by Texas news media, said Nelson, and each case suggested the "systematic breakdown" in the state's protective services.
The Republican senator and chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee said review of Child Protective Services (CPS) and Adult Protective Services (APS) revealed that CPS failed to take appropriate action in 68 percent of its cases and 66 percent of APS cases also did not have appropriate action. "It was clear a crisis had emerged," said Nelson.
The committee chair said as a result, Gov. Rick Perry ordered a review at the agency level and assigned the issues as an emergency issue when the 79th Legislature convened. She said the HHS Committee spent "literally every one" of its meetings since the start of the session discussing the protective services problems. She said the committee heard from a variety of witnesses - caseworkers, law enforcement officials, families, social workers, child advocates and others - and that more than 60 amendments to the bill were discussed in the committee before the committee substitute was passed out of the committee.
She said the committee substitute on the Senate floor today is the committee's "best attempt" to put these agencies in the "best possible position to respond to life-or-death situations."
The bill provides for "much-needed reforms," said Nelson. She said it will transform CPS by: strengthening investigations; reducing caseloads; increasing collaboration and cooperation between CPS and law enforcement; stemming the increase in child abuse reports; decreasing the number of children entering foster care; ensuring the health and safety of foster children; improving licensing for foster families; and ensuring better contract management.
She said the bill requires a joint investment between law enforcement and CPS on criminal child abuse cases and requires co-location of law enforcement and CPS workers when feasible, especially at child advocacy centers. The bill also makes it a felony to make a malicious false report, provides for alternative community response and utilizes private, non-profit organizations to have input regarding foster home management and adoption issues.
The APS system will be transformed, said Nelson, by: improving investigations; improving service delivery; ensuring a well-trained workforce; retaining experienced staff; increasing accountability; and reforming guardianship services.
The bill would establish an APS investigator position, said the senator, and direct the development and scrutiny of a risk assessment tool, allow counties to opt-out and instead provide local services and establish a Guardianship Alliance to oversee actions.
"Each of you has an image of a child or an adult in your district who has suffered tragically over the past year," said Nelson. "The reason we're working to move this legislation so quickly is because there are seniors and children in danger as we speak."
Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) said he could not think of a single concern related to CPS and APS that "hasn't been addressed by this bill or discussed by this committee," adding that some provisions of the bill "should have been done a long time ago." He said he supports kinship care as alternative to foster care and that allows the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to offer monetary support to kinship care placements. He said he wonders if that will be enough "to help ensure that extended families will get the financial and social support they need to serve as caregivers."
Some of the debate on the bill centered around the level of privatization required in the bill. Nelson said the level of privatization in the bill was chosen because the committee wanted to focus the agencies on investigations.
Questioning the difference in services under case management as opposed to cases in the new outcome-based system on substitute care services, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) questioned what is case management and what are substitute care services.
"Foster home management is substitute care," responded Nelson, who said she believes that, "Since the department is legally responsible for the child, the department should be responsible for decision-making. So in substitute care, we don't contract substitute care services."
Bringing up concerns of county officials, Sen. Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) said, "Many counties have come forward and what they don't want is an unfunded mandate."
Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) addresses his concerns regarding child abuse "allegations." He said if there is an allegation that a child has been abused in such a way that it is a felony in the Penal Code, the police should respond. He said that portion of the bill is "worded so broadly" that is creates "fairly significant loopholes." He said if an offense alleged is a felony, it should require a joint investigation between law enforcement and CPS. He added an amendment to the bill that would provide someone accused of abuse but found not to have committed abuse or neglect, the ability to have their name removed from the Texas Department of Public Safety database.
Nelson said she would not move final passage of the bill until Thursday, so all members can look over the amendments that were passed.