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Child protection and reporting duties
Summary of the topic
Chapters 261 and 262 of the Family Code are the two halves of child protection. Chapter 261 concerns information: who must report suspected abuse or neglect, how quickly, and to whom. Chapter 262 concerns action: when an officer may take possession of a child without a court order, and the timetable that must follow. Section 261.001 defines abuse and neglect, and it defines a person responsible for a child's care, which includes a parent, a member of the child's family or household, and school or child-care personnel. That definition decides whether a report goes to the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Section 261.101(a) requires a person with reasonable cause to believe that a child has been adversely affected by abuse or neglect to make a report immediately. A professional, meaning a licensed or certified person who has direct contact with children in the normal course of duties, must report not later than the 48th hour after first having reasonable cause to believe the child has been or may be abused or neglected, and may not delegate the duty. The duty applies even to persons whose communications are otherwise privileged. Section 261.103 allows a report to a law enforcement agency or to the department, but a report involving a person responsible for the child's care must go to the department. Section 261.109 makes a knowing failure to report a Class A misdemeanor, and section 261.107 makes a knowingly false report a state jail felony. Section 261.106 gives immunity from civil and criminal liability to a person who reports in good faith.
The department leads the investigation under section 261.301, but article 2A.057 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires a peace officer to investigate jointly a highest-priority report of an immediate risk of physical or sexual abuse, and to respond with the department investigator within 24 hours. Section 261.302 governs how a child is interviewed, including the recording of interviews.
Section 262.104 allows an officer to take possession of a child without a court order only where there is no time to obtain one, and only on facts that would lead a person of ordinary prudence and caution to believe that there is an immediate danger to the child's physical health or safety, or that the child has been the victim of sexual abuse or trafficking. Sections 262.105 to 262.109 then require a suit to be filed and an initial hearing to be held no later than the first business day after the child was taken, with written notice to each parent.
Provisions this topic covers
- Tex. Family Code chs. 261 and 262
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