Handbook Revision, November 1, 2022

These revisions of the Child Protective Services Handbook were published on November 1, 2022.

On September 1, 2017, the investigations branch of CPS became a separate division named Child Protective Investigations (CPI). Until CPI develops its own policy handbook, investigation policies and procedures will remain in the CPS Handbook.

See:

Child Protective Services Revisions

Child Protective Investigations Revisions

Child Protective Services Revisions

U Visa Certification (PATS 13752)

This policy revision clarifies how DFPS responds to requests for certification of a U visa.

See:

6733 U Visa Certification Requests

Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (PATS 13742)

Added additional clarifying language in TARE policy to mirror best practice language in the TARE resource guide and manual. Added section on responding to inquiries in the TARE system and time frames for inquiry response both through TARE and outside inquiry sources. All inquiries must be documented in Adoption Inquiry Contact.

See:

6980 Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (TARE)

6981 Community Agencies That Support Child-Specific Recruitment

6982 TARE Adoption Recruitment Efforts

6982.1 Pre-TARE Regional Recruitment Efforts

6982.11 Pre-Recruitment Discussion with the Current Foster Parents

6982.12 Examples of Regional Recruitment Efforts

6982.2 National Recruitment Efforts

6983 Time Frames for Registering Children on TARE

6984 Court Orders Related to Adoption Recruitment

6984.1 Court-Ordered Recruitment for a Legal Risk Placement

6984.2 Court Orders to Cease or Suspend Recruitment Efforts

6984.3 Court Orders for Placement Only in Texas

6984.4 Challenge of Termination of Parental Rights (TPR)

6985 Maintaining TARE Registrations

6985.1 Child’s Caseworker Responsibilities

6985.2 Discontinuing TARE Registrations

6986 TARE Inquiries

6986.1 Families That Inquire Outside of the TARE System

6986.2 Inquiry Status in TARE System

Child Protective Investigations Revisions

Changes to the Priority Closure Page in IMPACT (PATS 13432)

DFPS is standardizing the reasons for PNing a case across multiple stages. This revision of policy primarily updates the labels used for the PN closure reasons to make them consistent between policy and in IMPACT. The policy has been updated to remove the PN closure reason for too vague or general. If closing the intake as the responsibility of another agency, the supervisor must document which agency is responsible for handling the report and, if available, provide a reference number for the new report.

See:

2155 Changing the Priority of a Report About Abuse or Neglect

2156 Closing Investigation Reports of Abuse or Neglect Using Priority None (PN) Closure Codes Without Assignment for Investigation

2156.1 2156.2 Closing Reports Priority None (PN) without Assignment That Involve Children in Care

2156.2 2156.1 Closing Reports Priority None (PN) That Involve a Child Fatality Reports Without Assignment

2156.3 Closing Reports Using Priority None (PN) Closure Codes

2156.4 2156.3 Required Tasks Before Closing Report Using Priority None (PN) without Assignment

2156.5 2156.4 Reports of Abuse or Neglect That Require Program Director Approval for Closure

2156.6 2156.5 Reports of Abuse or Neglect That Require Program Administrator Approval for Closure

Providing Assistance to TJJD (PATS 13472)

This policy revision is part of DFPS updating its Memorandum of Understanding with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). DFPS proposes TJJD change its current process regarding the placement of non-CPS youth, by having its state office review the request before sending it to Statewide Intake and the subsequent steps.

See:

2354 Providing Assistance to Referrals from TJJD about Non-CPS Youth

Case Merging (PATS 13700)

This handbook revision updates policy on merging cases in the IMPACT database.

See:

2157 Receiving a New Report Intake During an Open Investigation of Abuse or Neglect

2157.1 Determining Whether Face-to-Face Contact Is Required

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2260 Adding to or Merging an Additional Information to an Open Investigation

Diligent Search for Relative or Fictive Kin (PATS 13722)

This policy revision does the following:

  • Adds a judge’s verbal order as an acceptable reason for requesting a diligent search on the parents and their relatives or fictive kin.
  • Adds a time frame for when the caseworker must share results of the search.

See:

3222 Diligent Search for Possible Relative or Fictive Kin Placement

Recommended Actions at Closure (PATS 13756)

This policy is being created to aid CPI staff in recommending actions at closure for investigations in IMPACT.

See:

2294 Investigation Recommended Actions at Closure

Items Retained in the External Record (PATS 13860)

This policy update addresses what to do when DFPS is granted view-only access to digital audio and video recordings by an external party. Revision made to items retained in the external record (audio and video) of the closing case.

See:

1462.1 Unit Staff Responsibilities

1462.2 Items Retained in the External Record