Texas Administrative Code › Title 40 - SOCIAL SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE › Part 19 - DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Chapter 700 - CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Subchapter B - CONFIDENTIALITY AND RELEASE OF RECORDS › Section 700.203 - Access to Confidential Information Maintained by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) DFPS may release case record information
				  made confidential under §
										261.201(a)
				  of the Texas Family Code to any person or entity authorized to receive
				  confidential abuse or neglect information under state or federal law, including
				  the following listed persons or entities:
(1)
				  DFPS staff, including authorized volunteers, as necessary to perform their
				  assigned duties;
(2) a properly
				  constituted authority, and its multi-disciplinary team members, legally
				  authorized to handle or assist in the investigation, prosecution, or resolution
				  of cases of suspected child abuse or neglect or to provide services to the
				  child or the child's family, including children's advocacy centers, child
				  fatality review teams, citizen review teams, Disability Rights Texas, county
				  child welfare boards, and any authority mandated under another state's law to
				  investigate allegations of child abuse or neglect;
(3) local, state, or federal law enforcement
				  officials for the purpose of investigating allegations of:
(A) child abuse or neglect, including any
				  crime that contains an element that would meet the definition of child abuse or
				  neglect;
(B) false or malicious
				  reporting of alleged child abuse or neglect; or
(C) failure to report child abuse or
				  neglect;
(4) a physician
				  who has before him a child who the physician reasonably suspects may be the
				  victim of child abuse or neglect and the physician requires this information to
				  provide a diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment for the child;
(5) a local, state, or federal government
				  official, to the extent permitted under federal law or when deemed necessary
				  for the protection and care of a child;
(6) a grand jury;
(7) an attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem,
				  or court appointed special advocate of an alleged victim of child abuse and
				  neglect;
(8) a court of competent
				  jurisdiction in a criminal or civil case arising out of an investigation of
				  child abuse and neglect;
(9) an
				  attorney of DFPS, the attorney general of the state, or a county attorney or
				  district attorney, when such attorney represents the state in a proceeding
				  arising out of an investigation of child abuse or neglect or in a proceeding to
				  collect child support for a child in the temporary or permanent managing
				  conservatorship of DFPS;
(10) a
				  member of the state legislature, to the extent permitted under federal law,
				  when necessary to carry out that member's official duties;
(11) the person authorized by the court or
				  designated to give medical consent or make educational decisions on the child's
				  behalf; and
(12) any other person
				  or entity responsible for the protection, diagnosis, care, treatment,
				  supervision or education of a child when, in the discretion of DFPS, such
				  information is necessary to properly meet that child's needs.