Texas Administrative Code › Title 40 - SOCIAL SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE › Part 19 - DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES › Chapter 707 - CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS › Subchapter C - CHILD CARE INVESTIGATIONS › Division 5 - ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND EXPLOITATION › Section 707.801 - What is neglect?

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Neglect is
					 defined in Texas Family Code (TFC) §261.001 as an act or failure to act by
					 a person responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare evidencing the
					 person's blatant disregard for the consequences of the act or failure to act
					 that results in harm to the child or that creates an immediate danger to the
					 child's physical health or safety. Neglect for purposes of an investigation in
					 a child care operation is further defined in TFC §261.001(4)(A)(iv) as a
					 negligent act or omission by an employee, volunteer, or other individual
					 working under the auspices of a facility or program, including failure to
					 comply with an individual treatment plan, plan of care, or individualized
					 services plan that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or physical
					 injury to, or the death of, a child served by the facility or program as
					 further described by rule or policy.
(b) In this section, the following terms have
					 the following meanings:
(1) "Negligent act or
					 omission" means a breach of duty by an employee, volunteer, or other individual
					 working under the auspices of a facility or program that causes or may cause
					 substantial emotional harm or substantial physical injury to a child and
					 includes the following:
(A) Failure to take
					 an action that a reasonable member of that profession, reasonable caregiver, or
					 reasonable person should take in the same situation;
(B) Taking an action that a reasonable member
					 of that profession, reasonable caregiver, or reasonable person should not take
					 in the same situation;
(C) Placing
					 a child in or failing to remove him from a situation that a reasonable member
					 of that profession, reasonable caregiver, or reasonable person would realize
					 requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical
					 condition, or mental abilities;
(D)
					 Leaving a child in a situation where a reasonable member of that profession,
					 reasonable caregiver, or reasonable person would expect the child to be exposed
					 to substantial emotional harm or substantial physical injury without arranging
					 for necessary care for the child;
(E) Failure to seek, to obtain, or to follow
					 through with medical care for a child;
(F) Failure to provide a child with food,
					 clothing, and shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the
					 child;
(G) Placing a child in or
					 failing to remove the child from a situation in which a reasonable member of
					 that profession, reasonable caregiver, or reasonable person should know exposes
					 the child to immediate danger of sexual conduct;
(H) Causing, expressly permitting, or
					 encouraging a child to use alcohol;
(I) Using alcohol in a manner or to the
					 extent that the use results in substantial emotional harm or physical injury to
					 a child;
(J) A violation or
					 deficiency of any law, rule, or minimum standard that causes substantial
					 emotional harm or physical injury to a child;
(K) Repeated (two or more) violations of any
					 law, rule, or minimum standard, after notice and an opportunity to correct the
					 violation, that may cause substantial emotional harm or physical injury to a
					 child;
(L) Failure to comply with
					 an individual treatment plan, plan of service, or individualized service plan
					 that causes or may cause substantial emotional harm or physical injury to a
					 child; and
(M) Repeated failures
					 (two or more) to comply with an individual treatment plan, plan of service, or
					 individualized service plan, after notice and an opportunity to correct the
					 failure, that may cause substantial emotional harm or physical injury to a
					 child.