| (a) At or prior to the time a child-placing agency
ceases to function as a child-placing agency, it shall notify the
Texas Department of State Health Services-Vital Statistics Unit, where
its adoption records shall be kept for permanent safekeeping.
(b) The Vital Statistics Unit maintains many records
of closed adoption agencies and is one entity a child-placing agency
may designate to preserve its adoption records. An agency may also
designate another Texas licensed child-placing agency to preserve
its records.
(c) If a child-placing agency designates the Vital
Statistics Unit to house its records, the agency shall assume the
responsibility of shipping the records to a designation specified
by the Vital Statistics Unit. The agency must ensure that the records
are free from insects and rodents, and mildew-free and dry. The records
shall be shipped in sturdy cardboard boxes (no larger than 12 inches
x 15 inches) via an insured carrier.
(1) Each record series shall be alphabetized by the
birth mother's maiden name or the birth mother's name at the time
of relinquishment. The adoptive parents' file and the child's file
shall be placed behind the birth mother's file. Each file shall include
the birth mother's name as a cross-reference. Staples, paper clips
and brackets shall be removed.
(2) The agency must provide two index cards for each
adoption file, one that cross-references the birth mother's name with
the adoptive parents' and adoptee's name, and one cross-referencing
the adoptive parents' names with the birth mother's and adoptee's
name. Each card must include the date of birth of each child and the
child's adoptive name. The information may also be provided electronically
in a format compatible or acceptable to the Vital Statistics Unit's
standards.
(d) If the child-placing agency designates the Vital
Statistics Unit to maintain and preserve its records, a redacted or
de-identified copy of the birth and/or adoption record shall be prepared
by the Vital Statistics Unit for a qualified requestor under the Texas
Family Code, §162.018, Access to Information. Charges for copies
shall be as allowed by the Open Records Act, Government Code, Chapter
552.
(e) If a birth relative provides post-adoption medical
or social information to the Vital Statistics Unit and the Vital Statistics
Unit houses the records of the closed child-placing agency, the Vital
Statistics Unit may place the information with the original child-placing
agency's file. If a birth relative provides post-adoption medical
or social information to the Vital Statistics Unit, the adoption occurred
outside of a licensed child-placing agency, and the Vital Statistics
Unit readily identifies the sealed adoption file, the Vital Statistics
Unit shall place the updated information in the Health, Social, Education
and Genetic History record series in the date received and cross-referenced
in the Vital Statistics Unit's database.
(1) The Vital Statistics Unit shall make a diligent
effort to locate the last known address of the adoptive parents and
attempt to inform them of their right to examine the redacted or de-identified
portion of the record.
(2) Upon request of a qualified requestor under Texas
Family Code, §162.006, Right to Examine Records, the information
will be prepared and redacted or de-identified for release to that
person.
(f) If a child is biologically unrelated to the prospective
adoptive parents and placed outside of a licensed child-placing agency,
the adopting attorney shall provide to the Vital Statistics Unit a
copy of the Health, Social, Education and Genetic History report (HSEGH)
as prescribed by the Family Code. Within a reasonable amount to time,
the Vital Statistics Unit shall provide a certificate to the adopting
attorney acknowledging receipt of the report.
(g) International adoptions. If a child born in a foreign
country is placed with prospective adoptive parent(s) who reside in
this state and the child is being adopted in this state, the adopting
attorney shall file a HSEGH with the Vital Statistics Unit along with
all foreign documents relating to the child's history prior to being
placed for adoption, along with each document's English translation.
If no information is available about the child prior to placement
with its prospective adoptive parent(s), the adopting parents may
state that no other information except for the aforementioned documents
is available concerning the child's background.
(h) The HSEGH report as described in subsections (e)-(g)
of this section shall be legible and ready for microfilming or scanning.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §181.32 adopted to be effective March 4, 1999, 24 TexReg 1618; amended to be effective July 3, 2003, 28 TexReg 4904; amended to be effective July 22, 2004, 29 TexReg 6936; amended to be effective August 11, 2013, 38 TexReg 4896 |
