Your conflict of interest policies must include:
(1) A statement that child placement staff and child
placement management staff will not conduct, review, or approve foster
home screenings, adoptive home screenings, or post-placement adoptive
reports if there is a conflict of interest or bias with the family
or the child. For example, there would be a conflict of interest if
the staff is related to or has a personal relationship with the family
or the child;
(2) A statement that it is a conflict of interest for
your agency to verify as a foster parent or approve as an adoptive
parent any of the following persons or relatives of any of the following
persons: any current owner, member of the governing body, executive
director, or any other employee or contract service provider of your
agency;
(3) A code of conduct on the relationship between your
agency's owners (including members of the governing body, if applicable),
employees, contract service providers, children in placement, children's
families, and prospective and current foster and adoptive parents,
including required parameters for entering into independent financial
relationships or transactions;
(4) For corporations or other types of business entities,
a statement that the majority of the voting members of the governing
body must consist of persons who do not have a conflict of interest
that would potentially interfere with objective decision making. Persons
who have such a conflict of interest include the following:
(A) Family members of:
(i) An officer of the governing body;
(ii) The administrator or executive director of the
child-placing agency; or
(iii) Any person with a controlling interest in the
entity's stock; or
(B) If the governing body is a non-profit entity, persons
who benefit financially from the agency, including but not limited
to persons employed by or working at the agency, paid consultants,
subcontractors, or vendors; and
(5) For adoptions, you may state whether the person
whom you evaluated appears to be suitable for adoption, even if there
are other individuals requesting adoption. If you have not evaluated
parties of a disputed case, you must refrain from making an adoption
or custody recommendation, unless otherwise directed by the court.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §749.107 adopted to be effective January 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 9944; transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909 |
