(a) The Department of Family and Protective Services
(DFPS) maintains records relating to our general administrative functions,
including personnel records, financial records, policy and procedure
manuals, and agency performance measurements. These records, referred
to as "Administrative Records," are generally available to the public
and may be requested under the Texas Public Information Act in Chapter
552, Texas Government Code.
(b) DFPS also maintains confidential records on clients
DFPS is or was involved with, including records developed in an abuse
and neglect investigation and/or in providing services as the result
of an investigation, in order to meet state and federal accountability
requirements, as applicable. These records, referred to as "Case Records,"
are generally not available to the public, although they may be available
to individuals, government agencies, and others, as provided by state
and federal laws and DFPS rules. Rules concerning confidential case
records specific to each DFPS program can be found in Chapters 700,
705, and 707 of this part.
(c) A complete listing of the types of records maintained
by DFPS may be found in the DFPS Records Retention Schedule. The Schedule
can be found on DFPS's public website.
|