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Texas Register

TITLE 40	SOCIAL SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE
PART 19	DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES
CHAPTER 707	CHILD PROTECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS
SUBCHAPTER A	INVESTIGATIONS
DIVISION 1	INTAKE, INVESTIGATION AND ASSESSMENT
RULE §707.477	When is a person who is responsible for a child's care, custody, or welfare considered an alleged perpetrator of emotional abuse, physical abuse, or neglectful supervision of a child in an investigation involving domestic violence?
ISSUE	03/06/2020
ACTION	Proposed

Preamble

Texas Admin Code Rule

(a)If you are a victim of domestic violence, we will not make a finding of abuse or neglect against you solely because the domestic violence was committed in close physical proximity to the child. If the child is at risk of bodily injury or substantial risk of physical, mental, or emotional harm due solely to the violence committed against you, we will make a finding against you for failing to remove the child from that risk of harm only if, after considering the totality of the circumstances, we determine:

(1)You failed to take advantage of services or supports that would have protected the child;

(2)The services or supports were known to you; and

(3)The services or supports were reasonably available to you in the past or made available during the course of the investigation.

(b)If you are a perpetrator of domestic violence we will make a finding of abuse or neglect against you if you engage in conduct that is described by any of the definitions of abuse or neglect in this division. In particular, we will make a finding of neglectful supervision if you commit the act in such close physical proximity to the child that the child's location and the level of violence reasonably places the child at risk of bodily injury or substantial risk of immediate harm.

The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority to adopt.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on February 21, 2020

TRD-202000743

Audrey Carmical

General Counsel

Department of Family and Protective Services

Earliest possible date of adoption: April 5, 2020

For further information, please call: (512) 438-3805

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