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Abandonment: Abandonment refers to a parent, guardian, or managing or possessory conservator of a child leaving the child in a situation where the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of physical or mental harm. In such cases, the caregiver leaves without arranging the necessary care for the child, with no intent to return.
Active Parental Child Safety Placement (PCSP): A parental child safety placement is a temporary out-of-home placement of a child with a caregiver that is made by a parent or other person with whom the child resides in accordance with a written agreement approved by DFPS that ensures the safety of the child.
Administrative Closure: An investigation can be administratively closed if all allegations meet at least one of the following criteria:
- CPI does not have the authority to investigate the allegation.
- The allegation was already investigated and assigned a disposition.
- The allegation does not meet the definition of abuse or neglect.
- The allegation was based on an anonymous report and there is no evidence corroborating the allegation.
- The caseworker gathered sufficient, credible information refuting that the alleged abuse or neglect occurred or is at risk of occurring.
Adoption Consummated: An outcome type when a child is no longer the responsibility of DFPS. A completed adoption is where court has ordered all parental rights terminated and the order creates a parent-child relationship between the adoptive parent and the child for all purposes, including granting legal custody to the adoptive parent(s).
Allegation Type: The type of abuse or neglect that is being alleged. Categories of abuse and neglects include: Physical Abuse; Sexual Abuse; Emotional Abuse; Abandonment; Medical Neglect; Physical Neglect; Neglectful supervision; Refusal to Accept Parental Responsibilities; Forced or Coerced Marriage; Sex Trafficking; Labor Trafficking.
Alleged Victim: Child Protective Investigations (CPI) defines an alleged victim (VC) as a person younger than age 18 who meets all the following criteria:
- Is not, and has not been, married.
- Is not legally emancipated.
- Is alleged to have been abused or neglected.
Alternate Response (AR): Alternative Response (AR) is a different way to respond to reports of abuse/neglect. AR allows for a more flexible, family engaging approach while still focusing on the safety of the children. AR allows screened-in P2 reports where there is no open case and all alleged victims are 6 or older to be diverted from a traditional investigation and serviced through an alternative family centered assessment. AR cases differ from traditional investigations cases in that there will be no substantiation of allegations, no entry of perpetrators into the Central Registry (a repository for reports of child abuse and neglect), and there will be a heightened focus on guiding the family to plan for safety in a way that works for them and therefore sustains the safety.
AR criteria also incluses that the family does not have an open investigation or alternative response case, and is not receiving services through DFPS. 40 TAC §707.489(b)(1)
Alternative Family: Not Recorded/Not Approved: Permanency Goal sub category indicating the goal is to increase the possibility of the child living with another family where the outcome goal was not recorded or approved.
Alternative Family: Relative/Kinship Adoption: Permanency Goal sub category indicating the goal is to increase the possibility of the child living with a relative/kinship family whose goal is adoption.
Alternative Family: Relative/Kinship Adoption, with Conservatorship: Permanency Goal sub category indicating the goal is to increase the possibility of the child living with a relative/kinship family whose goal is conservatorship/legal custody without adoption.
Alternative Family: Unrelated Adoption: Permanency Goal sub category indicating the goal is to increase the possibility of the child living with an unrelated family whose goal is adoption.
Alternative Family: Unrelated Conservatorship: Permanency Goal sub category indicating the goal is to increase the possibility of the child living with an unrelated family whose goal is conservatorship/legal custody without adoption.
APPLA: Community Care: Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) Permanency Goal sub category. DFPS is awarded permanent custody of a youth with an intellectual or developmental disability. The youth lives in a setting other than a family setting, such as an HCS home, or an institutional setting. When the youth reaches adulthood, a legal guardian will be needed to look after the youth’s well-being.
APPLA: Foster Family DFPS Conservatorship: Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) Permanency Goal sub category. DFPS is awarded permanent custody of the child. The child lives in a foster home until he or she reaches adulthood.
APPLA: Independent Living: Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) Permanency Goal sub category. DFPS is awarded permanent custody of the youth. The youth lives in a setting other than a family setting, such as a foster group home, a residential treatment setting, or other institutional setting until he or she is age 18 and exits to an independent living situation.
APPLA: Other Family DFPS Conservatorship: Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) Permanency Goal sub category. DFPS is awarded permanent custody of the child. The child lives in the least restrictive and most family-like setting possible (such as with fictive kin or a relative).
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Care, Custody and Control: A legal status where a child has been removed due to exigent circumstances, but no hearing has been held and no written court order has been obtained.
Child Protective Investigations (CPI): Child Protective Investigations (CPI) examines reports of child abuse or neglect to determine if any child in the family has been abused or neglected. Investigators decide if there are any threats to the safety of all children in the home. If so, they determine whether the parents are willing and able to adequately manage those threats to keep children safe. If DFPS decides that children are not safe, the investigator starts protective services.
Children without Placement (CWOP): A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category. Children without Placement (CWOP). If a child or youth in DFPS conservatorship does not have a placement, the child or youth must, as a last resort, stay in a hotel or other location supervised by CPI or CPS staff. Under no circumstances may the child or youth temporarily stay overnight in a DFPS office.
Completed Investigation: Any non-AR investigation that is not administratively closed or merged into another stage.
Conservatorship: A court ordered relationship between a child and the department naming the department managing conservator. here are two basic conservatorships in the context of DFPS:
- Temporary Managing Conservatorship (TMC) a court-ordered, short-term legal relationship giving the agency temporary custody, care, and control of a child while parental rights remain intact pending a final court decision. Texas Family Code, Title 5, Subtitle E, Chapter 262
- Permanent Managing Conservatorship (PMC) in the Texas DFPS Handbook is a final court-ordered legal relationship establishing custody and responsibility for a child, which can be granted to DFPS, a relative, or another suitable individual either with parental rights intact or terminated. Texas Family Code, Title 5, Subtitle E, Chapter 263
Custody Given to Relatives: An outcome type when a child is no longer the responsibility of DFPS. A court must grant the relative Permanent Managing Conservatorship (PMC) of the child. The relative is legal responsible for the child without adopting the child. You might want to use this reference:
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DFPS and Private Adoptive Homes: Foster homes verified or approved by a Child Placing Agency (CPA) and that are the foster parents' primary residence and provide basic care for 6 or fewer children up to age 17. However, I do not understand the "private" adoptive homes term and of course with any adoptive home the primary residence would be the adoptive parents' home.
Disposition (Investigation): All allegations in a Completed Investigation are given a disposition. Combinations of allegation dispositions result in an overall disposition for the investigation of:
- Reason to Believe (RTB)
- Ruled Out (RO)
- Unable to Complete (UTC)
- Unable to Determine (UTD)
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Emancipated: An outcome type when a child is no longer the responsibility of DFPS. An emancipated minor is a person younger than age 18 who has the power and capacity of an adult. This includes a minor who has had the disabilities of minority removed by a court or who, with or without parental consent, has been married. Marriage includes informal marriage. Texas Family Code, Title 2, Subtitle A, Limitations of Minority.
Emergency Shelter: A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category. Residential child-care operation, retitled as a General Residential Operation, that provides child-care for seven or more children or young adults. The care may include treatment services and programmatic services under an emergency admission and a short-term placement agreement.
Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse occurs when one or more of the following is true:
- A child suffers a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable, material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning.
- A person or persons cause or permit a child to be in a situation in which the child suffers a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable, material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning.
- A person or persons currently use a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a manner or to the extent that the use results in mental or emotional injury to a child.
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Family Moved: The investigation cannot be completed, and safety cannot be assessed, as the family cannot be located, or they moved during the investigation.
Family Preservation: Family Preservation is defined in Texas Family Code §262.401 in the context of Community Based Care as:
“Family preservation service” means time-limited, family-focused services, including services subject to the Family First Prevention Services Act (Title VII, Div. E, Pub. L. No. 115-123) and services approved under the Title IV-E state plan provided to the family of a child who is:
- (A) a candidate for foster care to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child and to allow the child to remain safely with the child's family;
- (B) a pregnant or parenting foster youth; or
- (C) a member of a household that is subject to an order rendered under Section 264.203."
Family Refusal: This is an investigation closure reason where one or more of the following types of legal intervention was denied by an attorney representing DFPS or a judge:
- Temporary Managing Conservator
- Court Order to Participate in Services
- Order to Aid an Investigation
2294 Investigation Recommended Actions at Closure.
Family Reunification: A Permanency Goal sub-category. The permanency goal of family reunification identifies a child’s own home as the safe and permanent living situation towards which CPS services are directed. When family reunification is the permanency goal CPS:
- has removed the child from the home;
- will provide services to the child, the child’s family, and the child’s temporary substitute caregiver; and
- has determined that the child’s parents are willing and, after completing services, able to provide the child with a safe living environment.
Family reunification may be with the parent from whom the child was removed or the parent who did not have custody at the time of removal.
Family Uncooperative: The investigation cannot be completed, and safety cannot be assessed, as the parent or legal guardian is unwilling to cooperate with the investigation, and legal intervention (Order to Aid an Investigation) was denied by an attorney representing the DFPS or by the judge.
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GRO Childcare Only: General Residential Operation (GRO). A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category. Residential child-care operation that provides child-care for seven or more children or young adults. The care may include treatment Services and/or programmatic services. 26 TAC§ 748.43(29)
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Home-Like Settings: A Living Arrangement sub category that includes relative or fictive kin, verfied or not verfied, and adoptive placement homes
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Independent Living and Other Substitute Care: A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category. An authorized independent-living arrangement consists of a residential arrangement in which a youth lives independently of a foster caregiver as part of the youth’s planned preparation for adult living. Other Substitute Care are situation that do not fall into the other categories.
Information & Referrals (I&R): Information & Referrals (I&R) are types of reports completed by Statewide Intake specialist. These reports are used in various circumstances including when the reporter provides information that does not require a new intake but is relevant to an open case; the information provided does not meet the criteria for an abuse or neglect intake but there are concerns about a provider or service under the jurisdiction of another state or local agency; when the alleged action falls under the jurisdiction of another state or local agency; or the person is in need of a community program such as a food bank.
Intakes Assigned: An intake is counted as "assigned" when the intake closure reason is "an investigation is planned or started." Intakes with this closure reason are progressed to Investigation (INV) or Alternative Response (AR) stages in IMPACT.
Investigation (INV): The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is required by state law to conduct civil investigations of reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. The objectives of the investigation are to ensure child safety, determine whether abuse or neglect occurred, determine whether children are at risk for abuse or neglect in the future, provide child or family needed safety services and refer the family to services available in the community, if needed.
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JPMC DFPS and Kin/Rel: A legal status subtype where Joint Permanent Managing Conservatorship is awarded to DFPS and relatives or fictive kin.
JPMC DFPS and Parent: A legal status subtype where Joint Permanent Managing Conservatorship is awarded to DFPS and parent(s).
JTMC DFPS and Parent: A legal status subtype where Joint Temporary Managing Conservatorship is awarded to DFPS and parent(s).
JTMC DFPS and Rel/Kin: A legal status subtype where Joint Temporary Managing Conservatorship is awarded to DFPS and relatives or fictive kin.
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Kinship: A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub-category. A subset of substitute care that includes all children in DFPS custody who are living with a legal or blood relative or other individual who has a significant relationship with the child or the child's family known as "fictive kin." This includes both those caregivers that are licensed as foster care parents and those that are not licensed as foster care parents.
Labor Trafficking: Labor trafficking occurs when a person or persons do one or both of the following:
- Knowingly cause, permit, encourage, engage in, or allow a child to be trafficked in a manner punishable as an offense under §20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code.
- Fail to make a reasonable effort to prevent a child from being trafficked in a manner punishable as an offense under §20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code.
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Legal Region: The geographic region under which the court that maintains continuing jurisdiction of a child in DFPS conservatorship is located.
Legal Status: Legal status refers to DFPS’s legal position in relation to a child. It includes temporary or permanent managing conservatorship, as well as the consummation of an adoption, the transition of a child or youth from DFPS conservatorship, and the termination of DFPS legal responsibility for the child or youth.
Living Arrangement: The type of out of home placement a child is living in while in DFPS conservatorship. Types include: Emergency Shelter, Relative/Kinship Foster Home, Non-Relative/Kinship Foster Home, General Residential Operation.
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Medical Neglect: The failure to seek, obtain, or follow through with medical care for a child resulting in or presenting an immediate danger of death, disfigurement, or bodily injury. The failure could also result in an observable and material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of the child.
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Neglectful Supervision: Neglectful supervision is a subset of the statutory definition of neglect and involves the following acts or omissions by a person:
- (1) Placing a child in or failing to remove a child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child's level of maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities and that results in bodily injury or an immediate of harm to the child;
- (2) Placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to an immediate danger of sexual conduct harmful to the child; or
- (3) Placing a child in or failing to remove the child from a situation in which the child would be exposed to acts or omissions that constitute abuse under TFC §261.001(1)(E), (F), (G), (H), or (K) committed against another child.
Non-Relative Foster Homes: A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category. A subset of substitute care that includes all children living in a home that is the primary residence of the foster parent(s) and provides care for six or fewer children or young adults, under the regulation of a child placing agency. These foster care parents are not related to the child nor have a fictive kin relationship with the child.
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Open Substitute Care: An investigation outcome. An investigation closure reason that means that at least one child was removed from a family.
Other Foster Care: A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category for placements that do not fall into the other placement settings.
Other Settings: A DFPS Foster Homes Living Arrangement sub category.
Outcome: The type of exit category for a child when he or she is no longer under the responsibility and care of DFPS. Exit types: Returned home; Permanent Managing Conservatorhship granted to a Relative or Non-Relative; Adoption Consumated; Emanicpation; and transitioning from foster care at age 18 or older.
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Permanency Goal: A permanency goal is one of the outcomes of permanency planning. All children receiving services in conservatorship must have a permanency plan. To achieve permanency as quickly as possible, the caseworkers collaborate with the child’s parents, relatives, caregivers, and others involved with the child’s case to select a permanency goal. Permanency goals are selected in the following order of priority:
- Family Reunification
- Alt. Family: Relative/Kinship Adoption
- Alt. Family: Relative/Kinship Conservatorship
- Alt. Family: Unrelated Adoption
- Alt. Family: Unrelated Conservatorship
- APPLA Family: Foster Family DFPS Conservatorship
- APPLA Family: Other Family DFPS Conservatorship
- APPLA: Independent Living
- APPLA: Community Care
Physical Abuse: Physical abuse occurs when one or more of the following is true:
- A child suffers a physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child, or there is a genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child. Both include an injury that does not logically match the history or explanation given. Both exclude an accident or reasonable discipline by a parent, guardian, or managing or possessory conservator that does not expose the child to a substantial risk of harm.
- A person or persons fail to make a reasonable effort to prevent an action by another person that results in physical injury causing substantial harm to a child.
- A person or persons currently use a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a manner or to the extent that the use results in physical injury to a child.
- A person or persons cause, expressly permit, or encourage a child to use a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
Physical Neglect: The failure to provide a child with the food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the child. This excludes failure caused primarily by financial inability unless relief services had been offered and refused.
PMC/Rts Last Father: PMC/Rts Term (Father) means that as the result of a final trial the court has ordered a relationship between a child and a managing conservator (DFPS) and the court has severed the parental rights of the father and not the mother. In this case the child is not eligible for adoption.
PMC/Rts Not Term: PMC (Permanent Managing Conservatorship) is a court ordered relationship between a child and a managing conservator (DFPS) resulting from a final trial. Rts Not Term means that the parental rights have not been severed by a court as the result of a final trial.
PMC/Rts Term (All): PMC/Rts Term (All) means that as the result of a final trial the court has ordered a relationship between a child and a managing conservator (DFPS) and the court has severed the parental rights of both parents. In this case the child is eligible for adoption.
PMC/Rts Term (Mother): PMC/Rts Term (Mother) means that as the result of a final trial the court has ordered a relationship between a child and a managing conservator (DFPS) and the court has severed the parental rights of the mother and not the father. In this case the child is not eligible for adoption.
Possessory Conservatorship: Possessory Conservatorship can be either temporary or permanent (after a final trial). It is a court ordered relationship between a child and a parent, relative, or fictive kin. DFPS is not named possessory conservator. A possessory conservator has fewer parental rights than a managing conservator and those rights are specifically outlined in the court’s order.
Priority 1 (P1): A Priority 1 (P1) is assigned to an intake when child appears to face an immediate or imminent threat of severe harm or death as a result of abuse or neglect. CPI is required to initiate the investigation within 24 hours of receiving a P1 intake.
Priority 2 (P2): A Priority 2 (P2) is assigned to an intake when the alleged abuse or neglect does not involve severe harm or does not require an immediate response. CPI is required to initiate the investigation within 72 hours of receiving a P2 intake.
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Reason to Believe (RTB): The caseworker assigns the Reason to Believe disposition to an allegation if, based on the preponderance of evidence gathered during the investigation, the caseworker concludes that both of the following are true:
- The alleged abuse or neglect occurred.
- The alleged perpetrator is responsible for it.
Refusal to Accept Parental Responsibility: The person responsible for a child’s care, custody, or welfare fails to permit the child to return home without arranging for the necessary care after the child has been absent for any reason. This includes having been in residential placement or having run away.
Region - Caller: The geographic region from which an individual contacts the DFPS State Wide Intake Texas Abuse Hotline.
Removal: Removal is the general term for a judicial process under the Texas Family Code, Subtitle 4, Chapter 262, that allows DFPS to physically and legally remove a child from their home when there are sufficient facts to support certain criteria, such as there is an immediate danger to the child's phyiscal heath or safety and continuation in the home would be contrary to the child's welfare. If the court agrees approves the removal, DFPS is granted Temporary Managing Conservator.
Residential Treatment Centers: A Substitute Care Placement Living Arrangement sub category. GROs that provide childcare and treatment services to children with emotional disorders. Residential Treatment Centers (RTCs) must always comply with the relevant Minimum Standards as if 100 percent of the children in their care require treatment services for emotional disorders. This includes, but is not limited to, services to individual children, personnel requirements, and child/caregiver ratio requirements.
Returned Home: An outcome type when the court has dismissed DFPS as a conservator and the child is returned home or reunified with the parents.
Ruled Out: The caseworker assigns the Ruled Out disposition to an allegation if the information gathered during the investigation supports a reasonable conclusion that one of the following applies:
- The alleged abuse or neglect did not occur.
- The alleged abuse or neglect occurred, but the alleged perpetrator is not responsible for it. In this situation, the caseworker does one of the following:
- Assigns the Reason to Believe disposition to the allegation for the correct alleged perpetrator.
- Enters a new allegation of abuse or neglect with the disposition of Reason to Believe, and does not name a perpetrator in the new allegation because the perpetrator is unknown. In this situation, the caseworker assigns the Ruled Out disposition to the original allegation.
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School Investigation: School personnel or a school volunteer is the alleged perpetrator, and the incident occurred at school or during a school-sponsored activity.
Sex Trafficking: Sex trafficking occurs when a person or persons do one or more of the following:
- Knowingly cause, permit, encourage, engage in, or allow a child to be trafficked in a manner punishable as an offense under §20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code.
- Fail to make a reasonable effort to prevent a child from being trafficked in a manner punishable as an offense under §20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code.
- Compel or encourage a child to engage in sexual conduct that is an offense under §20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code (trafficking of persons), §43.02(b), Penal Code(prostitution), §43.021 (solicitation of prostitution) or §43.05(a)(2), Penal Code (compelling prostitution).
Sexual Abuse: Sexual abuse occurs when one or more of the following is true:
- A child experiences sexual conduct harmful to the child’s mental, emotional, or physical welfare, including conduct that is an offense under §21.02, Penal Code (continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual), §21.11, Penal Code (indecency with a child), §22.011, Penal Code (sexual assault), or §22.021, Penal Code (aggravated sexual assault).
- A person or persons fail to make a reasonable effort to prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child.
- A person or persons compel or encourage a child to engage in sexual conduct as defined by §43.01, Penal Code.
- A person or persons cause, permit, encourage, engage in, or allow the photographing, filming, or depicting of a child, if the person or persons knew or should have known that the resulting photograph, film, or depiction of the child is obscene (as defined by §43.21, Penal Code) or pornographic.
- A person or persons cause, permit, encourage, engage in, or allow a sexual performance by a child, as defined by §43.25, Penal Code.
Substitute Care Placements: All children who are living in a DFPS out-of-home placement. It does not include children living in a return and monitor placement. Unless noted otherwise, it does include youth over 18 who are in extended foster care but are not in DFPS conservatorship.
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Temporary Managing Conservatorship (TMC): Temporary Managing Conservatorship (TMC) is a court-ordered temporary relationship between a child and a managing conservator. In the context of foster care, DFPS would be appointed TMC. This status is obtained when a Judge signs a temporary order giving the agency conservatorship, which may a hearing under Texas Family Code §262.102 (Emergency Order Authorizing Possession of Child) or Texas Family Code §262.106 (Initial Hearing After Taking Possession of Child in Emergency Without Court). Temporary means that there has not been a final trial and one or both of the parents still retain their parental rights to the child.
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Unable to Complete Disposition: The caseworker assigns the Unable to Complete (UTC) disposition to an individual allegation, or to all allegations in an investigation when the worker could not draw a conclusion whether alleged abuse or neglect occurred, because the family:
- (A) Could not be located to begin the investigation or moved and could not be located to finish the investigation; or
- (B) was unwilling to cooperate with the investigation. 40 TAC §707.495(b)(3) would be the citation for Column C.
Unable to Determine: The caseworker assigns the Unable to Determine disposition to an allegation if the allegation does not meet the criteria for Administrative Closure, Reason to Believe, Ruled Out, or Unable to Complete, and one of the following applies:
- There is not enough information to determine whether the alleged abuse or neglect occurred.
- There is enough information to determine that the abuse or neglect occurred, but not enough to determine whether the alleged perpetrator is responsible for it.
The caseworker does not assign this disposition unless the caseworker has made reasonable efforts to gather all available information.
DFPS Rules, 40 TAC §707.495(b)(4)
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