Appendix 4525: Offenses from the Texas Penal Code and Other Codes

CPS September 2023

The following charts describe the offenses in the Texas Penal Code that affect a potential caregiver’s approval for a:

Parental Child Safety Placement (PCSP)
Kinship placement
Kinship foster or adoptive home

The charts are intended to help a caseworker easily identify the potential consequences of a conviction, if a caregiver moves from a PCSP to kinship, foster, or adoptive placement.

Explanatory Notes

Following are explanatory notes pertaining to offenses under the Texas Penal code and other offenses:

A substantially similar conviction under another state’s law or federal law is handled as though the conviction was one for the comparable offense under Texas law.
An “attempt to commit” conviction is treated as falling under the same section of the Penal Code as the crime that was attempted.
Time limits are based on the date of conviction.
All areas marked with an asterisk (*) indicate that the bar is based on federal requirements set forth in State Plan for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, 42 USC 671(a)(20)(A).
“N/A” means there is no such relevant misdemeanor or felony crime.
“No action needed” means a crime was committed, but no specific DFPS action is required. Nevertheless, if there is a conviction, it needs to be considered for its overall impact to child safety.
The term “verified,” under Chart 2 and Chart 3, is used to refer to applications submitted for verification by adults who:
- Are verified as foster parents or approved as adoptive parents.
- Are currently verified foster parents and approved adoptive parents.
The tables in Chart 2 and Chart 3 are in numerical order by the number of the Texas Penal Code offense chapters identified in the second column.