Section 700.203 - Access to Confidential Information Maintained by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)(a) DFPS may release case record information made confidential under § 261.201(a) of the Texas Family Code to any person or entity authorized to receive confidential abuse or neglect information under state or federal law, including the following listed persons or entities: (1) DFPS staff, including authorized volunteers, as necessary to perform their assigned duties;(2) a properly constituted authority, and its multi-disciplinary team members, legally authorized to handle or assist in the investigation, prosecution, or resolution of cases of suspected child abuse or neglect or to provide services to the child or the child's family, including children's advocacy centers, child fatality review teams, citizen review teams, Disability Rights Texas, county child welfare boards, and any authority mandated under another state's law to investigate allegations of child abuse or neglect;(3) local, state, or federal law enforcement officials for the purpose of investigating allegations of: (A) child abuse or neglect, including any crime that contains an element that would meet the definition of child abuse or neglect;(B) false or malicious reporting of alleged child abuse or neglect; or(C) failure to report child abuse or neglect;(4) a physician who has before him a child who the physician reasonably suspects may be the victim of child abuse or neglect and the physician requires this information to provide a diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment for the child;(5) a local, state, or federal government official, to the extent permitted under federal law or when deemed necessary for the protection and care of a child;(7) an attorney ad litem, guardian ad litem, or court appointed special advocate of an alleged victim of child abuse and neglect;(8) a court of competent jurisdiction in a criminal or civil case arising out of an investigation of child abuse and neglect;(9) an attorney of DFPS, the attorney general of the state, or a county attorney or district attorney, when such attorney represents the state in a proceeding arising out of an investigation of child abuse or neglect or in a proceeding to collect child support for a child in the temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of DFPS;(10) a member of the state legislature, to the extent permitted under federal law, when necessary to carry out that member's official duties;(11) the person authorized by the court or designated to give medical consent or make educational decisions on the child's behalf; and(12) any other person or entity responsible for the protection, diagnosis, care, treatment, supervision or education of a child when, in the discretion of DFPS, such information is necessary to properly meet that child's needs.(b) In accordance with § 261.201(g) of the Family Code, and upon a properly submitted request, DFPS shall provide access to confidential case records to the parent or other legal guardian of a child who was the alleged or actual victim of child abuse and neglect, provided that the records are redacted as described in § 700.204 of this title (relating to Redaction of Records Prior to Release). For purposes of this subsection, a parent or other legal guardian means any parent, adoptive parent, possessory conservator, temporary or permanent managing conservator, legal guardian, or other legal representative of the child, provided that the requestor's parental or other legal relationship to the child has not been terminated at the time the request for information is made. DFPS may release confidential case records, or information contained therein, to a minor child who is the subject of those records if DFPS deems the release to be in the best interest of the minor child.(c) Upon a properly submitted request, DFPS shall provide access to confidential investigation records to an individual who was alleged or designated by DFPS to be a perpetrator in that investigation, whether or not that individual is a parent of the alleged victim, provided that the records are redacted as described in § 700.204 of this title (relating to Redaction of Records Prior to Release). A release under this subsection is limited to that portion of DFPS's records which were developed during the course of an investigation into child abuse or neglect and shall not include records related to the provision of services to a child or the child's family as a result of the investigation.(d) In accordance with § 261.201(d) of the Family Code, and upon a properly submitted request, DFPS shall provide access to confidential case records to the adoptive or prospective adoptive parents of a child who was, or to an adult who was as a child, the subject of those records, provided that the records are redacted in accordance with § 700.204 of this title and provided that the identity of the child's biological parents is protected. When releasing information under this subsection, DFPS need not redact the record to protect the identity of a biological parent whose identity is already known to the requestor.(e) An individual not otherwise entitled to have access to confidential records under this section, but who participated in, cooperated with, or otherwise contributed to an investigation of child abuse or neglect, may have access to only that portion of the case records obtained directly from or pertaining directly to that individual.(f) Notwithstanding any other provision in this subchapter, DFPS shall not disclose any record or information which, if released to the requestor, would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation or prosecution.(g) The same restrictions on disclosure of confidential records released by DFPS apply to re-disclosure by the individual or entity that obtains the documents from DFPS.40 Tex. Admin. Code § 700.203
The provisions of this §700.203 adopted to be effective April 1, 1997, 22 TexReg 2877; amended to be effective March 1, 2008, 33 TexReg 1357; amended to be effective September 1, 2014, 39 TexReg 6226