SECTION 700.706. Case Closure of Family Reunification Services Cases

(a) Case closure. If the court has dismissed the Department of Family and Protective Services as conservator, Child Protective Services (CPS) Division will close the legal case. However, CPS may continue to provide services to the family on a voluntary basis or by initiating court ordered services if the family has not been able to reduce the risk to the child so that the child is safe from abuse and neglect.

(b) Transfer from family reunification to substitute care. When possible, CPS staff, together with the family, make the decision to remove the child from the home. CPS staff, together with the family, explore every reasonable alternative for keeping the child safe from abuse and neglect in the home to eliminate the need to remove. When the family is still unable to protect a child from abuse or neglect in the immediate future, CPS staff initiate a removal of the child from the home. This may or may not require new legal intervention depending on the legal status at the time. Substitute care services are then provided to the child and family.

Source Note: The provisions of this §700.706 adopted to be effective March 1, 2007, 32 TexReg 551; amended to be effective September 15, 2021, 46 TexReg 5901