Revision 24-2; Effective Sep. 16, 2024

Grantees must obey state laws governing the reporting of suspected abuse and neglect.

Call the Texas Abuse Hotline at 800-252-5400 or use the secure Texas Abuse Hotline website to report abuse or neglect. For cases that pose an imminent threat or danger to a person, call 9-1-1 or the appropriate local law enforcement agency.

Grantees must have written policies and procedures in place for the detection and appropriate reporting of abuse, neglect and exploitation of:

  • the elderly and adults with disabilities (The Texas Human Resources Code, Chapter 48);
  • child abuse and neglect (Chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code);

In addition, grantees must have written policies and procedures in place for identifying and responding to:

Grantees must provide annual staff training on each separate policy and procedure listed in this section.

3210 Child Abuse Reporting, Compliance and Monitoring

Revision 24-2; Effective Sep. 16, 2024

Child Abuse and Neglect Policies must include:

  • Medical professionals must make a report no later than the 48th hour after first suspecting a child has been abused or neglected or is a victim of an offense.  
  • Determining, documenting, reporting, and tracking instances of abuse either sexual or non-sexual, or neglect for all people younger than 17 to comply with Texas Family Code, Chapter 261. 

More information for abuse reporting is available at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website.

3220 Human Trafficking

Revision 24-2; Effective Sept. 16, 2024

Grantees must comply with all state and federal anti-trafficking laws. This includes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 USC Ch 78) and Texas Occupations Code Sections 116.002 and 116.003, which requires health practitioners to complete a HHS-Approved Human Trafficking Course for every licensure renewal period. 

Grantees must have a written policy on human trafficking which includes:

  • the definition of human trafficking;
  • how to identify possible situations of human trafficking;
  • the screening tool used to identify possible situations of human trafficking;
  • what to do and who to report to if human trafficking is suspected;
  • mandatory reporting of suspected child human trafficking; and
  • victim support resources

References for human trafficking policy development:

3230 Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence

Revision 24-2; Effective Sept. 16, 2024

Intimate partner violence (IPV) describes physical, sexual or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse. Per Texas Human Resources Code, Chapter 51, family violence may also include emotional harm and a threat of harm. This type of violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples and does not require sexual intimacy.

Grantees must comply with all requirements listed in Texas Family Code- Chapter 91 and have a written policy about assessment and prevention of domestic and IPV.

Find more information on IPV on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. The National Domestic Violence Hotline operates 24/7 and provides interpretation services in over 200 languages at 800-799-7233.