Relating to certain policies and procedures for health care specialty consultations in certain child abuse or neglect investigations and assessments.
CriticalImmediate action required
Low Cost
Effective:2025-09-01
Enforcing Agencies
Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: September 1, 2025
Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025 (All intake logic and ROI protocols must be active).
Agency Rulemaking: DFPS is expected to issue guidance on the specific mechanics of the "blind peer review" process and the definitions of "relevant" board certifications. Monitor the Texas Register through Q4 2025 for these operational details.
Immediate Action Plan
Immediate: Convene HIM and Legal to revise Release of Information policies to explicitly permit record release to parents during active DFPS investigations.
IT Request: Submit a change order for your EHR system to cross-reference the "Reporter" field against the "Assigned Provider" field for forensic assessments.
Medical Staff Briefing: Notify all Pediatricians and Emergency Physicians that if they report a case, they are statutorily disqualified from performing the subsequent forensic assessment.
Review Liability Insurance: Confirm with your carrier that administrative negligence (failure to recuse) is covered under your current policy structure.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
DFPS Vendor Agreements: If your facility contracts with DFPS for forensic assessments, the Master Service Agreement (MSA) will likely require amendment to include the new "blind peer review" participation requirements and data sharing mandates.
Physician Employment Agreements: Review contracts for Child Abuse Pediatricians (CAPs). Ensure productivity metrics account for mandatory recusals when the physician is the initial reporter.
Hiring/Training
Intake Staff Training: Front-line staff must be trained on the "Reporter vs. Assessor" firewall. They must verify the forensic assessor is *not* the reporting physician.
ROI/HIM Training: Health Information Management staff must be retrained to understand that a pending DFPS investigation is not grounds to deny or delay a parent's request for records or a second opinion.
Staffing Redundancy: Smaller centers must ensure they have access to a secondary provider. If your sole specialist is the reporter, you must refer the forensic assessment elsewhere.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
EHR Logic Update: You must configure your Electronic Health Record (EHR) to trigger a hard-stop warning if the user attempting to document a forensic assessment is listed as the "Reporter" of the case.
Pre-Referral Discovery: Prepare for immediate, high-volume requests from DFPS for *complete* medical files (including raw DICOM imaging data), as DFPS must provide this to parents *before* a specialty consultation occurs.
Peer Review Transparency: Physicians participating in blind peer reviews must document their findings knowing their anonymity is waived. The law requires disclosure of physician names and specific opinions to the family's legal counsel.
Fees & Costs
Operational Costs: Budget for IT hours to update EHR conflict-checking logic.
Fee Waivers: While not explicitly required, waiving record retrieval fees for these specific DFPS/Parent requests is recommended to avoid allegations of "obstruction" under the new statute.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
Definition of "Inhibit/Obstruct": The statute forbids "inhibiting" a parent's access to records or the child. It does not define if standard administrative processing times (e.g., 10 days) constitute "inhibition." Until case law or rules clarify, expedited processing is the only safe harbor.
"Relevant" Certification: The law requires consulting physicians to hold board certification "relevant" to the injury. It is unclear if DFPS will create a matrix mapping specific injuries to specific board certifications (e.g., requiring a neuroradiologist specifically for head trauma vs. a general radiologist).
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The bill author has informed the committee that, although past legislation has greatly improved the consultation process provided by the Forensic Assessment Center Network, a lack of transparency and issues regarding parental access to medical records still apply. According to the network, it was established by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) in 2006 to make expert pediatricians available to Child Protective Services and Child Care Licensing for consultation on cases of suspected child abuse and neglect. It provides 24-hour support for DFPS workers through a statewide toll-free number and a secure web-based system, contracts with medical specialists and child abuse pediatricians in the network to review medical records to help make a determination on whether abuse or neglect might have occurred, and provides support to DFPS for foster care-related medical questions. Currently, no state law directly requires the network to provide all medical documents to the parents of a child for the consultations that the network provides, although these records create medical information that is part of the child's medical record and are supposed to be HIPAA compliant. H.B. 2071 seeks to improve transparency in this process by requiring all medical records used by the Forensic Assessment Center Network in health care specialty consultations and assessments during certain child abuse or neglect investigations to be provided to the child's parent or legal guardian or the parent's or guardian's attorney. Additionally, the bill would prevent a conflicted medical professional who was a member of an investigative review team or a multidisciplinary team on the case or any health care practitioner that has already reviewed the case from providing a forensic assessment or specialty consultation.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
H.B. 2071 amends the Family Code to include among the qualifications of a physician to whom the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), when referring a child abuse or neglect case to a physician for specialty consultation or forensic assessment, is required to make the referral the condition that the physician was not involved in reviewing the case, including as a member of an investigation review team or a multidisciplinary team. The bill also prohibits any health care practitioner who was involved in reviewing the case, including as a member of such a review, from providing forensic assessment services in connection with an investigation resulting from the report of suspected abuse or neglect.
H.B. 2071 requires DFPS to do the following with respect to child abuse or neglect cases involving health care specialty consultation:
·before referring a child's case to a physician for a specialty consultation, provide to the child's parent or legal guardian or, if represented by an attorney, the parent's or guardian's attorney, all medical records, including radiographs, images, and other documents used by DFPS and the Forensic Assessment Center Network during the investigation; and
·for a case in which a blind peer review process is used to resolve disagreement among consulted physicians in the assessment of the causes of the child's injuries or in the presence of an applicable health condition, provide to the child's parent or legal guardian or, if represented by an attorney, the parent's or guardian's attorney, the information used to resolve the case, including the names of the physicians, the physicians' opinions, the possible conflicting conditions, all assessments conducted on the child, and all medical records related to the child.
The bill prohibits DFPS, a referring provider, including a hospital, and the network from obstructing, preventing, or inhibiting a child's parent or legal guardian or, if represented by an attorney, the parent's or guardian's attorney, from obtaining all medical records and documentation necessary to request an alternative opinion, including access to the child for that purpose by a health care professional providing an alternative or second opinion or performing diagnostic testing.
H.B. 2071 clarifies that provisions relating to the mitigation of provider conflicts in forensic assessment consultations for abuse or neglect investigations may not be construed to restrict the ability of the child's parent or legal guardian or, if represented by an attorney, the parent's or guardian's attorney, to receive all medical records and documentation relating to a case in which the network is consulted.
Honorable Lacey Hull, Chair, House Committee on Human Services
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2071 by Hull (Relating to certain policies and procedures for health care specialty consultations in certain child abuse or neglect investigations and assessments.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require the Department of Family and Protective Service to provide all medical records and the information used to resolve the case to the child's parent or legal guardian or, if represented by an attorney, the attorney of the parent or legal guardian.
It is assumed any costs to the Department of Family and Protective Services could be absorbed within existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
530 Family and Protective Services, Department of
LBB Staff:
JMc, NPe, ER, AN
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Effective September 1, 2025, HB2071 mandates a strict separation of duties between the physician reporting abuse and the physician performing the forensic assessment, creating a statutory conflict of interest if these roles overlap. Additionally, the law explicitly prohibits healthcare providers from obstructing a parent’s right to independent second opinions or access to medical records during an investigation. Hospitals and forensic centers must immediately update intake protocols to prevent conflict-of-interest assignments and prepare for accelerated, full-file discovery requests from DFPS.
Q
Who authored HB2071?
HB2071 was authored by Texas Representative Lacey Hull during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB2071 signed into law?
HB2071 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB2071?
HB2071 is enforced by Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB2071?
The compliance urgency for HB2071 is rated as "critical". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB2071?
The cost impact of HB2071 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB2071 address?
HB2071 addresses topics including family, family--child protection, medical records, family & protective services, department of and health care providers.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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