Bill > HB2144

This bill modifies Texas Family Code provisions related to adoption information access, requiring the Department of Family and Protective Services and licensed child-placing agencies to compile and distribute comprehensive health, social, educational, and genetic history reports about children being adopted within 30 days of changing a child's permanency plan to adoption. The bill expands prospective adoptive parents' rights to examine child records, allowing them to access confidential information (except biological parents' identities) while mandating that social security numbers be redacted and records edited to protect the identities of biological siblings, their adoptive families, and individuals who reported abuse or neglect. To receive such confidential information, prospective adoptive parents must now sign a nondisclosure agreement, and the agency must provide the requested information within 90 days. These changes aim to provide more transparency in the adoption process while still maintaining certain privacy protections for involved parties. The bill is set to take effect on September 1, 2025, giving agencies time to prepare for the new requirements.

Health and Social Services

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB2144