26 Tex. Admin. Code § 749.107 - What must my conflict of interest policies include?

Your conflict of interest policies must include:

(1) A statement that child placement staff and child placement management staff will not conduct, review, or approve foster home screenings, adoptive home screenings, or post-placement adoptive reports if there is a conflict of interest or bias with the family or the child. For example, there would be a conflict of interest if the staff is related to or has a personal relationship with the family or the child;

(2) A statement that it is a conflict of interest for your agency to verify as a foster parent or approve as an adoptive parent any of the following persons or relatives of any of the following persons: any current owner, member of the governing body, executive director, or any other employee or contract service provider of your agency;

(3) A code of conduct on the relationship between your agency's owners (including members of the governing body, if applicable), employees, contract service providers, children in placement, children's families, and prospective and current foster and adoptive parents, including required parameters for entering into independent financial relationships or transactions;

(4) For corporations or other types of business entities, a statement that the majority of the voting members of the governing body must consist of persons who do not have a conflict of interest that would potentially interfere with objective decision making. Persons who have such a conflict of interest include the following:

(A) Family members of:

(i) An officer of the governing body;

(ii) The administrator or executive director of the child-placing agency; or

(iii) Any person with a controlling interest in the entity's stock; or

(B) If the governing body is a non-profit entity, persons who benefit financially from the agency, including but not limited to persons employed by or working at the agency, paid consultants, subcontractors, or vendors; and

(5) For adoptions, you may state whether the person whom you evaluated appears to be suitable for adoption, even if there are other individuals requesting adoption. If you have not evaluated parties of a disputed case, you must refrain from making an adoption or custody recommendation, unless otherwise directed by the court.

Notes

26 Tex. Admin. Code § 749.107

The provisions of this §749.107 adopted to be effective January 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 9944; transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909