Sec. 161.077. INVESTIGATION DATABASE

(a) The department, in consultation with the Department of Family and Protective Services, shall develop and maintain an electronic database to collect and analyze information regarding the investigation and prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals with mental retardation who reside in a publicly or privately operated intermediate care facility for persons with mental retardation or in a group home, other than a foster home, at which a Home and Community-based Services (HCS) provider provides services and the results of regulatory investigations or surveys performed by the department regarding those facilities or providers.

(b) The information collected in the database regarding investigations must be detailed, be easily retrievable, and include information relating to abuse, neglect, and exploitation investigations performed by either department and regulatory investigations performed by the department that are capable of being sorted by home, provider, and facility.

(c) The database must facilitate the entry of required information and the sharing of information between the department and the Department of Family and Protective Services. At a minimum, the database must include the following information regarding investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation:

(1) the number of allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation received relating to a facility or group home, other than a foster home; and

(2) the number of allegations relating to a facility or group home, other than a foster home, substantiated through an investigation.

(d) Each allegation involving a unique individual in a facility or group home, other than a foster home, is considered a separate allegation for purposes of Subsection (c).

(e) The department shall ensure that information related to findings concerning failure to comply with regulatory standards directly related to the prevention of abuse, neglect, or exploitation in a facility or group home, other than a foster home, is collected and stored in the database and may be disaggregated by home, provider, and facility.

(f) The department and the Department of Family and Protective Services may not release or distribute information in the database in a form that contains personally identifiable information related to an individual in a facility or group home or to a victim of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 284 , Sec. 37, eff. June 11, 2009.