The department must add trauma-informed training to its training, pay for it, review it yearly, and require annual refresher training for caseworkers and supervisors. Certain caregivers must complete runaway-prevention training when caring for children age 10 or older, and the department may also offer related training to some younger children’s caregivers.
Sec. 264.015. TRAINING. (a) The department shall include training in trauma-informed programs and services in any training the department provides to foster parents, adoptive parents, kinship caregivers, department caseworkers, and department supervisors. The department shall pay for the training provided under this subsection with gifts, donations, and grants and any federal money available through the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-351). The department shall annually evaluate the effectiveness of the training provided under this subsection to ensure progress toward a trauma-informed system of care. (b) The department shall require department caseworkers and department supervisors to complete an annual refresher training course in trauma-informed programs and services. (c) To the extent that resources are available, the department shall assist the following entities in developing training in trauma-informed programs and services and in locating money and other resources to assist the entities in providing trauma-informed programs and services: (1) court-appointed special advocate programs; (2) children's advocacy centers; (3) local community mental health centers created under Section 534.001, Health and Safety Code; and (4) domestic violence shelters. (d) Each foster parent, prospective adoptive parent, and relative or other designated caregiver who provide care for children and youth in the conservatorship of the department who are 10 years of age or older shall complete a training program on: (1) runaway prevention measures; and (2) proper procedures in the event a child or youth runs away from the provider. (e) The training under Subsection (d) may be: (1) offered to providers who provide care for children in the conservatorship of the department who are younger than 10 years of age who have a history of running away; (2) included as part of existing licensing training provided by the department or contracted residential child-care providers; and (3) offered in lieu of required training that is not relevant based on the age of the children for whom the person will be providing care. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1118 (H.B. 1151), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2009. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 371 (S.B. 219), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 875 (H.B. 4233), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.