HBA-AMW H.B. 2428 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2428 By: Goodman Juvenile Justice & Family Issues 6/5/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, the files of child protective service workers and children's advocacy center employees were confidential but did not protect the confidentiality of information contained in the files of court-appointed volunteer advocate program employees. Court-appointed child advocate volunteers often generate confidential case files as part of their advocacy work. House Bill 2428 protects the confidentiality of files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed by court-appointed volunteer advocate program employees. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2428 amends the Family Code to provide that the files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed in providing court-appointed volunteer advocate program services are confidential and not subject to disclosure. The bill authorizes this information to be disclosed only for purposes consistent with court-appointed volunteer advocate programs. The bill authorizes the information to be disclosed to: _the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, department employees, law enforcement agencies, prosecuting attorneys, medical professionals, and other state agencies that provide services to children and families; _the attorney for the child who is the subject of the information; and _eligible children's advocacy centers. The bill provides that information related to the investigation of a report of abuse or neglect of a child and services provided as a result of the investigation are confidential. EFFECTIVE DATE May 16, 2001.