The principal governing legislation for CPI investigations is Chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code (TFC).

The TFC definitions* of abuse or neglect investigated by CPI are: Physical Abuse - Physical injury that results in substantial harm to the child, or the genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child.

Sexual Abuse - Sexual conduct harmful to a child’s mental, emotional, or physical welfare.

Emotional Abuse - Mental or emotional injury to a child that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning.

Neglectful Supervision - Placing the child in or failing to remove the child from a situation that a reasonable person would realize requires judgment or actions beyond the child’s level of maturity, physical condition, or mental abilities that results in bodily injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the child.

Medical Neglect - Failing to seek, obtain, or follow through with medical care for a child, with the failure resulting in or presenting a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or bodily injury or with the failure resulting in an observable and material impairment to the growth, development, or functioning of the child.

Physical Neglect - Failure to provide the child with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the child, excluding failure caused primarily by financial inability unless relief services had been offered and refused.

Refusal to Assume Parental Responsibility - Failure by the person responsible for a child’s care, custody, or welfare to permit the child to return to the child’s home without arranging for the necessary care for the child.

Abandonment - The leaving of a child in a situation where the child would be exposed to a substantial risk of physical or mental harm, without arranging for necessary care for the child. *See the full definitions in the CPS Glossary.

Victims have been unduplicated by investigation stage.

Visit dfps.texas.gov for information on CPS Abuse/Neglect Investigations and all DFPS programs.