DFPS presents central‑registry data and proposals after committee asks about records and due process

The Department of Family and Protective Services summarized its current central‑registry practices and proposed statutory and technical fixes to address concerns about people remaining on the list too long. Audrey O'Neil, DFPS commissioner, described the registry as composed only of people with Reason‑to‑Believe (RTB) findings or open investigations and said access is tightly limited to DFPS and HHSC for employment and licensing checks.

O'Neil told senators roughly 795,000 individuals are currently listed on the central registry and that about 53% of family‑investigation RTBs are for neglectful supervision; DFPS emphasized much of that inventory predates recent statutory changes that narrowed the definition of neglectful supervision. "There are about 795,000 individuals that are currently listed on this central registry," DFPS said as it walked senators through retention schedules and risk‑assessment outcomes (Audrey O'Neil, S2). DFPS presented data showing fewer than 0.25% of HHSC background checks in the last five years led to a bar from employment after risk assessment, a metric agency leaders said shows the screening process distinguishes past mistakes from present risk.

Planned reforms: DFPS proposed building a separate central‑registry module in its new case management system to allow automatic purges when names meet retention periods, removing deceased individuals via vital‑records linkages, expanding the risk assessment process to more background checks, and creating an expungement panel for people who can demonstrate life changes since an RTB finding. The agency also proposed giving everyone with an RTB access to an external administrative hearing after internal reviews, though it warned some of those options could carry significant fiscal costs and stressed ARIF (administrative review) steps first.

Key quote: "The central registry is composed of exactly two things. If you have a reason to believe finding... or you currently have an open investigation, those are the only two things that make a person be on the central registry," Commissioner Audrey O'Neil said (Audrey O'Neil, S2).