(a) The Department of Family and Protective Services' (DFPS's) Child Protective Services (CPS) Division closes family-based safety services cases when:
  (1) CPS determines after the family was referred that the family does not meet the criteria for family-based safety services.
  (2) CPS services are no longer needed because the family:
    (A) has reduced the risk to the child so that the child is safe from abuse and neglect and the family appears capable of managing the remaining risk without outside assistance; or
    (B) appears capable of reducing the risk to the child with assistance from sources other than CPS, and the family is willing and able to rely on that assistance.
  (3) The family has moved out of state or cannot be found after reasonable efforts to locate the family.
  (4) There is not enough evidence of a threat to the child's immediate safety for legal intervention and either:
    (A) the family refuses to accept further services; or
    (B) CPS has already offered or provided all available services that:
      (i) are appropriate to the family's needs; or
      (ii) the family has requested and is eligible to receive.
  (5) The child will be residing outside of the home of the parent under a legal agreement or an informal agreement with a relative or other caregiver.
  (6) At least one child is removed from the home and the court grants DFPS temporary managing conservatorship of the child.
  (7) The only child or parent receiving services dies.
(b) Before submitting the case to the supervisory for case closure, the caseworker must:
  (1) have a closing staffing with the supervisor; and
  (2) complete a closing summary that explains the rationale for the closure decision.
(c) After closing the case, the caseworker must send a case closure letter to parents and legal guardians who have been receiving family-based safety services. Case closure letters are not required if the child has been removed from the home, the family cannot be located, or the only child died.

Source Note: The provisions of this §700.720 adopted to be effective September 15, 2021, 46 TexReg 5901