DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES; GENERAL DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT.

(a) The Department of Family and Protective Services is composed of the commissioner, an administrative staff, and other employees necessary to efficiently carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(b) Except as provided by Section 40.0025, the department shall:

(1) provide protective services for children and elderly persons and persons with disabilities, including investigations of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation in facilities of the Department of State Health Services and the Department of Aging and Disability Services or the successor agency for either of those agencies;

(2) provide family support and family preservation services that respect the fundamental right of parents to control the education and upbringing of their children;

(3) license, register, and enforce regulations applicable to child-care facilities, child-care administrators, and child-placing agency administrators; and

(4) implement and manage programs intended to provide early intervention or prevent at-risk behaviors that lead to child abuse, delinquency, running away, truancy, and dropping out of school.

(c) The department is the state agency designated to cooperate with the federal government in the administration of programs under:

(1) Parts B and E, Title IV, federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sections 620 et seq. and 670 et seq.);

(2) the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. Section 5101 et seq.); and

(3) other federal law for which the department has administrative responsibility.

(d) The department shall cooperate with the United States Department of Health and Human Services and other federal and state agencies in a reasonable manner and in conformity with the provisions of federal law and this subtitle to the extent necessary to qualify for federal assistance in the delivery of services.

(e) If the department determines that a provision of state law governing the department conflicts with a provision of federal law, the executive commissioner may adopt policies and rules necessary to allow the state to receive and spend federal matching funds to the fullest extent possible in accordance with the federal statutes, this subtitle, and the state constitution and within the limits of appropriated funds.

(f) Repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 268, Sec. 32(f), eff. September 1, 2008.