By: Huffman, et al. S.B. No. 1806 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to requiring the use of multidisciplinary teams appointed by children's advocacy centers in certain child abuse investigations. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 264, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 264.4061 to read as follows: Sec. 264.4061. MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM RESPONSE REQUIRED. (a) The department shall refer a case to a center and the center shall initiate a response by a center's multidisciplinary team appointed under Section 264.406 when conducting an investigation of: (1) a report of abuse that is made by a professional as defined by Section 261.101 and that: (A) alleges sexual abuse of a child; or (B) is a type of case handled by the center in accordance with the working protocol adopted for the center under Section 264.411(a)(9); or (2) a child fatality in which there are surviving children in the deceased child's household or under the supervision of the caregiver involved in the child fatality. (b) Any interview of a child conducted as part of the investigation under Subsection (a) must be a forensic interview conducted in accordance with the center's working protocol unless a forensic interview is not appropriate based on the child's age and development or the center's working protocol. (c) Subsection (a) applies only to an investigation of abuse in a county served by a center that has executed an interagency memorandum of understanding under Section 264.403. If a county is not served by a center that has executed an interagency memorandum of understanding, the department may directly refer a case to a center in an adjacent county to initiate a response by that center's multidisciplinary team, if appropriate. SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.