A safety plan is a written agreement used when an immediate danger to a child is identified and action is required to keep a child safe. A safety plan remains in place, when needed, to ensure child safety, and it must not exceed 30 calendar days without an approved extension. Action on a safety plan can range from a parent or legal guardian moving the child away from the danger to a parent or a legal guardian being supervised while caring for the child. For safety plans requiring supervision, one of the following people supervises the parent or legal guardian:

• A safety plan monitor
• A Parental Child Safety Placement (PCSP) caregiver

The safety plan monitor or PCSP caregiver must not be directly involved in the alleged abuse or neglect and must be assessed for his or her ability to protect the child.

Safety plans are only implemented in the following ways:

• The child and the parent or legal guardian remain together, and contact is supervised.
• The child and the parent or legal guardian reside together but away from the danger.
• The child and the parent or legal guardian do not reside together, and contact between them is supervised (family-initiated PCSP).

The caseworker must provide a signed copy of Form 2604 Safety Plan or Form 2207 Family-Initiated Parental Child Safety Placement Agreement and Safety Plan to each applicable person who signed it and upload a copy into OneCase.

A safety plan is completed on Form 2604 or Form 2207, except in one of the following situations:

• The family is unwilling to participate in the safety plan. See 3216 Refusal to Participate in a Safety Plan.
• Legal intervention is required.

Family-Initiated Parental Child Safety Placement

A family-initiated PCSP is a type of safety plan used when the situation meets the following criteria:

• There is an immediate danger to a child.
• All options allowing the child and the parent or legal guardian to remain in the home together were exhausted.
• A parent or legal guardian may decide to place a child with a PCSP caregiver, and the parent does not live in the home.

The PCSP caregiver takes care of the child and supervises contact between the child and the parent or legal guardian. Family-initiated PCSPs last only as long as needed to ensure child safety and do not exceed 30 calendar days without an approved extension.

Texas Family Code §264.902

A family-initiated PCSP requires a completed Form 2207 Family-Initiated Parental Child Safety Placement Agreement and Safety Plan. See 3212 Assessing the Child’s Safety before Implementing a Safety Plan or Family-Initiated Parental Child Safety Placement (PCSP).

Existing Custody or Visitation Court Orders

A safety plan must not contradict existing court orders or require a person to take actions contrary to an existing court order.

For example, if one parent has court-ordered visitation with a child, the safety plan cannot require the other parent to deny visitation.

Factors to Consider Prior to Safety Plan Implementation

The caseworker must not implement a safety plan, including a family-initiated PCSP, if the caseworker determines that removal is necessary and more appropriate because the intervention would not adequately protect the child, based on case-specific factors. These factors may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Danger to the child, if the child remains with or returns to the parent.
• Child and family’s history.
• Risk to the child.