1. (a) At or prior to the time a child-placing agency ceases to function as a child-placing agency, it shall notify the Texas Department of Health-Bureau of Vital Statistics, where its adoption records shall be kept for permanent safe-keeping. The bureau receives notice on behalf of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS) so that the notice to the bureau meets the requirements of the Human Resources Code, §42.045.
2. (b) The bureau maintains many records of closed adoption agencies on behalf of PRS and is one entity a child-placing agency may designate to preserve its adoption records. An agency may also designate another child-placing agency to preserve its records.
3. (c) If a child-placing agency designates the bureau to house its records, the agency shall assume the responsibility of shipping the records to a designation specified by the bureau. The agency must ensure that the records are free from insects and rodents, and mildew-free and dry. The records shall be shipped in sturdy cardboard boxes (no larger than 12 inches x 15 inches) via an insured carrier. Each birth mother's file, adoptive parents' file, and the child's file shall be together. Staples, paper clips and brackets shall be removed. The agency must provide two index cards for each adoption file, one that cross-references the birth mother's name with the adoptive parents' and adoptee's name, and one cross-referencing the adoptive parents' names with the birth mother's and adoptee's name. Each card must include the date of birth of each child and the child's adoptive name. The information may also be on a word processing or spreadsheet document(s) compatible with the bureau's word processing software.
4. (d) If the child-placing agency designates the bureau to maintain and preserve its records, a redacted or de-identified copy of the birth and/or adoption record shall be prepared by the bureau for a qualified requestor under the Texas Family Code, §162.006, Right to Examine Records. Charges for copies shall be those allowed by the Open Records Act, Government Code, Chapter 552.

5. (e) If a birth parent, birth sibling, birth grandparent, or other birth relative provides post-adoption medical or social information to the bureau and the bureau houses the records of the closed child- placing agency, the bureau shall place the information with the original file.

   1. (1) Upon the request of a qualified requestor under Texas Family Code, §162.006, the information will be prepared and redacted or de-identified for release to that person.
   2. (2) The bureau shall make a diligent effort to locate the last known address of the adoptive parents and attempt to inform them of their right to examine the redacted or de-identified portion of the records.

Source Note:The provisions of this §181.32 adopted to be effective March 4, 1999, 24 TexReg 1618.