Judge considers holding state in contempt a third time over foster care conditions
U.S. District Judge Janis Jack on Monday considers whether stateโs foster care agency has made progress caring for most vulnerable children or should be held in contempt for the third time in an ongoing 2011 lawsuit.
Sex trafficking, drugs and assault: Texas foster kids and caseworkers face chaos in rental houses and hotels
A report from Department of Family and Protective Services watchdogs paints a picture of a roughshod safety-net system that is unprepared to protect its youthful charges from predators and unable to keep them from endangering themselves.
Federal judge again threatens contempt-of-court fines for Texasโ slow progress on foster care reforms
The judge warned the state could be held in contempt of court for not following through with three mandates: youths not knowing their rights, not adequately responding to abuse allegations and still having too many children without placement.
Child Protective Services investigators would get way more training if new state bill passes
A report revealing serious problems with the Texas CPS removal process is the basis of a new bill that was recently filed in the Legislature, which would require far more extensive training for CPS case workers.
In after-hours notice, Gov. Greg Abbott announces another leadership change for the Department of Family and Protective Services
Former DFPS commissioner Anne Heiligenstein was tapped by Abbott in June to serve as the agencyโs executive deputy commissioner. Last month, she was out. Now sheโs back.
Texasโ child welfare agency told staffers to keep quiet about gender-affirming care investigations, documents show
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services leaders instructed employees to avoid written communications about the cases and barred low-level employees from handling the investigations, according to internal agency communications.
Over 100 children have died in Texasโ child welfare system since 2020, report says
Most of the deaths were attributed to โpreexisting medical conditionsโ or abuse suffered before the children entered the system, according to the DFPS report. The numbers are on par with those reported in previous years.
Texasโ child welfare agency ordered to investigate trans kidsโ families has been in crisis for years
The Department of Family and Protective Services has been under federal court monitoring for over a decade for violating the civil rights of kids in foster care. Now, the short-staffed agency has to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care.
Kids in foster care whoโd been victims of sex trafficking endured fresh abuse at a state shelter, report says
The children were sexually abused and neglected while at The Refuge, a facility located in Bastrop contracted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to a report from a current employee.
DFPS chief of staff resigns amid lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment, inappropriate sexual behavior
The chief of staff for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has resigned, weeks after a lawsuit accused him of sexual harassment and making repeated sexual advances toward a female subordinate who later left the agency.
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services terminates contract with The Childrenโs Shelter โfor convenienceโ
Children in the custody of the state are no longer allowed to be housed at The Childrenโs Shelter after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services terminated its contract with the shelter for its General Residential Operation.
Texas foster care children exposed to sexual abuse, given wrong medication and neglected in unlicensed placements, new report says
The federal judge overseeing the decadelong lawsuit against Texas for conditions in its foster care system cut this weekโs hearing short. She proposed all parties involved, including the governor, โcut to the chaseโ to identify solutions.
Targeting surgeries rarely used on kids, Gov. Greg Abbott asks state agency to determine if gender affirming care is child abuse
Medical experts say gender affirming care for transgender children rarely, if ever, includes use of the surgeries Abbott cited in his letter to the head of the Texas Department of Family Protective Services.
What is gender-affirming medical care for transgender children? Hereโs what you need to know.
Gender-affirming care, which leading health care organizations in Texas say is the best way to provide care to transgender children, is emerging as a top target of state Republicans and lies at the heart of brewing political and legal battles.
Citing โunacceptableโ conditions, state puts placement hold on The Childrenโs Shelter in San Antonio
The Childrenโs Shelter in San Antonio has until 5 p.m. Monday to find new homes for its children after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services issued a placement hold due to โunacceptableโ conditions and an ongoing capacity problem.
Judge says Texas officials need to speed up on foster care reforms
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services offices in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas TribuneTwo years after U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ordered a long list of reforms for the Texas foster care system, state health and human services officials have made some improvements. In a quick morning hearing, Jack said she will give state officials until May to make progress on all of her orders, which resulted from a now decade-long lawsuit against the state filed by representatives for the more than 15,000 children in foster care in Texas. Greg Abbottโs recent budget proposal, he recommended that the Texas Legislature fund requests from child welfare officials to help reform the foster care system. โThe agencies must be able to continue their efforts to protect children in the state's managing conservatorship from abuse and neglect,โ Abbott wrote. None of the roughly 250 Texas facilities that provide 24-hour care for multiple children meet these requirements, Jack said.
Winter months lead to increase in unsafe sleep deaths in children, DPS says
Rachel Galvan, a child safety specialist for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, says itโs heartbreaking to read the reports each year related to unsafe sleep investigations during these winter months. Babies should sleep, โAโ alone, on their โBโ back and in a โCโ crib to help reduce their chance of death, Galvan explains. Each year, Texas CPS sees an average of 158 unsafe sleep deaths. Since December 1st, the state reports 31 unsafe sleep death investigations and 12 of them are in Region 8, which includes Bexar County. โItโs a generational practice where families do sleep closely with all the siblings, the children and both parents are all sleeping together,โ she said.
San Antonio couple observes National Adoption Month in a big way
โThen, we found out there were four other siblings,โ Jamie Hejduk said. Heather Hejduk said she thought their caseworker was joking when she asked the couple if they wanted all six. To add six children to four of their own was a family decision, Heather Hejdukโs husband said. โThey just fit in our family,โ Heather Hejduk said. โLittle did she know her little sister wasnโt born till she was 16, and she didnโt meet her until last year,โ Heather Heyduk said.
Federal judge says she will again hold Texas in contempt of court for failing to meet foster care reforms
Her announcement followed a two-day hearing, held by video conference, in which she frequently chided some of Texas top child welfare bureaucrats. Jack also urged state officials at the hearing to improve communication between two separate state agencies: one that oversees children in foster care, and one that licenses homes and facilities that house large numbers of foster children. Throughout the hearing, Jack echoed concerns raised by two-court appointed monitors in a 363-page report released in June that detailed substantial threats to childrens safety, particularly in large, privately-run foster homes. Texas foster care officials testified Thursday that they had recently stopped placing children in one facility where monitors identified problems. The home has yet to have its license pulled, though state officials indicated that was a possibility.
State in desperate need of foster parents living in rural communities west of Bexar County
San Antonio The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is desperately looking for foster families in rural communities west of Bexar County. How a San Antonio foster care campus is getting creative amid COVID-19 pandemicCheronda Tillman, a foster care and adoption recruitment specialist, said it has always been challenging to recruit in rural communities. Its always been an issue trying to increase capacity when it comes to finding families that reside in those 27 counties surrounding Bexar, especially turning our attention to our rural west, she said. However, in rural communities recruiting is more personal, she said. Upwards -- somewhere around 200 children will come into the foster care system each and every month.
Analysis: For foster children in Texas, a state of despair
Suppose the child is one of many, and that the system putting them in danger is run by the state of Texas. Thats a reasonable description of foster care in Texas in 2020. Its in a report completed last week a description of a system run by state government right now. The report is full of the stories of foster children the state has failed. A 6-year-old in foster care when this lawsuit was filed is now 17 or 18 years old.