Texas Department of Family and Protective Services says that educators are acting as the first line of defense against child abuse, with reports to the agency’s hotline rising each school year when students return to class.

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.

There are four new cases of COVID-19 in Region 8 of the Department of State Health Services, Lavaca County Emergency Management confirmed Monday. The emergency management office said there are three new cases in the city of Shiner and one whose status is recovered in Youkum. Officials say all patients are isolated at home and following DSHS guidelines. Region 8 testing site:Friday, July 3, 2020 - Starke Park, 900 River Road in SeguinSaturday, July 11, 2020 - Former Weimar Medical Center, 400 Youens Street in WeimarSaturday, July 18, 2020 - Colorado County Fair Grounds, 1146 Crossroads Blvd. in ColumbusPreregistration is required at https://txcovidtest.org/

San Antonio – The surge of COVID-19 cases in San Antonio and Bexar County is causing concerns for hospitalization spikes in surrounding communities. Zamora said a patient looking to be transferred to a San Antonio hospital was turned away earlier this week. “We had a scare where we couldn’t ship someone to a San Antonio hospital,” he said. Eric Epley, the Southwest Texas Advisory Council executive director, said San Antonio hospitals are stressed. San Antonio, he said, still has about a 20-25% ICU capacity, but the problems isn’t beds.