Horrors of Texas Foster Care Are Not Materially Unlike Better Known Atrocities

As former boss of the famed Texas Rangers, Henry “Hank” Whitman surely will know where to start as Gov. Greg Abbott’s recently appointed commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services: throw a whole bunch of people, including most of the Texas Legislature, the governor and the lieutenant governor into prison for knowingly and deliberately running a state-sponsored child rape factory.

Foster Care, Dead Children, and Greg Abbott’s Cognitive Dissonance

When it comes to protecting children, Greg Abbott just doesn’t get it.

According to emails obtained by the Texas Tribune, Abbott took a personal interest in the January 2015 murder of a two-month old girl who had been removed from her mother by Child Protective Services and placed temporarily with a family friend. Justice Hull was drowned in a bowl of water by the family friend’s 14-year-old daughter, who told authorities she didn’t want her mom to adopt the child.

‘You Get Tired:’ What the Retiring Leader of Texas’ Foster Care System Told Us

It’s been a turbulent year for the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). First there was the December court order by a federal judge in Corpus Christi – a sweeping and scathing order condemning what she called a “broken” foster care system, declaring it in violation of the Constitution and demanding a complete overhaul with a special master to be appointed to recommend fixes.