Judge orders changes to fix ‘broken’ foster care system
It was early July 2001, and Trish Virgil was going to make a lemon meringue pie. “In our family, 12 years old meant that you get to finally learn how to make homemade pies,” she says now, smiling.
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.
Abbott Picks New Leaders For Texas CPS
AUSTIN (AP) – Gov. Greg Abbott has chosen the former head of the Texas Rangers as the new leader of the state’s embattled child welfare agency, calling the status quo there “unacceptable.”
Foster Home Crunch Strands Children in Psych Facilities
Abused children in Texas are being left in psychiatric facilities longer than they were six years ago as the state’s child protective services system grapples with federal court scrutiny and diminishing options, according to data obtained by The Texas Tribune.
Texas Mom Gets ‘Formal Apology’ After CPS Takes Custody of Her 9-Year-Old Daughter
It was early July 2001, and Trish Virgil was going to make a lemon meringue pie. “In our family, 12 years old meant that you get to finally learn how to make homemade pies,” she says now, smiling.
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.
Courts Rebuff Texas Bid to Slow Foster Care Fixes
The state of Texas lost two intermediate battles Monday in its fight to block a federal judge’s efforts to reform a foster care system that she found has violated children’s civil rights by subjecting them to rampant neglect and abuse.
New report points to a path forward for Texas foster care
In December, a federal judge’s scathing ruling laid out the legal and moral case that Texas leaders must vastly improve the state’s foster care system to ensure children’s lives get better — not worse — when Child Protective Services removes them from unsafe homes.
Texas Caseworkers Call For Foster Care Reforms
Texas officials are fighting tooth and nail against court-ordered, potentially costly reforms to the state’s foster care system — a position that’s drawn fierce criticism from child welfare advocates.