Senate panel proposes $75.3 million to start fixing Child Protective Services
A Texas legislative panel is recommending an infusion of $75.3 million in emergency funding for the Department of Family and Protective Services to allow for caseworker raises and hire more people. But agency Commissioner Hank Whitman won’t get everything he requested.
“Beat on me,” foster care chief tells lawmakers. And they do.
The man Gov. Greg Abbott has put in charge of fixing Texas’ dysfunctional foster care system told state legislators on Wednesday he’d gladly take the brunt of their anger if it meant they’d give him more money to catch up on a backlog of 2,844 at-risk children awaiting the agency’s assistance.
California Approves Laws To Cut Use Of Antipsychotics In Foster Care
Efforts to protect children in foster care from being inappropriately medicated with powerful antipsychotic drugs got a big boost forward on Tuesday, when California Gov. Jerry Brown signed three bills into law designed to reform prescribing.
Texas CPS Worker Found Guilty of Official Oppression
A Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) worker has been found guilty of official oppression. The CPS worker is one of three individuals who were charged in connection with a CPS investigation.
California Moves To Stop Misuse Of Psychiatric Meds In Foster Care
By the time DeAngelo Cortijo was 14, he had been in more than a dozen foster homes. He had run away and lived on the streets for months, and he had been diagnosed with bipolar and anxiety disorders, attachment disorder, intermittent explosive disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder. He had been in and out of mental hospitals and heavily medicated.
Texas Parents May Lose Children for No Good Reason
A Texas Christian family is facing the nightmare that all 11 of their homeschooled children (16, 14, 12, 9, 8 [twins], 7, 6, 3, 2, and 12 weeks) will be forcibly removed from them at the end of the month.
Gutsy Attorney Outs a Too-Powerful Texas CPS Baby Mill Agenda
HOUSTON, TX – Julie Ketterman of KHA Lawyers, PLLC, is passionate about defending families and the rights of parents in cases involving Child Protective Services (CPS), a program of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Texas Passes Legislation Creating Ombudsman to Serve Foster Youth
Texas legislators passed a bill last week to create an ombudsman who will independently address issues foster youth have with the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Kurt Senske: How can you help Texas’ foster kids?
The narrative around foster care in Texas usually centers on overloaded caseworkers, traumatized children and a flawed, underfunded state system. However, few of us look in the mirror and wonder what we ourselves can do to improve the lives of children in the Texas foster care system.
Texas Senate approves bill boosting foster care training
The Senate has approved mandating 35 hours of training for potential foster care parents, more than double what some are now required to have.