A push to change a 2019 Texas law that bars certain felons from becoming social workers

Tammy Thompson, left, and Katherin Youniacutt, right, pose for a portrait the night before filing a lawsuit against the state of Texas to reverse the 2019 law that prevents certain convicted felons from becoming licensed social workers. (Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Texas Tribune)

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Katherin Youniacutt turned to alcohol at a young age to cope with the abuse she’d suffered as a child. By 2007, she was a full-blown alcoholic. Late one night, an off-duty police officer approached her car at a gas station and when she drove away, the officer said she injured him with her vehicle. She pleaded guilty to an assault conviction and served several years of probation.