Texas should place more foster kids with families rather than in residential treatment, report finds

Jaime Masters, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, at an agency meeting in Austin in March. (Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune)

Texas child welfare workers should be placing more kids who are part of the state’s troubled foster care system with families instead of in residential treatment centers, a report commissioned by the Legislature has found.

The report released this month comes as the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services continues a yearslong struggle with a backlog of children awaiting assistance.