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The Latest Breaking News from DFPS

Audrey O’Neill named commissioner of Texas’ foster care agency

O’Neill is the fifth commissioner of the beleaguered Texas Department of Family and Protective Services since 2012.

The Texas Tribune

Parents Still Lose Kids to Discredited 'Shaken Baby' Claims

A Texas couple lost their children for six months after a doctor blamed a fragile infant’s medical crises on abuse.

Reason

Texas foster care agency chief to step down this summer

Two years after Stephanie Muth became Department of Family and Protective Services commissioner, staff turnover is down and the number of children without a placement has dropped.

The Texas Tribune

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Long-running lawsuit against Texas’ foster care system appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

Lawyers representing foster children asked the high court to reinstate a contempt order against the state, and the judge who issued it.

The Texas Tribune

Texas Closed Its Investigation Against These Parents. Why Are Their Names on a Child Abuse Registry?

A medical dispute over jaundice treatment prompted the state to take custody of Rodney and Temecia Jackson’s daughter for more than three weeks.

Reason

Their Kids Said They Were Trans. Then CPS Came Knocking.

Across the country, parents of gender-dysphoric kids are confronting state intrusion.

Reason

Foster child death linked to state-contracted home prompts criminal investigation

The Greenville-based treatment center has closed after the death of an 11-year-old boy the day before Thanksgiving.

The Texas Tribune

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After Wrongful Diagnosis, Texas CPS Took This Baby Away

Thankfully, a judge reunited the Boatright family last week.

Reason

Migrant children were put in abusive shelters for years, suit says. Critics blame lack of oversight

As allegations of sexual abuse built up at the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S., officials continued placing children in their care in a system that advocates say has lacked adequate oversight and transparency for years

The Independent UK

State’s move to bump federal judge from longtime foster care lawsuit caps years of battles

A federal judge has taken the Texas’ foster care system to task for 13 years. Reforms have been made. Now armed with private legal fire power, the state wants the judge off the case.

The Texas Tribune

Texas politics leave transgender foster youth isolated — during and after life in state care

Support once afforded LGBTQ+ foster kids has vanished and a culture of silence has blanketed the agency tasked with raising children growing up in the system.

The Texas Tribune

Child welfare officials move to reduce Texas judge’s oversight of embattled foster system

The request to remove several court orders marks the first time the state has made any major attempt to get out from under an injunction issued in the 13-year-old case.

The Texas Tribune

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions

Gross, degrading, and deeply concerning.

Reason

Judge considers holding state in contempt a third time over foster care conditions

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack on Monday considers whether state’s foster care agency has made progress caring for most vulnerable children or should be held in contempt for the third time in an ongoing 2011 lawsuit.

The Texas Tribune

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The Texas Tribune

Sex trafficking, drugs and assault: Texas foster kids and caseworkers face chaos in rental houses and hotels

A report from Department of Family and Protective Services watchdogs paints a picture of a roughshod safety-net system that is unprepared to protect its youthful charges from predators and unable to keep them from endangering themselves.

Reason

Florida Is Giving Foster Children Powerful Psychotropic Drugs Without Proper Records, Audit Finds

More than 1 in 3 Florida foster kids over 13 is taking psychotropic medications, but the state often doesn't follow rules requiring it to keep records of prescriptions.

The Texas Tribune

One-third of Texas foster care caseworkers left their jobs last year as the agency continued putting kids in hotels

The Department of Family and Protective Services has increasingly relied on housing foster kids in hotels when it can’t find them a home. In the 2022 fiscal year, after record staff turnover, more than 1 in 4 caseworkers had less than one year of experience.

The Texas Tribune

For deaf children in Texas foster care, limited accessibility compounds trauma

Advocates say better accounting of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the state’s care and better access to translators are needed.

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The Texas Tribune

Texas names new head of child abuse investigations after high turnover and heavy criticism

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ investigations division has seen record-high staff turnover, with 4 in 10 investigators leaving their jobs in 2022.

The Texas Tribune

New Texas laws favor parents in child abuse investigations as legislators try to limit number of kids in foster care

Legislators also passed bills that will provide foster kids entering the troubled system with duffel bags or backpacks and those aging out of the system with help setting up bank accounts.

The Texas Tribune

Across Texas, a slow and sputtered rollout of foster care privatization

Lawmakers were assured that outsourcing management of foster care services would fix the state’s troubled child welfare agency. But the rollout of the new model, set to be completed by 2029, has been complicated by setbacks.

Reason

Texas Tries To Rein in False Accusations of Child Abuse

The state legislature passed a law to limit anonymous reports to its child abuse hotline.

The Texas Tribune

After abuse accusations at The Refuge, Texas will create new reporting and screening requirements for foster care workers

The legislation came after The Refuge, a Bastrop foster care facility, hired a caretaker without knowing she had a history of sexual misconduct with children at a state juvenile facility. Coworkers also concealed evidence of the abuse, which further put the foster girls at harm.

The Texas Tribune

Texas bill barring anonymous reporting of child abuse heads to Gov. Greg Abbott

House Bill 63 is an attempt to reduce the amount of vindictive or false child abuse reports made to the state, but child advocates say it will deter valid reports, too.

The Texas Tribune

Texas House approves bill to improve background checks on child-welfare workers

The action came after The Refuge, a Bastrop foster care facility, hired a caretaker without knowing her history of misconduct.

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