Texas no longer has kids sleeping in Child Protective Services offices. But that doesn’t mean it has all the foster care placements it needs – especially for...
Texas no longer has kids sleeping in Child Protective Services offices. But that doesn’t mean it has all the foster care placements it needs – especially for its most troubled youngsters. In 2017 file photo, homes painted by foster children adorn a fence at Austin's Helping Hand Home.AUSTIN — Texas still has a shortage of foster care beds — ones that are licensed and don’t put children and Child Protective Services workers at risk of harm, even death.
“Now that we’ve improved, we’re back to where we were the first time we started talking about a capacity crisis related to kids sleeping in offices,” said Kate Murphy, director of child protection policy at the advocacy group Texans Care for Children. In 2021, lawmakers added $124 million to the department’s budget for paying foster care providers, which helped ease the bed shortage, Murphy said. Still, the “perpetual challenge” of aligning supply with demand remains.
“They completely dropped the ball on Jadon,” she said of CPS. “This agency repeatedly puts these children in danger.”Kolkhorst, the Senate’s lead child welfare policy writer, said in a written statement last week, “No child should sleep in a state office overnight.” He referred to U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack’s orders in a 12-year-old federal lawsuit against the state that included stringent oversight of foster care providers whose track records are deemed by regulators to merit the additional scrutiny.Federal judge defends her efforts to clean up Texas’ foster care system amid complaints from providers
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