Texas foster care agency chief to step down this summer

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Stephanie Muth, who took the reins of the Texas foster care agency two years ago, announced late Monday she is stepping down at the end of July.

“Commissioner Muth has led with unwavering dedication and service to the children and families of Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “Under her guidance, the Department of Family and Protective Services made meaningful progress to improve care for our state’s most vulnerable children. Her commitment to expand innovative community-based solutions will leave a lasting impact on the state of Texas.”

Muth, once the director of the state’s Medicaid program, returned to government service from consulting work after Abbott tapped her to replace then DFPS commissioner Jaime Masters in 2023. Masters’ three-year tenure as head of one of the largest state foster care agencies in the nation was rocked by caseworker turnover and a dramatic rise in the number of foster care children who were living in hotel rooms because there were no foster care placement beds available.

In August 2020, there were 50 children classified as “CWOP” or children without a placement. That number soared to 400 in August 2021. Other problems included an investigation over allegations that an employee at a residential treatment center for children who were trafficking victims had solicited and sold nude photos of those children who lived there.

Two years later, the number of children without a placement has dropped, according to the agency. At a presentation before the House Human Services Committee in March, Muth told lawmakers that the number of CWOP children was 20.

Also under Muth’s tenure, the judge in the ongoing federal lawsuit against the state’s foster care system was removed. Plaintiffs lawyers, representing Texas foster care children, have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that overturned a contempt order against the state and removed the U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, who had overseen the case to this point.

During Muth’s tenure she continued the decade-long rollout of the “community-based” care model, in which children in foster care receive services and are placed into care near their own home and relatives instead of being moved across the state to the first available placement.

Eight of the state agency’s 11 districts now have a private community-based contractor.

“I have the highest regard for the agency’s leadership and staff and am enormously proud of the work we’ve done together,” Muth said in a statement. “ I’ve accomplished many of the goals the Governor set for my time at DFPS and I am confident that the agency will continue to make progress.”

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