Report says Child Protective Service workers are overloaded, urges overhaul
The long-awaited report comes almost a year after U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ruled that Texas’ long-term foster care system violated children's civil rights. Full Story
The latest Department of Family and Protective Services news from The Texas Tribune.
The long-awaited report comes almost a year after U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ruled that Texas’ long-term foster care system violated children's civil rights. Full Story
“Texas children remain at risk," Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Hank Whitman wrote. "This is unacceptable." Full Story
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants faith-based communities to help find foster and adoptive homes for kids in need. Full Story
The governor's office has put the Department of Family and Protective Services on notice to come up with a plan to help foster children find home placements faster and seek out those facing abuse. Full Story
Texas must continue drafting court-ordered plans to fix its broken foster care system, according to a new order from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Full Story
In a wide-ranging interview, Hank Whitman, the new commissioner overseeing Child Protective Services, explains how he thinks he can turn around a child welfare agency crippled by low morale, high turnover and a spate of high-profile child deaths. Full Story
State officials hope a new network of clinics will better connect foster children with trauma-informed behavioral health care. Full Story
Throughout Mental Health Month in May, the Tribune is partnering with the Mental Health Channel and KLRU for a series focusing on some of Texas’ biggest challenges in providing mental health care. Full Story
Two special masters appointed by a federal judge to oversee reforms at the state's troubled foster care system have started work, and the tab is running. Full Story
A nonprofit organization has sued the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services for issuing a temporary child-care license to an immigration detention facility that hold women and children from Central America. Full Story
The state’s child welfare agency faces a $40 million budget shortfall, a critical shortage of good homes for foster children and overwhelming caseloads for staff, agency leaders told state lawmakers at a hearing on Wednesday. Full Story
At a time of heightened public scrutiny of Texas’ embattled child welfare agency, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday appointed new leadership of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Full Story
The Texas foster care system has been throwing off increasingly desperate distress signals for months. It falls to caseworkers like 27-year-old Daniel Hernandez to try to keep it working. Full Story
Abused children in Texas are being left in psychiatric facilities longer than they were six years ago as the state's child protective services system grapples with federal court scrutiny and diminishing options. Full Story
Six days after Gov. Greg Abbott took office, he faced the first death of a child under state care. Emails obtained by The Texas Tribune capture his staff's efforts, and frustrations, trying to fix the state's embattled foster care system. Full Story
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to block the appointment of special masters to oversee reforms in the state's troubled foster care system. Full Story
The number of children sleeping in Child Protective Services offices shot up after an internal policy change at the agency limited child placements, according to state data released Thursday. Full Story
A new group has joined the chorus lambasting Texas for resisting court-ordered reforms to its foster care system: its own employees who work with children. Full Story
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner John Specia announced Friday he would retire from the agency on May 31. Full Story
Despite a major victory in federal court last month, advocates for reforms to Texas’ long-term foster care system are steeling themselves for a lengthy battle to force Texas officials to follow through on changes ordered by a federal judge. Full Story