Courts Rebuff Texas Bid to Slow Foster Care Fixes
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
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More Kids Sleeping in State Offices Amid Foster Shortage
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
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Texas Caseworkers Call For Foster Care Reforms
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
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![Susan Rial, member of the Texas State Employees Union, rallies with fellow Department of Family and Protective Services employees at the Capitol on March 9, 2016.]()
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Family and Protective Services Commissioner to Retire in May
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner John Specia announced Friday he would retire from the agency on May 31. Full Story
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![Dept. of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Judge John Specia at the Senate HHS hearing on Feb. 20, 2014.]()
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Texas Fights Back Against Court-Ordered Foster Care Reforms
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
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Texas Will Begin Tracking Pregnant Foster Youth
Until this year, Texas had not kept track of how many children in the state's foster care system were pregnant or parenting — though experts estimate the rate is well above the general population's. Full Story
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Is Texas Denying Health Coverage to Foster Youth?
Advocates say Texas officials are routinely denying health care coverage to former foster children after they turn 21, even though federal law says the coverage should continue until they turn 26. Full Story
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![Jasmine Johnson, with 10-month-old daughter Rain, lost her Medicaid coverage and was told she could not re-enroll, even though federal law allows former foster children like Johnson to stay in the health insurance program until they turn 26.]()
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Foster Care Youth Getting State Ombudsman
Starting Sept. 1, children in Texas foster care will get an ombudsman to help them navigate the system, find their caseworkers and report complaints. This story is part of our 31 Days, 31 Ways series. Full Story
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Judge: State Never Proved 6 Houston Children Were Endangered
A state district judge who denied a request to keep six siblings — recently murdered in Houston — in foster care says he wasn’t provided enough evidence two years ago to keep the children removed from their family. Full Story
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Judge Ordered Houston Children Out of Foster Care in 2013
Nearly two years before the murder of six Houston siblings, a state district judge denied a request by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to keep them in foster care, according to a memo sent to members of the Legislature on Tuesday. Full Story
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Murdered Houston Family Known to CPS
The six children found murdered along with two adults in Houston over the weekend were no strangers to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which investigated at least four complaints about their care dating back 2011, and temporarily took the children into foster care two years later. Full Story
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Abbott to Foster Care Agency: Get Your Act Together
In the wake of three child deaths under the state’s ward so far this year, Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday told the Department of Family and Protective Services to straighten up and fly right. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott annouces several emergency legislative items in his first State of the State speech on Feb. 17, 2015.]()
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State Contractor Pulls Out of Foster Care Redesign
Providence Service Corporation of Texas, the lead contractor heading the state’s foster care redesign initiative, has voluntarily terminated its contract with the Department of Family and Protective Services. Full Story
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Housing Crunch Hurts Foster Care Oversight
The oil boom has brought jobs and prosperity to Midland and Odessa, but it has also driven up housing prices, making it difficult for the Department of Family and Protective Services to hire caseworkers. Full Story
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![Child Protective Services caseworker Juan Carlos Pacheco rents a spare bedroom in his childhood friend's home in Odessa. He has also lived in a trailer with five other people and a one-bedroom apartment with six other people. His own family lives in El Paso.]()
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After Drowning, State Halts Foster Care Placements With Contractor
Following the drowning of two foster children on Sunday, the Department of Family and Protective Services has halted placements by a state contractor that was responsible for overseeing the children’s care. Full Story
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El Paso Lacking English-Speaking Foster Homes
On the heels of an expansion of Fort Bliss, El Paso is seeing an increase in the number of children who can't be placed in foster homes because there aren't enough English-speaking homes available. Full Story
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Committee Will Examine Effectiveness of Foster Care Redesign Program
Supporters of a foster care redesign are hopeful that the program will improve the quality of care for children. But some advocates are raising questions about the program's oversight. Full Story
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Department Hopes Data Effort Will Help Reduce Child Deaths
The Department of Family and Protective Services has ramped up its efforts to conduct predictive data analysis and reduce the high turnover of CPS caseworkers, the agency’s commissioner told a panel of senators on Thursday. Full Story
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![John Specia (left), the commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek testify Feb. 20, 2014, at a Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing.]()
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Congressional Hearing Targets Foster Care
Failures in the foster care system put children in Texas and across the nation at greater risk of falling into the sex trade, activists and lawmakers asserted Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Full Story
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Senate Backs Bill on Psychotropic Drugs for Foster Children
UPDATED: The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that would require a foster child's guardian to give informed consent before that child could be put on psychotropic drugs. The Senate will now conference with the House on a final agreement. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Felipe Hadler / Adam Ciesielski / Todd Wiseman