It’s time for Texas to prioritize child wellbeing

Conventional wisdom says the best outcome for any child who enters foster care is to safely reunite them with their family or find another stable, forever home. Like in other states, the Texas foster care system is designed around this, which we call legal permanency.

Legal permanency is, of course, a worthy goal. But alone, it isn’t enough to help a child overcome the trauma of abuse and neglect. If legal permanency were enough, more than half of children in foster care nationwide would finish high school. If it were enough, foster youth wouldn’t struggle so disproportionately with unemployment or homelessness in adulthood, among other poor outcomes that can perpetuate the cycle of child abuse.

These heartbreaking statistics tell us it’s time for a paradigm shift. The foster care system must redefine success around child wellbeing, specifically three interdependent factors: strong relationships with adults, a sense of normalcy and crucial life skills. Here’s what that looks like for the nearly 20,000 children currently in the state’s care.

Who would you call if you needed to borrow $100? Who would you turn to for a second set of eyes on your resume, or to help you navigate buying your first car? These examples get to the heart of relational permanency, or the presence of supportive relationships with caring adults.

Relational permanency is gaining traction in foster care thanks in large part to the results of the Texas Youth Permanency Study (TYPS), published in January. My organization, Upbring, sponsored this research in partnership with the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing at the University of Texas at Austin to study long-term outcomes for youth who transition out of the state foster care system. More importantly, we wanted to determine how to give these children the very best foundation for their future.

For the past seven years, Upbring has been diligently reexamining how we serve children and passionately crafting solutions with a broad vision in mind. Our journey involves not just thinking outside the box but reimagining what the box can be—rethinking data, systems, people, finances and mindsets around child wellbeing.

When it came to participants’ emotional wellbeing, TYPS found that relational permanency mattered far more than legal permanency. It didn’t matter where they landed, legally speaking, so long as they had trusted adults by their side. To put this into practice, we must give youth in care opportunities to form deep personal connections earlier in their lives, whether it be with family members, foster parents, teachers or coaches.

When we create policies and shape environments in child wellbeing and education, how are we prioritizing lasting, meaningful relationships for children? In our pursuit of permanency, are we balancing both legal requirements and the necessity of relational continuity? Could our current focus be missing key elements of a child's need for consistent, caring connections?

Then there’s the concept of normalcy, or of engaging in age-appropriate activities such as playing on the soccer team, attending prom and having access to a phone. Admittedly, there is nothing normal about being removed from the only home you’ve ever known. But any attempt to help kids in foster care look, act and feel more like their peers would go a long way toward improving their overall wellbeing.

Finally, we can’t overlook the value of skills competency. You’re not going to make it very far in life without knowing how to open and manage a bank account, shop for groceries and nurture friendships. And yet too many youths leave foster care without these skills. That’s why we must create more meaningful, hands-on opportunities for them to acquire important everyday life skills while they are in care.

As someone who has worked in the public policy arena for over 30 years, I know it's all too easy to nibble around the edges of a problem. But if we’re going to affect real change, especially in a system as complex as Texas foster care, we must get to the core. My colleagues and I are convinced child wellbeing is that core. Now we need everyone to work together to re-engineer our state’s rules, regulations, policies and practices accordingly.

While progress continues to be made in the Texas legislature, there is still so much more to be done. At Upbring, we have leveraged the TYPS results to propose innovative, holistic solutions to improve wellbeing for kids in care. These ideas include expanding access to virtual education, enlisting existing community infrastructure to help teach life skills and incorporating relationship-building into statewide youth mental health initiatives.

Children in foster care face more challenges than most. But they are also incredibly resilient, especially with the right support. After all they’ve been through, we cannot send children with a history of trauma out into the world without people they can count on. Nor can we expect them to thrive as adults without age-appropriate experiences or practical life skills under their belts.

Relational permanency, normalcy and skills competency must work in tandem to empower children in foster care—no matter their legal outcome.