Anne Heiligenstein 4Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
Department of Family and Protective Services
Posted in
State Government
Anne Heiligenstein 3
Anne Heiligenstein 3Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
Posted in
State Government
Anne Heiligenstein 2
Anne Heiligenstein 2Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
Posted in
State Government
Anne Heiligenstein 1
Anne Heiligenstein 1Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here.
Posted in
Health care
Digging Up the Past
Young adults who age out of Texas foster care often request their records to reconnect with estranged siblings, to track down biological families or to understand what they endured. But child welfare advocates complain the state routinely denies these requests, saying the records can’t be found or will take months or even years to compile — assuming they respond at all. State officials admit they have a large backlog but insist they’ve beefed up staff and are putting new policies in place to address it.
Posted in
Health care
Baby Bump
At a hearing today, the Department of Family and Protective Services will consider stricter caregiver-to-child ratios for child care centers — but improved care for Texas toddlers could also mean less income for child care providers and higher tuition for families.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom, Hamilton, and Philpott on the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention, the two-step, the forecast, and the ticket; Galbraith on the political and environmental battle between state and federal environmental regulators, and on a new age of nukes in Texas; Burnson on signs of the times in San Antonio; Ramshaw on hackers breaking into the state’s confidential cancer database; Aguilar’s interview with Katherine Glass, the Libertarian Party’s nominee for governor; Acosta on efforts to stop ‘Murderabilia’ items that sell because of the association with killers; Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle’s Terri Langford on the criminal arrest records of workers in state-funded foster care centers; Hu on accusations that state Sunset examiners missed problems with workers compensation regulators because they didn’t ask the right questions of the right people; Ramsey and Stiles on the rush to rake in campaign cash, and on political races that could be won or lost because of voter attraction to Libertarian candidates; and Aguilar’s fresh take on South Texas’ reputation for corruption. The best of our best from June 28 to July 3, 2010.
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Health care
TribBlog: Lawmakers to DFPS: Tell Us About Abuse
The commissioner of the agency that oversees Texas foster children told lawmakers she regrets not telling them about a 2008 “fight club” involving developmentally disabled girls. She said the agency is moving quickly to address abuse and neglect inside Daystar Residential Inc.
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Health care
Con Jobs
Criminal records don’t always exclude job applicants from working with the most vulnerable foster care children, according to a Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation. At Daystar Residential Inc., where workers forced developmentally disabled girls to fight each other, dozens made it through the state’s background check process in the last three years despite records of arrests.
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Health care
TribBlog: Gallego Wants “Fight Club” Investigation
State Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, has asked the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics to review how the Department of Family and Protective Services licenses, reviews and oversees residential treatment centers for foster kids.
