Texas CPS should place more foster kids with families, report says

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Texas little one welfare staff should be putting more kids who’re a part of the state’s troubled foster care system with households as a substitute of in residential remedy facilities, a report commissioned by the Legislature has found.

The report launched this month comes because the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services continues a yearslong wrestle with a backlog of youngsters awaiting help.

A working group of attorneys, foster care suppliers, advocates and representatives from three state companies stated DFPS wants greater requirements when deciding whether or not a baby should be positioned in a residential remedy middle and for a way lengthy.

“Given the high level of care and the therapeutic need for [residential treatment center] placements, it is critical for courts to review whether the placement meets the child’s needs and goals and is appropriate for the child,” the working group wrote.

Under final yr’s Senate Bill 1575, the state Legislature required the Children’s Commission arm of the Texas Supreme Court to ascertain a working group to look at the usage of residential remedy facilities in foster care.

Residential remedy facilities are supposed to be a final resort for kids within the state’s care, reserved for these with histories of extreme trauma brought on by neglect or abuse.

The working group urged lawmakers to have courts overview placements in remedy facilities and certified remedy middle packages, that are higher-quality amenities. The report prompt that courts take into account whether or not a baby’s wants could be met by a placement in a family-like setting, whether or not the remedy middle is the least restrictive surroundings that may meet the kid’s wants and the plan to discharge the kid after remedy.

“The longer that kids are stuck living in a facility instead of staying with a loving family, the harder it is for them to stay safe, heal from their trauma, and just be a kid,” Kate Murphy, a senior coverage affiliate at Texans Care for Children, wrote in a press release in response to the report.

The Legislature should additionally require attorneys representing youngsters within the foster care system to hunt a baby’s opinion about their placement, and require residential remedy middle suppliers to speak the anticipated remedy period. The working group stated growing transparency concerning the plans for remedy will permit the kid, and attorneys and advocates concerned, to set targets for remedy and discharge.

“Allowing the child to see where they will be placed can help set expectations and address any concerns the child may have about the placement,” the report stated. “Pre-placement interviews or visits should occur on a routine basis before children are placed in [a residential treatment center].”

The federal choose in a long-running lawsuit in opposition to Texas over its remedy of foster youngsters stated earlier this yr that the state has not correctly punished or shut down unsafe little one care placement amenities, together with residential remedy facilities. At one state-contracted residential remedy facility, The Refuge in Bastrop, a employees member allegedly solicited and offered nude footage of two women within the facility’s care. The experiences prompted the state to shut down The Refuge and droop the ability’s license. But a grand jury declined to indict the accused worker.

The report comes months earlier than lawmakers return to Austin for a brand new legislative session. Thousands of staff have left DFPS this yr, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Disclosure: Texans Care for Children has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Find a whole list of them here.