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A high-ranking official on the crisis-plagued Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is abruptly leaving, six months after rejoining the agency and a number of months earlier than her contract was set to run out.
And Julie Frank, the chief of employees for the agency’s prime chief, can also be now not employed there, a DFPS spokesperson instructed The Texas Tribune on Friday afternoon.
Executive Deputy Commissioner Anne Heiligenstein will exit her position after Nov. 20.
Heiligenstein was the DFPS commissioner from 2008-11. She has been on “loan” to DFPS from Casey Family Programs, a nonprofit that works with state governments on baby welfare programs, to function the chief deputy commissioner till June 2023.
Heiligenstein was introduced again to DFPS earlier this 12 months amid considerations in regards to the division’s management underneath Commissioner Jaime Masters. In March, the former child care investigations director at DFPS resigned after he mentioned prime agency leaders inaccurately characterised who was accountable for the mishandling of abuse allegations at a state-contracted middle that cares for victims of intercourse trafficking.
Heiligenstein’s return to the agency was welcomed when it was announced earlier this year. Heiligenstein joined DFPS as an govt in May, however she remains to be an worker of Casey.
“Our relationship with Casey continues to be strong, and they are a valued partner,” mentioned Patrick Crimmins, a DFPS spokesperson.
Crimmins declined to reply additional questions in regards to the two departures.
The management shakeup comes as a staffing disaster continues to plague the division. Since the start of the 12 months, more than 2,300 employees have left the kid welfare agency, the Houston Chronicle reported. Departed employees have described a belabored agency and poor administration methods that depart youngsters in danger.
DFPS can also be the topic of a yearslong federal lawsuit over Texas’ troubled foster care system, which U.S. District Judge Janis Jack discovered has violated foster youngsters’s civil rights.
In 2020, Jack held state officers in contempt of courtroom on two occasions for not making sufficient progress on her orders, which included well timed investigations of abuse and neglect in foster houses. Jack has repeatedly criticized the state’s sluggish reform of the foster care system, which has discovered children in the care of DFPS sleeping in workplaces, given the flawed or improper doses of medicine, sexually abused or participating in self-harm.
A latest legislative report discovered that Texas should prioritize placing children in foster care with families quite than residential therapy facilities. Residential therapy 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.
Heiligenstein’s working relationship to Masters is unclear primarily based on a DFPS organizational chart. The two are linked with a dotted line, however Heiligenstein isn’t listed as Masters’ direct report. The chart exhibits Heiligenstein’s areas of focus embody baby protecting companies and baby protecting investigations, however the affiliate commissioners of these departments report on to Masters.
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