The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is seeking court intervention to appoint a third-party manager for foster care in North Texas.

DALLAS COUNTY, Texas — Dallas County will hold a hearing Wednesday to decide whether or not to appoint a third-party receiver to step in to manage foster care cases in the nine North Texas counties that make up the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Metroplex East region. 

Foster care cases in the region, which includes Dallas and Collin Counties, have been managed by a private group called EMPOWER since March 2024. 

According to the petition DFPS filed in Dallas County on Monday, since then, EMPOWER has been placed in 17 improvement plans and two corrective action plans for poor performance. Additionally, the company has been found to be in contempt of court twice in Hunt County. Court records state EMPOWER “has repeatedly failed to perform despite DFPS intervention” and that systemic failures in the organization “create imminent danger to the children” in their care. 

In its petition, DFPS highlighted three specific cases in its argument for court intervention. 

One case involved a child being hospitalized due to a lupus flare-up after EMPOWER staff mismanaged their medication due to high staff turnover.

Two cases involved child fatalities. 

A newborn died, DFPS says, because staff failed to plan for the child’s birth to parents who were known to be abusive. Just this month, DFPS determined and infant died after EMPOWER allowed for an “unassessed reunification.”

The state’s petition claims EMPOWER failed to maintain proper caseloads for case workers and experienced high staff turnover that prevented staff from properly caring for children. Some other issues mentioned in the filing included failure to report information to the state that was accurate and timely, transporting children without proper car seats, and failing to meet the terms of the organization’s contract with DFPS. 

State Senator Royce West, whose district is served by EMPOWER, was one of the lawmakers who worked on legislation to allow for the state to request third-party intervention. He said his office has heard several complaints that lead him to believe DFPS is making the right choice in stepping in. 

“There have been several different types of complaints concerning the readiness of caseworkers once they get to court,” Sen. West (D-Dallas) said. “I have judges complaining about their readiness to the point that they ask me to get involved.”

Sen. West (D-Dallas) said it’s too early to determine if EMPOWER should lose its contract with the state altogether, but he said the purpose of the legislation he worked on last session was to allow for the state to act swiftly to step in to create accountability, and he believes it’s working in this instance. 

“We just need to see exactly what occurred and make sure we put up safeguards so this does not happen again, or reduce the possibility of this happening again,” Sen. West (D-Dallas) said. 

In its petition, DFPS requested that George Cannata be named as receiver over EMPOWER to manage foster care in the region. 

According to the resume that was attached to the court documents, Cannata has nearly 30 years of experience in child welfare in North Texas, including a director role in the state’s office that works on the transition to privatized community-based care.

The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18.Â