The Texas foster care system is improving but cases where children are improperly supervised, exposing them to injuries and even death continue, according to documents filed in the long-running federal lawsuit on Monday. <\/p>\n
Under a court order born from a 15-year-old lawsuit over the state\u2019s troubled foster care system, court-appointed monitors have been regularly producing comprehensive reports \u2014 11 of them released publicly so far \u2014 on whether the state is implementing several ordered improvements. <\/p>\n
The latest three, released on Monday, cover a period from 2023 through 2024. Monitors found that overall wait times for callers to the abuse hotline decreased, more than 82% of caseloads involving children in permanent foster care remained within a manageable threshold of 14-to-17 children per worker and \u201csignificant\u201d progress has been made into the investigations of foster care providers. <\/p>\n
The monitors reported that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which together with the Health and Human Services Commission are defendants in the 2011 lawsuit, had a \u201cstrong\u201d performance when it came to keeping caseloads within those standards. It also praised the agency for the fact that nearly all caseworkers with at least one child\u2019s case had completed the required training. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe court monitor reports show that Texas foster care is a system in transition,\u201d attorney Paul Yetter, the attorney for Texas foster care children, said in a statement. \u201cThe state has made great progress in many areas but has real issues in others. The court reforms have made children safer. But the improvements have to be lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The monitors detail multiple issues with troubled foster homes, saying in one report that they had \u201csignificant concerns\u201d with the system putting foster children in homes that had histories of abuse, neglect or exploitation. In particular, they pointed to foster homes where children alleged they had unexplained bruises, another where a foster father pointed a gun at children to discipline them, and a home with a troubled history that only closed after DFPS found that the foster parent neglected a child who died from a fentanyl overdose.<\/p>\n
The monitors say they are concerned that HHSC allows homes to stay open if the child placing agency, private organizations that the state contracts with to find homes for foster children, disagrees with the closure. They also note some homes reopened under a new child placing agency after HHSC had previously recommended that they close.<\/p>\n
The monitors also called out a facility that placed children in prolonged isolation for days and even weeks and two children who were placed with a provider after it had been placed on a \u201cdisallowance\u201d list because of safety concerns. <\/p>\n