Foster kids’ pregnancy rate 5 times higher
Study finds gaps in state system’s approach to preventing unwanted condition in teens
AUSTIN — Teens in Texas foster care are nearly five times as likely to get pregnant as other youths their age, according to a study released Monday that calculates the rate for the first time.
The statistic is troubling because pregnant and parenting foster teens are more likely to drop out of school and have their children taken into state care, according to the study by Texans Care for Children.
“We know Texas has a high pregnancy rate in general; what we didn’t know is the rate in foster care is much, much higher,” said Kate Murphy with Texans Care for Children. “The overarching thing we’re hoping to see come of this is that policymakers will do more to prevent pregnancy among youth in foster care and to support pregnant teens.”
The Department of Family and Protective Services received the report Friday and is reviewing it, spokeswoman Lisa Block said.
The study comes at a time of turmoil for the foster care system. Texas lawmakers passed reforms in the last session after the system came under fire for separating siblings, moving kids far from their home communities and running out of placements, forcing children at times to spend the night in state offices. The state Attorney General’s Office is fighting a yearsold class-action lawsuit that alleges that there are too few caseworkers and mistreatment of foster youths.
‘Profoundly positive effect’
Little attention so far has focused on pregnancy in foster care. Just a few years ago, the Legislature began requiring the Department of Family and Protective Services to track the number of pregnant or parenting foster youths.
The study found that more than half the girls who age out of Texas foster care become pregnant by their 20th birthday. The teens are less likely to get early prenatal care and are at higher risk of giving birth to underweight babies. Last year, at least 48 infants born to foster children were taken into state custody within the same year, according to DFPS data.
“Effectively addressing teen pregnancy and supporting young parents will have a profoundly positive effect on the lives of two generations of Texans — the young parents in foster care and the children they are trying to raise,” the study said.
The study found gaps in the state’s approach to preventing teen pregnancy. Though foster youths can get birth control through Medicaid, only half of those surveyed for the study knew who could authorize a prescription.
Unisha Curry, who aged out of state care in the Houstonarea eight years ago, remembers one of her foster moms passing out condoms and requiring all the girls in the house get on birth control. In her next foster home, however, the mother pressured Curry to get off the pill, she said.
“I didn’t really have a choice in those matters,” she said. Like other foster youths surveyed in the study, Curry doesn’t remember any of her 10 foster parents talking to her about reproductive health, nor did she feel comfortable bringing it up.
“I didn’t have those types of relationships with my caregivers where I could even talk about stuff like that,” she said.
The study suggests improving training for foster parents and caseworkers who feel illequipped to discuss reproductive health. Less than 40 percent of child welfare agencies surveyed for the study reported having a specific plan to help teens prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, even though the state requires one.
“The Department of Family and Protective Services, caregivers, medical providers and Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) providers work together to ensure that children in our care are educated and have access to the health care they need,” Block said in a statement. “We are continually evaluating and working to improve the programs provided to youth in our care.”
Teen birth rates have been on the decline nationwide and in Texas, though it’s hard to tell whether that trend extends to foster care.
Data collected and reported by the state is a start, but important pieces of information are missing, the study said. While DFPS has begun reporting the number of pregnancies and births in foster care each year, it doesn’t break it down by age, gender or whether the girl was pregnant before coming into care.
332 pregnancies last year
Bexar County led the state last fiscal year for the highest number of pregnancies among foster children, accounting for 59 of 332 cases reported. Twenty-seven foster children in Bexar County were already parents that year, according to state data.
Using data from 2015, the study found that 5.7 percent of foster girls between ages 13 and 17 were pregnant, compared with 1.2 percent of other teens. From the bench, however, Travis County Judge Darlene Byrne has seen pregnant foster children as young as 11 and 12.
Sometimes the state takes custody of the infants, but most remain with their mothers in a foster home willing to take both children, DFPS said. It’s not clear how many placements are available statewide for parenting foster children.
Recently, the Legislature boosted funding for a voluntary program that helps parenting foster youths. Within the past two years, the number of families getting assistance nearly tripled, the report said. It comes at a time, however, when federal funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs based in San Antonio and around the nation is set to dry up in June, after a decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to end funding early.
Though the Legislature is facing a tight budget outlook next session, Murphy of Texans Care for Children said improvements are possible.
“We could take some fairly simple, inexpensive steps and make a big difference,” she said. “If you look at the raw number of kids we’re talking about, Texas has the resources to support 218 kids who are parenting.”