Leader of DFPS criticizes report

Child Protection chief: Rate of pregnancy in foster care isn’t high

AUSTIN — The leader of Texas Child Protection slammed a recent report that found high rates of teen pregnancy in foster care, calling the data “more sensational than factual.”

In a sharply worded letter, Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Henry “Hank” Whitman Jr. said the report potentially makes it harder for the agency to find homes for older foster teens by implying the girls are more likely to get pregnant.

The report “implies that some unique circumstance in Texas foster care allows for teenagers to become pregnant at a higher rate than teens in the general population, and worse, that DFPS and State Leadership is aware and ignores this circumstance,” he wrote in the twopage letter dated May 16. “Let me be clear: foster care does not cause teen pregnancy.”

The April report by Texans Care for Children calculated the pregnancy rate in state foster care for the first time and found the teens were nearly five times as likely as their peers to get

pregnant.

Texans Care for Children “respectfully and unequivocally” stands by the report, which was meant to propose solutions, CEO Stephanie Rubin wrote in a five-page letter to Whitman on Thursday. In it, Rubin disputed most of Whitman’s points and said that none of his concerns had been raised when Texans Care shared drafts and analysis with DFPS staff before the report was published.

“If I understand correctly, you

believe that we were wrong to publicly draw attention to the high rate of teen pregnancy in foster care. We respectfully disagree with that view,” she wrote, adding later, “Contrary to the suggestion in your letter, our report neither states nor implies that Texas foster care causes teen pregnancy.”

System under fire

The foster care system has come under fire for separating siblings, moving children far from their communities and, at times, running out of placements,

forcing children to sleep in state offices. Less attention has focused on foster children who are pregnant and/or parents.

State data, however, show that at least 332 foster youths were pregnant in the 2017 fiscal year and 218 teens were already parents. Bexar County led the state with the highest number of pregnancies among foster children that year, accounting for 59 cases. Harris County followed close behind with 47.

Besides data, the report recommended the state recruit

more families suited to foster pregnant or parenting teens and boost training for caseworkers who feel ill-equipped to discuss reproductive health.

‘Counterproductive’ report?

Whitman didn’t specifically address the policy suggestions in the letter. Instead, he called the report “counterproductive” and said it “provides no actionable data that could be used to influence policy or improve the lives and health of youth in foster care.”

Will Francis, government relations director for the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said the focus should be on solutions.

“My biggest concern is that it seems the (state’s) letter is trying to stifle the conclusions in the report, rather than actually think of how they can be addressed and how we can actually combat teen pregnancy in and out of foster care,” he said. “This report should be a call to action by the department.”