Judge blasts ‘unsafe’ foster care nonprofits
Hearing spotlights ongoing problems, including allegations of violence, sexual assault and insufficient medical care
SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge overseeing a decadelong effort to reform Texas’ troubled foster care system blasted a private San Antonio foster care provider during a lengthy court hearing this week, accusing it of running a dangerous operation and suggesting its board members could face liability for the harm that results.
Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack’s withering remarks came Wednesday and followed a recent report by two court-appointed monitors that cited numerous problems with the quality of care that a local nonprofit, Family Tapestry, and its parent organization, the Children’s Shelter, are providing foster children — including insufficient medical attention, inadequate supervision and allegations of violence and sexual assault.
“You are running a dangerous, unsafe operation, and now you want more money to continue doing it,” Jack told Annette Rodriguez, chief executive officer of the Children’s Shelter and Family Tapestry. “You were unprepared to take care of those children. And you’re still unprepared to take care of those children.”
The judge is reviewing the degree of compliance of state agencies and private providers with court mandates that seek to improve Texas foster children’s safety, health and living conditions. The orders stem from an ongoing class-action lawsuit filed in 2011 by a dozen children who were then receiving long-term foster care services.
The Children’s Shelter won a state contract in August 2018 to manage and place foster children in safe environments. The organization created Family Tapestry to handle those duties, which began in February 2019.
But the San Antonio nonprofits could face monetary penalties and possibly lose the contract due to the safety lapses that child welfare officials discovered at its facilities.
The problems found at Family Tapestry and its Whataburger Center for Children and Youth “are serious and an incredible safety issue,” the judge said Wednesday.
Rodriguez didn’t respond to an email from the San Antonio Express-News seeking comment. Neither did Jay Dewald, an attorney who has been representing her, the Children’s Shelter and Family Tapestry free of charge.
Jack said she found it “absolutely astounding” that Family Tapestry has told lawmakers, lobbyists and state child protection officials, in defending itself from the citations, that it needs more funding, telling Rodriguez, “I hope that that doesn’t occur for the safety of these children.”
The judge also scolded several other private foster care contractors who operate across the state, along with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
“It’s the safety of these children that’s at stake here,” she said. “That’s the most important thing we have — more important than contracts or lobbyists or all these other things. It’s the safety of the children that we must keep foremost in our minds. And I expect Texas to live up to its duties to keep these children safe.”
Bexar County is one of four areas in Texas — and the largest — that has pivoted to a “communitybased” foster care model, using private contractors instead of state agencies to manage and oversee networks of foster care providers and children’s services.
An additional 26 counties surrounding San Antonio are expected to adopt that same model in October, court documents show.