Judge gives voice to frustration of unplaced foster kids

It’s rare for kids in our embattled child welfare system to speak for themselves — but one local veteran judge changed that for some children without placement.

Already removed from their homes for child abuse, neglect or parental relinquishment, such children without placement, or CWOP, suffer in a Texas system that U.S. District Judge Janis Jack has repeatedly deemed dysfunctional, harmful and unconstitutional since 2015. Placements for these kids can’t be found at homes or provider facilities because the state is closing them due to dangerous dysfunction.

It seems that everyone — the kids, caseworkers, advocates and judges — are forever desperate for reform in Child Protective Services. More funding and policy changes are always needed. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, or DFPS, is requesting $128 million in additional federal pandemic relief funds from Texas, and child advocates are asking for even more of the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds so they can implement four expert recommendations for reform.

But true reform will also take paying close attention to each child, just like Judge Peter Sakai, who is soon resigning after serving in the 225th District Court for 14 years, did.

Fed up with incessant CWOP headlines and blame on CPS, he summoned judges, attorneys, caseworkers, advocates, state Sen. José Menéndez, DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters and others to a special status hearing docket held Aug. 30-31 via Zoom.

Sakai’s mission for the 27 Bexar County foster kids: Speak directly to every foster kid without a placement. He wanted to look in their eyes and hear their voices as they told him what they needed.

At times, he had to ask the adults to be quiet and let the children speak, he said.

Five of the children had severe psychiatric issues and had been released from institutions. Some had been turned over to the state after failed CPS adoptions or their parents ran out of insurance and couldn’t afford their care. One 12-year-old was living with his father, who was divorced from the child’s mom, but CPS hadn’t tried to place him with his mother, who didn’t know her children were sleeping in a CPS office. One girl who wanted to be a crime scene investigator was labeled a runaway because she would go check on her biological family.

The most egregious case involved a 7-year-old whom Sakai didn’t speak with directly. “I really criticized CPS — you mean, you can’t find a bed for a 7-yearold? Get that kid out of the offices!” he said.

In July 2021, the monthly high of foster children without placements reached 416; children were sleeping in motels, churches or office buildings, though they legally could no longer stay in offices as of last month.

Only 0.56 percent, or 161 of the 28,943 children in the Texas child welfare system, were CWOP as of Sept. 7. Children without placement, who are mostly teenagers with higher levels of care, get a bad rap for being impossible to place because of deep mental health needs and challenging behaviors. Still, CWOP add more stress to the system because caseworkers are required to care for these children 24/7. Some kids are cared for by up to 12 caseworkers per day.

Sakai tried to focus on the positive during the hearing — trying to inspire the children to look to their future by asking them about their hopes and plans.

All but five of the kids were quickly placed, and Sakai sent a long list of recommendations to the state, including to keep doing CWOP hearings this way. Another one of his big takeaways: “I pushed the system to think out of the box. A lot of the kids wanted to go home with parents or other adults willing to take them.”

Sakai told me he spoke to the foster kids without placement as he used to speak to his own two children. He was moved to apologize for the unfairness and cruelty of the circumstances.

“Can we now understand their anger and frustration?” he reflected. “Every one of these children has hope, a goal, a dream.”

Yes, we understand. And, we, too, are angry and frustrated.