Judge: Foster care is ‘bad to worse’
A day after a panel of experts recommended fixes to Texas’ troubled foster care system, a federal judge ripped into state leaders for continuing to allow children to stay in unsafe facilities.
Tuesday’s roughly six-hour hearing before U.S. District Judge Janis Jack was the latest in a class-action lawsuit against the state for its foster care conditions. It also came on the heels of a new court monitors’ report documenting more overworked and untrained employees, unfurnished and dirty facilities, and violent situations involving children.
The judge addressed both matters, scolding state officials and asking them to commit to the expert panel’s recommendations. In the end, the state agreed to implement a few immediate changes, but most suggestions will be forwarded to Gov. Greg Abbott.
“It looks like we’re just going from bad to worse,” Jack said. “It’s very discouraging. There are … some bright spots, but this continued, unconstitutional and unsafe treatment of these children is getting to everybody that’s deeply involved in this case.”
For months, Texas has faced a capacity crisis after shutting down dozens of foster care facilities flagged for unsafe conditions. The state never replaced the beds lost, instead sending hundreds of children without placements to spend weeks temporarily lodged in hotels, leased houses and office buildings.
With few options, the state assigned untrained CPS caseworkers to supervise the children, creating a dangerous and chaotic situation for all involved. The children, most of whom suffer from mental illness or deep-rooted trauma, have been left in temporary
placements with no stability and no access to a specialized caregivers who can de-escalate volatile situations.
The employees, meanwhile, have no authority to enforce rules or discipline the children. Many have been assaulted or watched as the kids destroyed property in the temporary placements, hurting morale and leading to resignations.
“Texas is a big state, but the magnitude of the problem here gave us pause,” said Judith Meltzer, one of the expert panelists and the president of the Washington, D.c.-based Center for the Study of Social Policy. “By setting up these unlicensed facilities across the state and staffing them with CPS workers — I think we found that very unusual and a little startling.”
Recommendations
The panel issued roughly two dozen recommendations, covering both short- and long-term goals. State officials agreed to enact some of the more immediate suggestions, including the establishment of an interagency team that will directly oversee efforts to reduce the number of children in temporary facilities.
DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters said she would also assign a community liaison to the four regions of the state with the highest number of children in temporary placements. And she agreed to rework the department’s plans to rely less on group settings, as the experts had advised.
But most of the other suggestions are still in the air, as Masters said she and other agency officials will determine the feasibility of the recommendations. Some require additional funding, like extra support for relatives or close family friends who take in foster children.
Masters said she doesn’t object to any of the recommendations but is unsure whether the state has the resources available to enact them.
“I think it’s great information,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do from this report.”
During the hearing, members of the expert panel stressed that the children need more individualized attention, saying the state should focus more on hiring specialized caretakers and utilizing as many family placements as possible.
“You want a workforce that has empathy for these kids and feels a singular responsibility to solve many of the problems that bring kids to the department’s attention,” said Paul Vincent, an independent consultant who previously served as director of Alabama’s Child Welfare Policy & Practice Group. “I couldn’t help but think … what a difference it would make if the entire workforce had that view of the children.”
Vincent and Meltzer served on the panel with Ann Elizabeth Stanley, a senior director with Casey Family Programs, a nonprofit that conducts child welfare consulting work.
‘It’s pretty stunning’
Jack also delved into the monitors’ report, which detailed ongoing problems in the system.
Among them: Children in temporary placements said that caseworkers didn’t regularly give them their prescribed medication. Serious incident reports showed that on-site security officers used force against kids, at times using pepper spray or Taser stun guns on them.
The report described an incident involving an 8year-old girl who misbehaved after being asked to brush her teeth. She refused to go to bed, spit on staffers, stripped naked and banged her head against a wall before climbing into another child’s bed and throwing their belongings.
Staffers called 911 and requested an ambulance, as the eight-year-old began biting herself. Instead, a police officer arrived, spoke with the child and asked to see her bedroom. The officer read her a bedtime story and left.
“It’s pretty stunning,” Jack said of the report. “It’s pretty sad, isn’t it? I had to read it and take breaks because it broke my heart that Texas is treating their children like this.”
At other points, Jack requested updates on improvements that state officials have already been working on.
When Masters said DFPS had not yet completed work on an online system tracking children’s placements as well as their school, medical and mental health records, Jack said she didn’t “understand this incompetence.” Masters later said the system would be in place by July.
“Sorry I act so angry,” Jack said. “It’s actually because I am angry.”