CPS leader asks state for 800 more workers
Plan to combat crisis in Texas calls for more caseworkers, investigators
Struggling to resolve a crisis that puts thousands of kids at risk of abuse or neglect, the head of Child Protective Services is seeking 800 more front-line workers.
AUSTIN — Labeling a continuing crisis involving thousands of children at risk of abuse and neglect “unacceptable,” the head of the state’s protective services wants to quickly hire more than 800 additional front-line workers and support staff at a cost of $53.3 million.
In a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus, Henry “Hank” Whitman, commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, acknowledged that his beleaguered agency is “struggling to meet the time frames for initial contact and timely case closure” in Harris County, North Texas and Central Texas.
“We have made substantive progress on Child Protective Services (CPS) transformation and toward achieving the benchmarks” in a plan he proposed in July to address the continuing crisis, he wrote.
The Thursday letter was in response to a demand by Abbott, Patrick and Straus for him to come up with quick solutions within a week.
The problems — some them most critical in the Houston area — range from dropped or delayed investigations into abuse and neglect, scores of children sleeping in offices because of a shortage of placement sites, and skyrocketing turnover rates among employees that have derailed proper placements and supervision.
“Texas children remain at risk. This is unacceptable,” said Whitman, a former Texas Ranger whom Abbott named last spring to fix the problems. The additional staff resources will be targeted to the Houston, Dallas and Austin regions to help speed up the faceto-face initiation of investigations and the timely closing of cases, he wrote.
The new workers will include 550 front-line investigators, special investigators and caseworkers, the letter states. The agency will hire another 279 workers to provide supervision, support, hiring and training. Whitman said those new employees will include 105 “conser-
vatorship caseworkers” to find placements for foster care children, and 145 more “family-based safety services caseworkers” to work with parents and relatives to prevent children from being removed from their homes.
Not in the budget
With high staff turnover rates last year that ranged from 57 percent in Dallas to 31 percent in San Antonio and 30 percent in Houston, many workers and former workers have complained about burnout and low pay. While Whitman’s letter made no mention of a pay raise, the new budget he has proposed to the Legislature includes additional pay for “high-performing staff.”
The starting base salary for caseworkers currently is about $32,900, agency officials said.
State officials said Friday they were reviewing Whitman’s proposal and expect a decision in the coming days about additional funding needed for the new positions. Because funding for the additional staff is not included in the agency’s current budget, state leaders will have approve any spending to make those hires possible before the Legislature convenes in January.
Whitman also told state leaders that he has revised agency work schedules to have investigators work 10-hour days with overlapping schedules to ensure that children are seen sooner. He also has implemented team assignments to allow two investigators to locate and interview children and families to expedite initial decisions, and consolidated supervision to hasten abuse and neglect investigations.
Whitman said he has created a new post of faithbased director to develop and implement programs to increase the involvement of churches and religious communities to find additional foster parents.
Patrick has called a meeting of faith leaders in Austin on Nov. 2 to encourage that initiative.
‘Missing’ component
Children’s advocacy groups on Friday questioned whether Whitman’s plan will be enough to solve the crisis. They noted that new workers can take up to a year to hire and train, slowing any immediate relief from the current crisis.
“The commissioner’s plan as reported is missing a key component: competitive salaries at a level that will actually fill the positions and keep them filled with qualified caseworkers,” said Madeline McClure, CEO of TexProtects, a statewide advocacy association. “We already have about 400 vacancies in high-need areas. We may hire 550 additional workers, but who will we retain who can handle the pressure and rigor of this job at a $34,000 entry-level salary? Turnover at CPS is almost double that of other state agencies, in part because the people who could do this work follow the free market toward better pay.”
She and other advocates called Friday for lawmakers to expand prevention and early intervention services.
In his letter, Whitman cautioned that as additional children are brought into the foster-care system, the costs of services for them will rise, as well.
“The increase in investigations will allow more children to be seen on time, but will also ensure that children who have sadly never been seen will finally be contacted,” he stated. “These additional children, in many cases, will need to have services provided or will need to be removed from their homes.”
‘Exceptional items’
In his proposed $3.6 billion budget submitted to the Legislature, Whitman is seeking additional funds for foster-care, including $42.6 million for children’s services and staffing. In addition, he has submitted $498.1 million in socalled “exceptional items” — much of that for fostercare improvements including pay hikes for high-performing employees.
The new staffing in Whitman’s letter are not included in that budget request.
As the price tag to fix the foster-care crisis grows, so does the political pressure, since the Legislature already faces hundreds of millions of dollars in other critical funding needs for other state programs, at a time when state revenues are down.