Problems with the Texas foster care system have caught the attention of people beyond our state's borders. According to this March 29th article published in the Dallas-Morning News, the New York based organization Children's Rights (led by Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry) has filed a class-action federal lawsuit against Texas' Child Protective Services (a program within the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services). (http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/About_Child_Protective_Services/) Children's Rights describes itself as a "...national advocacy group working to reform failing child welfare systems on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of abused and neglected children who depend on them for protection and care. (http://www.childrensrights.org/)
The profiled case represents a "class" of 12,000 children who have been removed from their homes and placed under the care of the state for over a year. The claim is that this amount of time exceeds "permanency" deadlines of 12 to 18 months and results in significant suffering for the children involved. According to the article, problems arise when "CPS is unable to reunite the child with family or find a lasting home, such as with a relative or adoptive parents, and drops the ball because children from then on aren't required to have their own lawyer and another adult advocating for them."
The article cites Anne Heiligenstein (Commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services) as saying that the lawsuit will "do more harm than good" as critically limited resources will be diverted from service provision to pay for the lawsuit.
The goal of the lawsuit is to get the "court to order the state to lower caseloads for CPS workers, recruit more foster homes and do a better job of supervising private foster-care providers." Back in September, DFPS warned legislators about the case and the large amounts of money that have been awarded to Children's Rights in the past. This news was cushioned by a positive inclusion of information regarding CPS and foster care overhaul legislation that passed in previous sessions, and the resulting staff increases and reduced caseloads. However, the article mentions: "David Richart, executive director of the National Institute on Children, Youth and Families, which tracks lawsuits in child welfare and juvenile justice systems, says Lowry picks her targets carefully and almost never loses a case."
It is hard to imagine DFPS scrounging up enough funds to fight a federal lawsuit when budget cuts threaten the quality of (and ability to provide) core services to Texas children. However, if a well-publicized and costly lawsuit filed by an outside organization acts as the impetus for real change and reform, then perhaps this type of action is what is needed to improve the system and secure better outcomes for the thousands of youth who pass through the Texas foster care system each year.
Rebecca Lengnick-Hall
MSSW & MPA Candidate
University of Texas at Austin
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