An Overhaul Needed for the Texas Foster Care System - Family Protection

I was reading two news articles this evening that was published yesterday about the foster care system in my home state of Texas and how a US judge has ordered an overhaul of the system. The articles shed a lot of light on the true face of foster care in Texas and how changes must be made in order to protect children who are taken from their homes.

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The articles point out some of the changes that need to happen in the Texas foster care system which include (all quoted from the articles):

• giving caseworkers a limit of 14 to 17 caseloads
• staggering the number of caseloads for new hires
• hiring more staff
• see top-priority children within 24 hours of when they were taken by Child Protective Services
• mark in children's records if the children have been sexually abused
• write a policy on what constitutes child-on-child sexual abuse
• no longer have children sleep in CPS offices overnight
• foster children have access to a phone to report abuse to a 24-hour hotline
• an integrated computer system that incorporates records on each child, including educational and medical records
• any sexualized children - whether victim or aggressor - should be placed in single-child homes

Apparently Attorney General Ken Paxton said the judge's requests were "unfunded and unrealistic mandates". He does not seem willing to work toward correcting the problems with the foster care system in Texas. He has already appealed the ruling, which could take a year. He believes that there is not enough funding for Texas to be able to implement this necessary change. The judge sited that the state had not begun to "implement policy changes or develop implementation plans."

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I cannot believe that someone would have to write down the basic rules that the Texas foster care system needs to follow. Is it not common sense that a child should not be sleeping in an office after being taken from their parents? Is it not common sense that the children's records should include education, medical and abuse reports? Who out there thinks that children should not be able to call a hotline to report abuse by their foster family? Someone needs to be told to quickly see top-priority children?

The articles mention that the Texas system has been failing for years. Children have reported abuse after being shuffled from one placement to another over and over again. The report even detailed a girl whose name is withheld who was in the system since the age of 5. Shortly after entering a foster home, she was raped by another child, moved 45 times, and had multiple failed adoptions due to delayed paperwork. Upon turning 18, she aged out of the system and tried to kill herself by walking into oncoming traffic. The system miserably failed this child and it makes me sad.

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This article does not even touch on the corruption in the CPS department at all. Those who force their way into homes and take screaming and scared children away from parents who have been reported because they were accused of abuse for spanking their child, refusing vaccines, or various other parental decisions that someone does not agree with. Apparently they have written a guide for if your children are taken, but trying to load it on your computer takes so long that it times out, thus making it impossible to see. Is this a coincidence?

Here's the guide I would like to give you if you have to deal with CPS. As it has been said in pretty much every article found in @familyprotection, if the CPS shows up at your door, do not let them in. Demand a warrant. While they go get the warrant they do not have, call an attorney. Be prepared. Be nice, but firm. Do not fall for their tricks.

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It is sad when any system is messed up, but it is especially sad when it is the system that is supposed to be taking care of children, our future. The system is terribly flawed and there are many officials unwilling to work toward fixing it, even given specific guidelines and funding. It is hard to admit when you are wrong and ask for forgiveness. That is what the children in the foster care system in Texas need - an apology and change.

News articles:
Federal judge says Texas still needs oversight to fix its "broken" foster care system
Judge orders sweeping changes to Texas foster care system

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I support @familyprotection because there are so many lies out there and they are working to get the truth out. The stories that are shared on their blog are the truth about the corruption in the CPS and foster system around the world. They are trying to help people fight for what is right and shining a light into the darkness. This should not happen to hundreds of children. This should not even happen to one child.