Abbott signs bills aimed at addressing crisis in child welfare system
Two days after the end of the legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott held a public ceremony to sign four major child welfare bills into law. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott signs four bills aimed at reforming Child Protective Services, at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services headquarters in Austin on May 31, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Child welfare overhaul bills await Abbott's signature
Texas legislators cast final votes Sunday evening on a pair of bills overhauling how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services works with and finds homes for abused and neglected children. Full Story
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Texas Senate approves monthly payments for relative caregivers of abused children
Texas senators voted unanimously on Monday to increase money given to kinship care families. Full Story
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Senate passes religious protections for child welfare agencies
Texas state senators voted to allow child welfare providers to be protected from legal retaliation if they assert their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Full Story
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![A father holds his child in a public health clinic outside of McAllen, Texas.]()
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Texas House passes child welfare reforms
The Texas House on Thursday passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state's child welfare system. Full Story
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House backs measure barring mandatory vaccines for foster children
Discussion over a bill that would improve the state’s Child Protective Services agency turned into a heated debate over vaccines — and whether they should be required for children placed in foster care. Full Story
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![State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, voted no on a motion to table an amendment to House Bill 39, a Child Protective Services reform bill in the Texas House on May 10, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
House votes to let adoption agencies reject parents over religion
Faith-based adoption agencies in Texas would be able to reject prospective parents on religious grounds under a bill the state House approved Tuesday over objections from Democratic lawmakers. Full Story
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Analysis: Think Texas has a weak governor? Not in the month of May
A Texas governor's powers peak at the end of a legislative session, as deadline-haunted legislators begin to fear the threat of a veto from the state's chief executive. Full Story
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![Gov. Abbott delivers his State of the State address in the House Chamber on Jan. 31, 2017.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Frank and Minjarez on how to fix our foster care system (video)
Full video of Evan Smith's conversation on foster care and CPS reform with state Reps. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, and Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio. Full Story
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For troubled foster kids in Houston, sleeping in offices is "rock bottom"
No child is supposed to sleep or spend more than a few hours at the Harris County Youth Services Center's Point of Entry in Houston. But Texas' foster care placement crisis has forced some of the state's most troubled teens to sleep in a place that isn't equipped to care for them. Full Story
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![Some foster kids in Harris County with nowhere else to go have to spend the night here, at an office that was never set up to be a child-care center.]()
Credit: Neena Satija for the Texas Tribune -
Analysis: A teen’s death — and a failure of policy
The death of a teen on the run from the state's foster care system stirs deeper questions: Why aren't these programs working, and who will be held to account for that? Full Story
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Houston foster child death spurs concerns over placement shortages
The death of a 15-year-old girl who ran away from a Houston Child Protective Services office on Sunday has advocates and legislators grappling with the worst-case scenario of the state's shortage of homes for abused and neglected children. Full Story
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![The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
House panel hears testimony on child welfare religious liberty bill
House State Affairs Committee members heard testimony Wednesday afternoon on House Bill 3859, which would allow faith-based organizations to exercise their “sincerely held religious beliefs” when participating as providers in Texas’ child welfare system. Full Story
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![State Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, the chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, listened to testimony about how researchers use fetal tissue on April 28, 2016.]()
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Texas' next religious liberty fight could be over foster care
Texas legislators are considering sharpening religious protections for faith-based groups the state hires to place children in foster homes. Critics say that could give religious groups license to discriminate. Full Story
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Texas House, Senate unanimously pass measures overhauling child welfare system
After months of calls from advocates to take drastic measures, both chambers unanimously passed bills on Wednesday that would change how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services cares for vulnerable children. Full Story
![A father holds his child in a public health clinic outside of McAllen, Texas.]()
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Watch the Texas Senate debate child welfare overhaul
Texas Senate lawmakers are debating legislation Wednesday that seeks to overhaul Texas' child welfare system. Full Story
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![Children play on the outdoor playground.]()
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Watch the Texas House debate child welfare overhaul
The Texas House is in the middle of an intense debate over a proposal that would bar undocumented Texans taking care of abused or neglected children in their families from receiving state funds that would be available to other families. Full Story
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![Mercedes Bristol, 62, of San Antonio, at the Capitol with her five grandchildren after testifying to the House Human Services Committee on Feb. 20, 2017.]()
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Analysis: On child protection, the money might be the hardest part
The safety net for Texas children has some big holes in it, and most lawmakers want that fixed. But it's going to cost money — a harder sell in a conservative Texas Legislature. Full Story
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![Women "walk the track" on a stretch of Bissonnet Street in Houston. Pimps gather nearby in fast food and strip mall parking lots as potential johns circle and standard traffic passes through.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Child welfare bill heads to Senate floor
Senate Health and Human Services Committee members voted unanimously Wednesday morning to send a bill aimed at overhauling the state's child welfare system to the full Senate for a vote. Full Story
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![Sen. Charles Schwertner R-Georgetown listens to questions asked by Sen. Kirk Watson D-Austin during a February 15, 2017 Senate Committee on Health and Human Services]()
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Analysis: Sex trafficking series shows Texas vexed by long-term challenges
State officials have done a lot of work to stop sex trafficking in Texas, but the results revealed by the Tribune's Sold Out series are demoralizing. The state's own safety net is part of the pipeline for victims of trafficking. Full Story
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![People who care for sex-trafficking victims have a common refrain: It's not if they'll run away, but when.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune