The latest Department of Family and Protective Services news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas allows religious groups that are part of the state’s child welfare network to refuse to assist LGBTQ couples seeking to foster or adopt. That could put critical federal funding at risk. Full Story
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Texas policies targeting access to health care for transgender youth forced one family to leave the state. Full Story
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Former DFPS commissioner Anne Heiligenstein was tapped by Abbott in June to serve as the agency’s executive deputy commissioner. Last month, she was out. Now she’s back. Full Story
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The department is terminating the contract of Executive Deputy Commissioner Anne Heiligenstein, who was supposed to work until next June, amid a staffing crisis. The chief of staff for the agency’s top leader has also left. Full Story
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Residential treatment centers are meant to be a last resort for children in the state’s care, reserved for those with histories of severe trauma caused by neglect or abuse. Full Story
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Friday’s injunction applies to all members of PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group with more than 600 members in Texas. Full Story
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Texas Department of Family and Protective Services leaders instructed employees to avoid written communications about the cases and barred low-level employees from handling the investigations, according to internal agency communications. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care, driving one such family to leave home. Full Story
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A spokesperson told The Texas Tribune that all employees are trained before supervising youth. DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters apologized to the child and her mother. Full Story
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During Robert “Rich” Richman’s short tenure, he oversaw the investigation of parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children and the mishandling of allegations of sex abuse at a foster care facility. Full Story
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At least 48 Texas children are housed at facilities run by organizations under an investigation launched by two U.S. senators. Full Story
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The Supreme Court cited safe haven laws as an abortion alternative when it overturned Roe v. Wade. But Texas’ policy lacks funding and just 172 infants have been relinquished since 2009. Full Story
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The state has been investigating whether parents who provide access to gender-affirming health care are committing child abuse. The temporary restraining order is part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of three families and members of PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group. Full Story
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The judge in the 11-year federal lawsuit against Texas said the state has not properly punished or shut down unsafe child care placement facilities or curbed the rate of children who are sexually victimized while in the state’s care. Full Story
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The high court also raised questions about why the state opened these investigations in the first place, noting that the child welfare agency is not bound by directives from the governor. Full Story
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The court-appointed watchdogs expressed concern after learning that a caretaker accused of exploiting children at a state-licensed facility in Bastrop had been previously fired from a state juvenile justice facility for misconduct. Full Story
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State records show Iesha Greene was fired in 2020 from a state juvenile facility for having inappropriate relationships with children. The Refuge said it was aware of her previous work there, but it never requested her publicly available personnel records. Full Story
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Other investigators don’t want to follow an order they believe harms families but worry about the impact of a mass employee exodus on the state’s most vulnerable children. Full Story
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Candidates hardly ever talk about improving the safety net for kids — unless the holes in the safety net have become big enough to get the attention of voters. Full Story
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Most of the deaths were attributed to “preexisting medical conditions” or abuse suffered before the children entered the system, according to the DFPS report. The numbers are on par with those reported in previous years. Full Story
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