Texas government fails children in Child Protective Services
There are nearly 443,000 children in foster care in the United States, according to an AFCARS report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2017, more than 690,000 children spent time in U.S. foster care.
In the past week, critics have been attacking the Texas government due to Child Protective Services records showing that the monthly sum of foster care children who did not have a home for at least two nights totaled 678.
The Texas government has failed to prioritize Child Protective Services and, as a result, the number of children who did not have a home for at least two nights increased by 49% from 2018. Children were placed in government offices with no beds to sleep on; instead they were provided cots. The government should feel ashamed that they cannot even provide basic needs such as beds, this is unacceptable.
There is a deficiency in foster care homes and foster care beds in Texas. This is due to the government’s inability to provide adequate funding for foster care facilities. The facilities that help foster children aren’t able to obtain necessary services because they are not able to provide sufficient wages for their staff.
How is it that a government that can afford to spend their money on debt, can’t afford to help innocent and defenseless children? These are children we are talking about, not grown adults. The least the government could do is provide more funding to these facilities.
Keeping children in government offices also adds more work for caseworkers.. Caseworkers shouldn’t have to work tirelessly because the government isn’t able to meet the needs required. Though state leaders and agency officials have acknowledged this as a conflict, they can’t seem to come up with a solution.
While I agree that there are many important matters that the Texas government spends its money on, children shouldn’t be at the bottom of the list. It is Texas’ duty to support these children, and this cannot happen without providing enough funding to CPS.. More funding means more opportunities for those interested in helping through foster care and more housing for the children.
Government officials need to open their eyes to the urgent need for better prepared foster homes. Some children have special needs or special behavior problems that need to be handled accordingly. Foster homes need to be trained to deal with these specific needs, because failing to do so is neglecting those who need special care.
The statistics surrounding children after leaving foster care are not very promising. Statistics show that when children leave foster care they are more prone to teen pregnancy, incarceration, prositution, post-traumatic stress disorder and many more negative effects.
It is up to the government to take action and prioritize foster care. Action needs to start now.
KD • Feb 13, 2020 at 4:11 pm
I do not even know where to begin with this article.
1) Texas is REQUIRED to pay debt service, it is not a choice it is a legal obligation. If you borrow money, you have to pay it back.
2) More children are finding permanency, which should be the goal of any child welfare organization. This is in part because the Texas government prioritized funding for things like kinship care. https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/12/04/texas-children-foster-care-adoptions/
3) The Texas Legislature has also funded pay raises to both CPS and APS caseworkers and allocated more money to the Department of Family and Protective Services to hire more caseworkers.
4) The assertions in the article fail to acknowledge that many of the children entering the foster care system are high acuity, requiring much more specialized care.
5) Many kids are being pulled out of unsafe situations in the middle of the night, I personally would rather those kids sleep in an office than continue to be in a situation where their safety is threatened.