If you’re looking for a measure of how bad things are in Texas’ child protection system, consider this: Officials believe employees at a private facility hired by the state merely took nude pictures of some of their charges but didn’t engage in sex trafficking.
What a relief.
That’s about as much as we can hope for when it comes to Texas and foster care. Despite a federal court’s relentless oversight, increased budgets and repeated vows of commitment from state leaders, Texas simply cannot handle caring for some of its most vulnerable children.
The story began March 10, when state officials told the federal judge overseeing the system employees at The Refuge, a Central Texas facility that serves victims of sex trafficking, may have trafficked some children again.
It’s almost something out of a bad detective novel. Yet it was plausible to anyone who’s been following Texas protective services’ problematic record.
A Texas Department of Safety investigation found no evidence that the worst had happened. But investigation continues into the photo-taking and whether employees gave children drugs or alcohol.
And at a state Senate hearing last Thursday, a familiar pattern emerged: An abuse investigator raised several concerns about the facility, which housed children ranging from ages 11 to 17, but mid-level state employees didn’t act. Two have been fired, and leaders vow to review how such a management failure could have occurred. The facility itself has fired several employees. Outraged lawmakers pledge to get to the bottom of it.
We’ve heard it all before. A contractor fails and everyone is very, very sorry. But improvements in oversight never quite get it right.
U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack declared more than six years ago that the Texas foster-care system was violating children’s rights by endangering them. Many hearings, admonishments and fines later, the state Department of Family and Protective Services remains insufficient.
Many states struggle with how to care for foster children. There’s an unending cycle: Outrageous abuse cases prompt regulators to ramp up investigations, so more children are removed from their parents. But there aren’t enough reliable family members or volunteers to help abused kids. Well-meaning contractors, many of them faith-based nonprofits, do their best. But capacity remains an issue, and children end up sleeping in CPS offices.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
