CPS privatizes placement services

In a move to relieve an over-burdened and under-staffed foster care system at the subject of lawsuits and allegations of abuse and neglect statewide, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) recently began its transition toward community-based care within Region 5. The move effectively privatizes the placement of children removed from the homes of their family in Southeast Texas. Regionally, Texas Family Care Network (TCFN), a nonprofit company subcontracted with the state, has begun providing placement services within the 15-county area that covers the Golden Triangle as of Nov. 1. 

DFPS, commonly referenced as Child Protective Services, is entrusted with safeguarding the well-being of children and plays a pivotal role in managing the state’s foster care system. The state agency, however, continues to face an ongoing 2011 class-action lawsuit regarding foster care conditions. Monday, Dec. 4, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack began hearing testimony to decide whether the DFPS will be held in contempt of court for the third time since the 2011 lawsuit was filed. Among the allegations are claims of overloading caseworkers, mishandling abuse accusations and failing to monitor psychotropic drugs being administered to children in the care of DFPS.

At press time, the federal hearing had concluded, but an order had not yet been entered by Judge Jack. According to Jack’s staff, a rendering in not expected for another next week or so. If the state is found to be in contempt of court, it is expected that a large fine will follow, as was ordered in 2019, when Jack fined the state $150,000 after finding DFPS provided insufficient supervision over the children in their care. 

According to a Dec. 4 report by Karen Brooks Harper in the Texas Tribune, “Jack opened the hearing Monday with a strong rebuke of state foster care officials at DFPS and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, repeating an ongoing criticism that children removed from their parents and given over to the state leave the system more damaged than when they entered it.” 

“It’s very disappointing, isn’t it?” Jack is quotes as remarking.

“With the lawsuit looming over the department, I think that a fresh approach was really needed,” said 279th Civil District Court Judge Randy Shelton.

The Region 5 DFPS designation that encompasses Southeast Texas a vast area that includes 15 counties and cities such as Houston, Galveston, and Beaumont, stretching thin staff that manages the growing workload. The DFPS assisting agency CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) concluded its 2023 report to the state by noting that the appointed child at-litem volunteers represented 6,113 children in 2023, a 43% increase over 2022. While CASA assists with monitoring children in state care to be of service during court proceeding for children caught in the system, the agency does not provide placement for the thousands of minors in state custody.

‘Community-Based Care’

Traditionally, the foster care system has operated under a centralized model, with the state managing all aspects of a child’s placement and services. Recognizing the limitations of this approach and the need for a more responsive system, Texas DFPS initiated the Community-Based Care (CBC) model that divides the state into 11 regions.

The CBC model marks a paradigm shift by involving private organizations and community stakeholders in the provision of foster care services. The stated aim of community-based care is to create a more individualized, family-centered and community-integrated approach to meet the diverse needs of children in foster care.

Community-based care emerged from a partnership between DFPS and private providers discovering novel approaches for serving children and families, and the timing aligned with a transition towards performance-based contracting, wherein contracts moved away from rigidly prescribing service requirements and, instead, granted providers flexibility to attain mandated outcomes.

In 2017, the Texas Legislature instructed DFPS to engage with community-based nonprofits and local governmental entities capable of delivering child welfare services, including services for direct case management, child safety protocols, permanency placement, and overall client well-being in alignment with state and federal child welfare objectives. Senate Bill 11 formalized the concept of community-based care within the Texas Family Code, specifically in section 264.151, section B-1. The legislation’s noted purpose was not to alter the responsibilities of caseworkers but, rather, to transition from a state-centric child welfare system to a community-based model, allowing for greater adaptability in crafting services.

CBC in Region 5 is a phased and collaborative effort, and Texas DFPS has partnered with private organizations to implement and oversee the new model. This move will reportedly enhance the quality of care, increase placement stability and improve outcomes for children in foster care.

DFPS awarded the Region 5 CBC contract to the Beaumont-based Texas Family Care Network (TFCN), which began readiness April 1. 

TFCN went live in Stage 1 on Nov. 1. Stage 1 includes foster care network development, placement services, child and adolescent needs and strengths assessment, coordinated child plan of service, purchased services for children and youth, preparations for adult living for youth in foster care, adoption services, and daycare coordination. Approximately a dozen placements were made locally in the first month of Stage 1. 

During Stage 1, if DFPS finds there is no option for kinship placements, the agency will submit a referral to begin the search for paid placement upon DFPS approval. DFPS continues to be responsible for all case management functions during Stage 1, which includes court appearances and current responsibilities. 

With the implementation of community-based care and TFCN taking over placements and eventually case management, the responsibilities of DFPS will continue to reduce until its role is simplified to solely investigations and removals. 

Stage 2, which is slated to go live in April 2024, will allow TFCN to begin case management services, create plans of services for children and families, purchase services for families, organize family reunification services, offer kinship services, provide transitional living services, and provide adoption and post-adoption services. 

Rocky Hensarling, Vice President of Community-Based Care with TFCN is leading the charge for change. 

“We currently have a staff of 25 but, when Stage 2 hits, we will be fully staffed with about 130 positions to cover the region,” Hensarling said. “Most of our administrative team, including myself, come from a DFPS background, but we are making an effort to build a team that doesn’t all look the same, and that has different social and professional backgrounds. 

“We do not want to create DFPS 2.0, and the way to avoid that is to ensure diversity and build a different culture. We have a responsibility to provide services because these parents can only be successful if we give them the right tools to do so.” 

“I went to a judge’s meeting last October and we hadn’t seen one single kinship placement, and the rest of the state was less than 2%,” Jefferson County family court Judge Shelton added. “As far as I’m concerned, if we can safely return a child to their parents, that’s an A, if we can get a long-term kinship placement, that’s a B, and everything else is a lower grade.” 

Shelton and TFCN share the common belief that allowing children to remain in their communities or within their extended family units is most beneficial. 

“Sometimes, I think parents who are in a crisis can accept it a lot easier if the children are with family members and, in turn, they can focus on getting better and getting their lives in order so they can bring their kids back home,” Shelton said. 

Fostering family

Kristen and Morgan Turner, foster parents in Beaumont through DFPS, said they were advised that private placement would be more timely and, for children in need of stability, time is of the essence.  

“We feel like a lot of time was wasted going through DFPS the first time to get certified,” said Turner. “They meant well but, with all of the changes up in the air, we went through 9 months of jumping through hoops to only be told at the very end of the process that we’d be better off going through a private placement agency since CPS was only doing placements they could get in and out of the system quickly.”

The Turners spent countless dollars and hours to certify their home, as they were ready and willing to help a local child in need of a family, only to be referred to a private agency to complete the 9-month process for a second time. 

“We’d do it all over again because we are so blessed to be able to care for our girl now, but we believe that simplifying the process and allowing outside agencies to take some of the load off of DFPS is going to help everyone – especially the children.” 

Shari Pulliam, whose career spanned more than two decades with the Southeast Texas DCFS office, now serves as senior director of community engagement with TFCN. According to Pulliam, she is now working to maintain relationships with community partners and programs and services to foster engagement and participation in the private placement agency’s new initiatives. 

“Reunification and kinship placements are our priority,” Pulliam agreed. “It was attempted with DFPS, but we are going to take that one step further because we do believe children do better with families and those they are already familiar with; and, sometimes, these families just need help with housing, substance abuse or things they aren’t able to provide for their children. 

“We are going to be able to go in and help them with those resources without so much red tape.”