Texas’ Ongoing Problems with Foster Care Abuse
As of May 2021, at least 23 children have died in Texas’ long-term foster care since 2019. This information comes from a 387-page report compiled by a court-appointed monitor ahead of a federal court hearing. This is the result of a decade-long lawsuit that details some progress but maintains an undue risk of harm to the children dependent on the system, nonetheless.
As always, you can count on the diligence of Rob and Kathleen Raskin to keep you up to date on all things involving the abuse of children in state foster care.
According to U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, who presided over this hearing, six of the 23 cases were confirmed dead of neglect or abuse by their caregivers. Others are still under investigation. Judge Janis found in 2015 that Texas violated the children’s constitutional rights. What followed was an order to the Dept. Of Family Protective Services and the Health and Human Services Commission to follow her long list of reforms still not being followed.
According to Judge Janis, her monitors learned that several placement facilities closed and reopened under different names to escape citations from the state. State officials say a permanent rule to ensure this can never happen again has since gone into effect.
The report also revealed that three contractors responsible for finding living arrangements for the children had placed them in unlicensed facilities. In one such case, a 3-year-old boy was found unresponsive on the floor, bleeding from his ear. He later died. According to his daycare, previous such injuries were reported to the boy’s caseworker.
Other examples of abuse and neglect include a toddler found floating in a pool having drowned. Also, a teen having committed suicide while under a suicide watch and an escaped teen found murdered on the side of the road. All were supposed to receive around-the-clock supervision.
For more information about this story, click here: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/06/texas-foster-care-system-lawsuit/