Foster Care and Child Welfare Week in Review – April 3, 2023
Here are some news items from last week related to foster care, adoption, and child welfare that caught our eye:
On March 26, 2018, white adoptive parents Jennifer and Sarah Hart, with Jennifer at the wheel, drove an SUV carrying their six Black and bi-racial children off a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway, plunging all 8 to their deaths in the rocks and ocean below. As it became clear over a period of days that the plunge was intentional, speculation about the motivation of the moms took center stage. None of these children were abused by the families from which they had been taken, yet Texas caseworkers and judges consistently devalued and punished their family members. And Texas consistently raked in the federal financial incentives that come with increasing adoptions.
Relative caregivers, like grandparents who want to keep kids out of foster care, usually get half as much state assistance as strangers who take in children. That’s something some Texas lawmakers are trying to change this year. Studies show children in the care of relatives experience less trauma and better behavioral health outcomes than those in the care of foster families. Relative caregivers are also more likely to be single, unemployed, older and live in poorer households. If the child has an open case with Child Protective Services, relatives can receive $12.67 per day, per child for up to 12 months through the Relative and Other Designated Caregiver Program. A foster parent receives at least $27.07 per day, but can get paid more if a child has more complex needs.
November 28, 2023, seemed like a normal day. It went almost entirely unnoticed on that day that Jaime Masters would no longer be commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). No reason was given for this change, which itself raised questions. Was Masters leaving for a better-paying position elsewhere? Was Abbott shuttling in new staff? As Texas Scorecard set out to answer this question, we encountered drama, mystery, finger-pointing, children at risk, broken families, and out-of-control bureaucrats.
States are responsible for finding safe, permanent families for children in foster care, through reunification with the family of origin, adoption, guardianship, or other custodial arrangements with relatives. Legal permanency is thought to be a crucial developmental need for children in foster care, but the likelihood of exiting to permanency depends heavily on where they live. A new website hosted by AEI based on the analysis provided in this report allows the public to view and compare states’ performance on timely permanency metrics, overall and by age and race or ethnicity.
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