Federal judge orders more changes to troubled foster care system
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Local // Texas
Judge demands quick plan from state, seeks information
Keri Blakinger
Jan. 10, 2017 Updated: Jan. 11, 2017 10:16 a.m.
In this July 4, 2008 photo, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack administer the U.S. oath of citizenship to more than 100 area residents representing 25 countries aboard the USS Lexington. Todd Yates/Associated Press
A federal judge has slapped the state of Texas with an exacting interim order demanding more information and prompt plans for a slew of changes to the troubled foster care system at the heart of a long-running class action on behalf of more than 12,000 children in permanent care.
The order asks that, among other things, the state submit a plan for policies overseeing monthly in-person visits, create a central databank for all children in long-term state care and plan to launch a 24-hour hotline for kids to report allegations of abuse and neglect.
"We're making progress," said Paul Yetter, a Houston-based lawyer representing the children.
The order is the latest step in a case that started back in 2011 with a lawsuit alleging that the Texas foster care system violated children's constitutional rights by keeping them in unsafe care, moving them around repeatedly and failing to provide sufficient oversight.
After finding the current system "broken" in a damning 255-page ruling in 2015, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack demanded that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services overhaul how it oversees foster services for the thousands of children in long-term care.
In November, two court-appointed special masters issued 56 recommendations to fix the problems, but the state objected to all of them.
Before issuing a final order, Jack issued Monday's interim action for a series of more immediate plans and information.
"Despite the tremendous accomplishments by the parties to date, the Court is not prepared to enter a final order," she wrote. "The Recommendations of the Special Masters are preliminary in nature and require additional information gathering, input, and supervision by the Court."
In the meantime, the interim order asks for the creation of a number of plans - including one to deal with missing health care records and one to assign an attorney to each child in long-term care - and some studies, including a look at various employee workloads.
In issuing the order, Jack noted the state's own repeated findings of systemic flaws.
"The refusal by the State to accept this burden despite over 20 years of studies conducted by the State or commissioned by the State, all of which found these same deficiencies, brought us to this point."
Yetter celebrated the order as a step in the right direction.
"This is a careful judge who is determined to get it right," he said. "The system is so broken, it can't be fixed without careful study."
But the state pushed back, suggesting that the judge overstepped her bounds.
"Sweeping changes to the state's foster care system should come from state officials, not from un-elected federal judges or their appointed special masters," Marc Rylander, spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, said in a statement.
DFPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins offered a more neutral take on the matter.
"We are carefully reviewing the interim order, which clearly recognizes that Commissioner (Hank) Whitman and state leadership agree with the need for significant improvement of our foster care system," he said.
"We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature on this issue."
A final order is expected later this year.