Recent headlines (June 29, 2023) in the Dallas Morning News garnered my attention. The tagline was disturbing: "Off-duty cops hired to provide security to foster children sleeping in hotels and other makeshift facilities have shocked with a stun gun, handcuffed and pepper-sprayed the youth in the state's care within two months, new court documents show. Texas CPS has spent nearly $30 million on the moonlighting police officers". The story was written by Allie Morris and Robert T. Garrett.
I guess we operate on the notion that doing something is better than doing nothing. Federal law (Families First Prevention Services Act) eliminated the use of IV-E dollars to help cover the cost of residential care for children in harm's way to foster care unless they needed treatment services for severe behavioral and emotional problems. Texas, like the majority of other states opted to request a waiver from the law for a three-year period. That waiver expired on October 1, 2021. The phrase "to hell in a handbasket" is fairly descriptive of what ensued.
According to an August 8, 2022 publication by "TexProtects - Champions for Safe Children", during the past year, the number of children without placement in Texas escalated 378% for children sleeping in CPS offices or other unregulated settings.
An article highlighting harm coming to children in unlicensed placements in Texas was written by Annie Sciacca with The Imprint in December 2022. The article is entitled: "Foster Care Failed to Protect Two Texas Teens from Sexual Assault".
Brandon Logan is quoted as saying: " As we have repeatedly seen, children without placement are uniquely at risk of harm, including assault, rape, and death." Brandon Logan is the executive director of One Accord for Kids, a West Texas nonprofit serving foster youth.
Referencing the assaults in October, he added: "We should be horrified but not surprised. The ill-fated plan to park children in motel rooms and offices with in- adequate and untrained staff was destined to fail them." Logan called the recent crimes "just the latest evidence that the department has been rudderless and headed over a cliff, with Texas foster children in tow."
According to the aforementioned article, the following reference was also made: "Many of the state's own workers have been unwilling to participate in these un- licensed housing arrangements: Approximately 2,300 Texas DFPS employees left their jobs this year, an increase of 43% since fiscal year 2021. Former staffers, social worker association heads and union officials say caring for chil- dren in improper settings is contributing to the caseworker flight.
[Reference: https://imprintnews.org/top-stories/foster-care-failed-to-protect- two-texas-teens-from-sexual-assault/236451]
It is my belief that when employees don't have the tools and resources that they need to effectively conduct their work, they choose not to stay. I surmise that the Texas experience is being mirrored elsewhere across the nation. The elimi- nation of children's homes providing quality care and supervision for children from hard places has left a huge gap in the available resources for children.
According to the Dallas Morning News article, in early 2022, the protective services department signed contracts with PPI Security of Houston and Silver Shield Securitof North Texas, according to copies of the contract The News obtained through the records request. PPI, headed by a former Texas Ranger chief, has the largest contract worth up to $26.8 million, while Silver Shield can earn up to $2.4 million under the deals that run through August.
Reportedly, Texas is paying two companies that provide moonlighting law enforcement officers nearly $30 million over 18 months, according to contracts and other data obtained by The Dallas Morning News. A recent state request for bids to continue the security work after Aug. 31 could wind up costing as much as $17 million a year.
If you, like me, find this disturbing, please contact your legislator in Washington immediately and request their pro-active help in passage of H.R. 3852 – Create Accountable Respectful Environments (CARE) for Children Act.
This Act will place Cottage Home Care back into the continuum of care for children. This is really important and we need your help in convincing folks in Washington that at risk children need safety and support.
All My Best!
Don
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