Housing
Houston Parents Evicted, Separated From Their Toddler After Landlord Rejects Rent Relief
Posted on · The Houston-Harris County rent relief program has helped more than 48,000 families this year. But some are still getting evicted anyway.
Tag: cps
Energy & Environment
Texas Agency Bans Utility Cutoffs For Failure To Pay
Posted on · The Public Utility Commission of Texas has implemented a ban on utility cutoffs for consumers who don’t pay their bills. The move does not apply to cooperatives or to municipality-owned utilities like CPS in San Antonio or Austin Energy.
Harris County
REPORT: 322 Pregnant Texas Teens In Foster Care, 39 in Harris County
Posted on · The county with the highest number in the state is Bexar County with 54.
News
Child Abuse Deaths In Texas Increased 30 Percent In One Year
Posted on · New data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows Texas leading the nation in abuse deaths in 2016. Advocates say last year’s legislative actions to overhaul the CPS system have begun to show positive results
Hurricane Harvey
Texas, Foster Care Providers Helped Children During Harvey
Posted on · Texas Child Protective Services and its contractors evacuated more than 400 foster kids in institutions because of Hurricane Harvey and, probably, hundreds more who lived in foster homes along the Gulf coast.
News
Doctors Worry As Texas Lawmakers OK Vaccine Restrictions
Posted on · A bill passed Friday in the Texas House that would limit and restrict immunizations to children taken into state custody.
Texas
Texas House Passes Child Welfare Reforms
Posted on · The Texas House on Thursday passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state's child welfare system.
News
Brazoria County Uses Pragmatic Initiative To Deal With Domestic Violence
Posted on · It recently started a program for offenders on probation focusing on their rehabilitation.
News
Texas Child Welfare Agency Adding 400-Plus New Staff Members
Posted on · The head of Texas' troubled foster care system says emergency state funding helped hire 441 new employees in December and January, a two-thirds increase over the same period the previous year.
News
Texas Child Agency Workers Visit Hundreds Of At-Risk Youths
Posted on · CPS officials on Tuesday reported initial visits were completed with more than 400 children who as of Oct. 17 were deemed high risk for harm.
Politics
Foster Care Chief Ups Request For Caseworker Pay Hikes
Posted on · The head of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has decided to ask lawmakers for an additional $8.2 million to help raise salaries for Child Protective Services workers, just one day after some legislators balked at his initial multimillion-dollar request.
News
Texas Lawmakers Order Immediate Child Caseworker Visits
Posted on · Some Texas lawmakers say Child Protective Services caseworkers or law enforcement officers must immediately visit thousands of youngsters reported as abused or neglected.
News
Texas Not Checking On Thousands Of Kids At Risk For Abuse
Posted on · Newly released records show that Texas child welfare investigators are still not promptly checking on thousands of kids at risk for abuse as the state grapples with a shortage of caseworkers.
News
4 Regional CPS Directors Fired Amid Texas Agency’s Shakeup
Posted on · Child Protective Services has fired four regional directors as it looks to overhaul operations following years of complaints that the agency fails to adequately protect children who are abused or neglected.
Houston Matters
Report: Texas CPS is Failing to Protect the State’s Most Vulnerable Children
Posted on · Kristopher Sharp entered the foster care system in Texas when he was 10 years old. Until he aged out of the system at 18, he was placed in 20 different foster homes, mostly group homes. Along the way, he suffered abuse. He says face-to-face visits with Child Protective Services caseworkers were rare. We talk with […]