As the Legislature moves to try to deal with a major crisis in the state's foster care system, Gov. Abbott and the Department of Family and Protective Services is moving quickly to find emergency shelters for children who are without homes, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"The number of children still sleeping in state agency offices is unacceptable," Abbott said. "We must do better, which is why I am taking immediate action to help resolve this problem."
The Governor has announced that his office's Criminal Justice Division will provide more than $500,000 in emergency funding, and the state will find new contracts to accept and find homes for children who have fallen through the cracks of the foster system.
Some of the funding will come to the San Antonio DFPS office to find homes for foster children locally.
"I am extremely grateful to Governor Abbott for his continued generosity and commitment to protecting Texas children," said Hank Whitman, Commissioner of the DFPS. "A CPS office is no place for a foster child, and thought the innovative use of these funds, and our ongoing efforts to build capacity, we hope to make it a thing of the past."
The crisis in the state's foster care system came to light last year when a foster teenager who had been through several placements was arrested for the murder of a student on the campus of UT Austin.
Abbott has made finding funding to improve foster care for needy children a top priority of the 2017 Legislature.
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