A Corpus Christi federal's judge's ruling that the state's foster care system remains mired in problems could end up sparking the need for a Special Session of the Legislsture, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Gov. Abbott had just signed a bill passed in the 2017 Regular Session which was designed to remedy problems like improper placement and improper supervision of foster children, as well as gaps in the Child Protective Services system, when U.S. District Judge Janis Jack ruled that the bill doesn't go far enough, and the system still violates the Constitutional rights of foster children.
In a stinging 116 page ruling, Judge Jack ordered the state to “establish and implement policies and procedures to ensure that Texas’s PMC (Permanent Managing Conservatorship) foster children are free from an unreasonable risk of harm.”
Judge Jack cited the state's placement of children in hopes with inadequate supervision, lacking round the clock adult supervision, and ordered two Special Masters to implement improvements and oversee improvements in the system.
"The State of Texas’s unwillingness to assist the Court in developing a remedy, its continued insistence that it has not violated the Constitution, and its failure to conduct court-ordered workload studies bolster that conclusion," the Judge wrote. "Finally, the disconnect between the written policies of DFPS and its actual practices provides another reason why this Court finds appointment of a monitor necessary to ensure compliance with this Order."
Attorney Marcia Robinson Lowry, who has been working for years to improve the foster care system, praised the ruling.
“Referring to extensive reports about long-standing problems in the state’s foster care system, and the State’s unwillingness to address them, the Court has concluded that ‘unless directed otherwise by some authority... no remediation will occur and dangerous conditions will continue to exist’ in the state’s foster care system. The decision is careful, thorough and addresses all of the State’s objections to remedial steps that had been ordered in the Special Master’s recommendations issued in December, 4, 2017. Referring to some of the Special Master’s recommendations that require reporting by DFPS on compliance with its own policies, the judge cited to reports from its initial decision in 2015 finding that even DFPS’ policies were not being followed by the agency. The order will remain in effect until 3 years after full compliance has been certified by the Special Master.”
But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called Judge Jack's ruling 'extra legal' and said he will appeal.
"I assure you we will be asking the Fifth Circuit to correct this error," spokesman Mary Rylander said.