House Will Weigh Bill to ‘light a Fire’ Under CPS to Get Kids to a Doctor Faster, Limit Workers’ Caseloads

AUSTIN -- A bill that would require speedy medical evaluations of Texas children entering foster care and limit how many "high-needs" kids a Child Protective Services worker could supervise was expected to be debated by the House on Wednesday.The bill also would improve front-line CPS workers' familiarity with child trauma and seek to remedy certain defects in Texas' system of long-term foster care that a federal judge has ruled is "broken," such as lingering for years with inadequate supervision and medical assessments and then exiting at age 18 with limited education and no job skills."It makes sure CPS focuses on the right things," said Houston Democratic Rep. Gene Wu, the bill's author.  Continue reading...