Texas Could Be Forced to Recruit Thousands of Foster Parents as CPS Crisis Continues

AUSTIN — Texas should be forced to dramatically increase its supply of loving homes and treatment-facility beds for foster children and vastly improve its oversight of their safety and well-being, two appointed advisers in a class-action lawsuit have recommended.The state should have to eliminate placement shortages in areas such as Dallas, Collin and Denton counties by Aug. 31, said court-appointed special masters Kevin Ryan and Francis McGovern.Also, Child Protective Services should have to hire and redeploy more caseworkers and begin overhauling its information technology and medical records even sooner, they said.Every child in long-term foster care also should continue to have a lawyer. Currently, those fortunate to have a court-appointed "attorney ad litem" typically lose the legal representation —and connection to a responsible, caring adult — after about a year or two in state care, the two special masters noted.  Continue reading...