Reforms Reduce Removals - Keep Children Safe

CPS Reform and Reform II strategies are having the desired effect of reducing removals and allowing children to remain safely with their parents or extended families. The number of children removed from their homes has declined steadily and significantly as the agency put new policies, practice, and resources in place.  Removals declined 18.5 percent over the last two fiscal years.

• FY 2006 - 17,536
• FY 2007 - 15,920 (-9.2 percent)
• FY 2008 - 14,295 (-10.2 percent)
• Cumulative decrease (18.5 percent)

Meantime, the number of children in DFPS conservatorship placed with relatives increased 32 percent from FY 2005 to FY 2008, offering a safe alternative to foster care. Informal relative placements made by parents during the course of investigations have also become more common.

• Regional Statistical Information About Children in DFPS Care

Working with Families

Services that strengthen families have increased over the last few years. After the passage of SB 758 in 2007, CPS embarked on several initiatives designed to stabilize and maximize the strengths of families. These reforms include:

• Increasing use of Family Group Decision Making meetings, including conducting Family Team Meetings during investigations to find safe alternatives to removing children from their homes. See Family Group Decision Making on the Renewal Website for more information.
• Increasing referrals to family based safety services to help families address issues that are causing or could lead to future abuse or neglect. From FY 2006 to FY 2008, the average number of families receiving family based safety services each month increased by more than 12 percent, and the number of children receiving in-home services increased by almost 33 percent.
• The Strengthening Families Initiative provides cash assistance to families in family based safety services that are experiencing neglect related to poverty. The goals are to reduce family stress, keep children safe in their homes, and ultimately avoid the need for removals.

In addition, sharply lower investigative caseloads enable CPS to conduct more thorough investigations and make better informed decisions. Average daily investigative caseloads fell from 34.7 in FY 2006 to 21.9 in FY 2008.
 
Ultimately, all these reforms enable more children to remain safely at home or with other family members and avoided the need to place them in foster care.

Removals Keep Declining

Removals in the first few months of FY 2009, which began September 1 2008, declined at an even faster pace compared to the same months last year. More data is needed to determine if this was a brief anomaly or a lasting trend. In any case, DFPS expects removals to reach a new equilibrium and then slowly rise again as the Texas child population increases.  

While the decline in removals in early FY 2009 is partly due to CPS reforms, some of it is likely related to a recent 5th Circuit Court decision.  A court ruling in July 2008 clarified the constitutional standards for various CPS actions, in particular removing children from their homes. Generally, this means getting a judge’s permission before rather than after removing children and their siblings, except in special circumstances.

While this ruling required CPS to refine some procedures it has not impaired the agency’s ability to protect children from abuse and neglect. However, it has prompted caseworkers to look even harder for relatives who can safely care for children and to work more intensely with families to find solutions that work for them. And that is very much in keeping with the goals and spirit of CPS reform.

CPS field staff tell us that they still feel capable of carrying out the agency’s mission of protecting vulnerable children. DFPS continues to monitor the number of removals of children from their homes and will keep the public informed.