Texas Child Protection Law Bench Book

Updated January 2025

System Issues

Practice Tips

Please see the Checklist Section for the NCJFCJ Courts Catalyzing Change Bench Card.

Tips to Improve Decision-Making in Child Welfare Hearings[284]

•   Make sure parties and key witnesses are present and if they are not present, verify whether they were properly served/subpoenaed.

•   Review petition out loud with all parties present to ensure it includes allegations specific to each parent. If there is no dangerous act or omission on part of a parent, the child goes home with that parent.

•   Engage the parents by name and allow parents, youth, and caregivers an opportunity to be heard.

•   Inquire if reasonable efforts were made to prevent removal. Assure family decision making tools were utilized, such as a Family Team Meeting (FTM).

•   Ask yourself if the family's cultural background, customs, and traditions have been taken into account with the events and circumstances that led to the removal. Think about whether these aspects of the family actually make a child unsafe or at risk, even if they are different from your own expectations of family life and parenting.

•   Ask what is preventing the child from returning home or to a relative TODAY? And consider whether any of the barriers preventing the child from returning home are related to a systemic issue that is making it more difficult for the parent or child to access the support they need.

•   Consider the appropriateness of current placement and whether it is culturally responsive and provides trauma responsive supports and services.

•   Allow opportunity during the hearing for discussion and concerns related to systemic issues for parents and/or children involved in the case.

•   Close the hearing with a specific question to ensure that the parties understand what happened or allow an opportunity for parents to ask questions about anything they did not understand.

Community-Based Care

Introduction

A. What is Community-Based Care?

In 2017, DFPS started implementing Community-Based Care, also referred to as CBC, in certain geographic areas in the state known as “catchment” or “community” areas. CBC is intended to delegate or outsource certain activities and decisions about foster care delivery and case management, and it is implemented with measurable goals related to these decisions. CBC is designed to be implemented in stages. Stage I of CBC involves a Single Source Continuum Contractor (SSCC) handling the responsibility of finding safe, high-quality, nearby homes for children in paid foster care in the designated community area. Stage II is when the SSCC assumes responsibility for case management duties, including serving as the witness in the legal proceeding and assuming court-related responsibilities and authority in terms of the permanency plan and goals and how those will be carried out. Stage III begins at least 18 months after the contractor initiates providing case management to all children and families in the community area. In this stage, DFPS can assess the contractor fiscal incentives and remedies for outcomes related to performance, including permanency outcomes. At each stage of CBC, the readiness of the provider to successfully partner with all stakeholders and to serve the children and families in its community area is critical to the success of the roll out.

B. The Single Source Continuum Contractor

Generally, an SSCC is a non-profit organization which has a focus on child welfare and by law must be formed as a charitable organization. A local governmental entity can also serve as an SSCC. As part of the readiness process, DFPS is required to consider whether an SSCC has demonstrated experience in providing services to children and families in the community area.^[285] As part of an application to secure a contract for CBC, each SSCC must develop a Community Engagement Plan that includes details about how the SSCC will involve faith-based entities, the judiciary, CASA, Child Advocacy Centers (CAC), service providers, foster families, biological parents, youth currently and formerly in foster care, relatives, child welfare boards, attorneys for both children and parents, and any other stakeholder the SSCC wants to include. Formation as a charitable organization provides limited legal protection to the SSCC under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 84. The legal protections are limited to acts or omissions that occur while the entity or person is acting within the course and scope of the entity's contract with the Department as well as services provided and the person's duties for the entity and only if insurance coverage in the minimum amounts required by Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 84 are in force and effect at the time of the cause of action for personal injury, death, or property damage accrues.

C. The Effect of CBC on Courts and Court Process

Stage II of CBC requires that DFPS transfer case management duties, which include court-related duties, to the single, lead agency who serves the community area so that these duties become the responsibility of the SSCC and its subcontractors which provide client services or residential care services. Court-related duties will be the responsibility of the SSCC, including preparation of court reports, appearing in court and mediation, offering testimony, complying with all court orders that would ordinarily bind DFPS, and ensuring the child is progressing toward the child's permanency goals in accordance with federally mandated guidelines. The SSCC's subcontractors may be called to appear in court or offer testimony related to the delivery of services, but the primary legal duties are to be completed by the SSCC. DFPS is the party to the lawsuit, and the SSCC acts as DFPS' agent. SSCC employees will confer with and operate under an attorney-client relationship with legal counsel as set forth in statute, whether DFPS is represented by a regional attorney, a county attorney, or a district attorney. Records that are related to the SSCC's provision of services in a community area are subject to the Public Information Act in the same manner as DFPS records.

D. Monitoring of the SSCC by DFPS

Rather than serve in its traditional role in CBC areas, DFPS, consistent with state and federal law, provides quality oversight and assurance to ensure contract compliance, conduct assessments of fiscal and qualitative performance of the SSCC and subcontractors, as well as create and administer a dispute resolution process. DFPS also monitors the transfer of case management services, and has the statutory authority to review, approve, or disapprove a contractor's recommendation with respect to a child's permanency goal.

E. The Role for Judges in Community-Based Care

The role for judges in all aspects of community-based care cannot be overstated. Judges are a critical partner in planning, implementation, and oversight of this model for provision of child welfare services and permanency. Judges are encouraged to work closely with DFPS and the Office of Community-Based Care Transition (OCBCT) as CBC expands into a community area where their court is located as well as to be in continued communications with all partners as Stage I is implemented. Stage II more directly impacts the courts. Judicial oversight remains critical both in legacy and CBC areas to ensure due process for children and families. This oversight includes ongoing communication with the SSCC to clarify roles and expectations, streamline required court and legal processes, and resolve any issues. As the process evolves, these children and families will be well-served by judges who remain informed about the ever-changing landscape of CBC.

F. Community-Based Care Resources

In 2021, the Office of Community Based Care Transition was established as an independent office that is administratively attached to DFPS. The office assesses community areas where CBC services may be implemented, develops a plan for implementing CBC in each community area in Texas, including the order in which CBC will be implemented in each community area, a timeline for implementation, and an evaluation of CBC providers. Tex. Fam. Code § 264.172. Additional information about the implementation of CBC, including a map of the community areas and updates on the Implementation Plan, is available on the DFPS Community-Based Care webpage.^[286]

G. Current SSCCs across Texas

As of July 2024, these contractors provide child welfare services in the following DFPS regions:

•   Texas Panhandle (Region 1) – Saint Francis Texas

Saint Francis Community Services in Texas, Inc. (SFCS) began serving children as the Single Source Continuum Contractor for this community area on January 6, 2020. Saint Francis is currently in Stage III.

•   Big Country and Texoma (Region 2) – 2INgage

2INgage, a partnership between Texas Family Initiative LLC and New Horizons Ranch and Center Inc., began serving children as the Single Source Continuum Contractor for this community area on December 1, 2018. 2INgage is currently in Stage III.

•   Metroplex West (Region 3W) – Our Community Our Kids (OCOK)

Our Community Our Kids is a division of ACH Child and Family Services. ACH Child and Family Services originally began serving the Fort Worth area as part of DFPS' Foster Care Redesign initiative in 2013 and assumed case management responsibilities under OCOK in March 2020. OCOK was awarded a renewed contract to continue serving as the Single Source Continuum Contractor for the Metroplex West community on October 27, 2023. OCOK is in Stage III for the southern seven counties of the catchment area and is in Stage II for the counties of Cooke, Denton, and Wise.

•   Metroplex East (Region 3E) – EMPOWER

EMPOWER is a child welfare collaborative led by Texas Family Initiative and including CK Family Services, Jonathan's Place, Bair Foundation, and Pathways Youth and Family Services. EMPOWER was awarded the contract to become the Single Source Continuum Contractor for the Metroplex East area on February 23, 2023. EMPOWER is currently in Stage II.

•   Piney Woods (Region 4) – 4Kids4Families

4Kids4Families is a division of Arrow Child & Family Ministries. 4Kids4Families was awarded the contract to become the Single Source Continuum Contractor for the Piney Woods community on March 1, 2023. 4Kids4Families is currently in Stage II.

•   Deep East (Region 5) – Texas Family Care Network

Texas Family Care Network is a division of Pressley Ridge Texas. Texas Family Care Network was awarded the contract to become the Single Source Continuum Contractor for the Deep East community on March 15, 2023. Texas Family Care Network is currently in Stage II.

•   South Central and Hill Country (Region 8B) - Belong

Belong, a division of SJRC Texas, has been operating as a local key community provider in the area for 37 years. Belong was awarded the contract to become the Single Source Continuum Contractor for the South Central and Hill Country community on April 1, 2021. Belong is currently in Stage III.

Additionally, a Request for Applications (RFA) recently closed in the following community areas:

•   Harris County (Region 6A)

•   Bay Area/Montgomery (Region 6B)

•   Bexar County (Region 8A)

•   El Paso area (Region 10)

DFPS is in procurement for these areas and will publicly announce contract award(s), if applicable.

Contingent upon funding, the next request for applications is expected to be available for the remaining community areas in the next biennium. DFPS remains eligible to receive unsolicited proposals from entities wishing to submit their applications to be an SSCC in an area of the state not currently under CBC.

Map current as of August 2024

Dual Status

A. Definitions

A “dual system child” is a child who, prior to the child's 18th birthday, was referred to the juvenile justice system and was involved in the child welfare system. Tex. Fam. Code § 51.11.

A "dual status child" means a child who has been referred to the juvenile justice system and is:

•   In the temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services;

•   The subject of a case for which family-based safety services have been offered or provided by the department;

•   An alleged victim of abuse or neglect in an open child protective investigation; or

•   A victim in a case in which, after an investigation, the department concluded there was reason to believe the child was abused or neglected. Tex. Fam. Code § 51.02(3-a).

B. Data on Dual Status Youth

National studies provide some insight of the intersect between youth who experience both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system. Children and youth who experience abuse or neglect are at a 47% greater risk of being juvenile justice involved, compared to the general population.[287] Females and African American youth are overrepresented among youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems compared to their peers with involvement in one of these systems.[288] Among youth involved in both systems, 92% first experience the child welfare system then become juvenile justice involved.[289] Although prevalence is hard to quantify and dependent on the definition used for the population, it is estimated that 45-75% of first-time juvenile petitions involve dual system youth.[290] Involvement in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems is associated with higher risks for mental health, education, and vocation challenges as well as higher rates of recidivism, longer stays in detention, placement instability, and poor permanency outcomes.[291]

C. Guardian ad Litems and Court Appointed Special Advocates

A guardian ad litem may serve in both the juvenile case and the child welfare case. If the guardian ad litem is serving in both cases and is an attorney, the guardian ad litem may need to become more familiar with the juvenile proceedings.

A non-attorney guardian ad litem must be very careful not to investigate any pending juvenile charges nor offer testimony concerning the guilt or innocence of a dual status child. Questions or investigations could lead the non-attorney guardian ad litem to become a witness against the child in violation of Tex. Fam. Code 51.11.

D. Considerations for Dual Status Youth

Several large, urban areas have implemented the Crossover Youth Practice Model developed by Georgetown University or the RFK Children's Action Corps Dual Status Youth and Probation Reform Models, including Travis, Bexar, Harris, McLennan, Tarrant, El Paso, and Dallas Counties.[292] The Child Protection Courts also have jurisdiction to hear dual status cases pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code Chapters 51 and 201. These courts utilize a “one family, one court” model where the same judge hears both the child welfare and juvenile justice cases.

For cases involving dual status youth, some court considerations include:

•   Upcoming court dates for both the child welfare and juvenile cases;

•   Progress of each case;

•   What services are being provided in each case;

•   Disposition in the juvenile case, including placement options if the child is not going to be released on probation; and

•   Whether the records in the juvenile case can later be sealed.[293]

1. Resources

The Children's Commission Dual Status Task Force Final Report[294] captures recommendations from the Task Force about what data, training, tools, resources, and practices may be necessary to better understand and improve outcomes for youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.