CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES

The Department of Family and Protective Services has increasingly relied on housing foster kids in hotels when it can’t find them a home. In the 2022 fiscal year, after record staff turnover, more than 1 in 4 caseworkers had less than one year of experience.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ investigations division has seen record-high staff turnover, with 4 in 10 investigators leaving their jobs in 2022.

Legislators also passed bills that will provide foster kids entering the troubled system with duffel bags or backpacks and those aging out of the system with help setting up bank accounts.

A U.S. district judge has long presided over a court case that found Texas’ foster care system unconstitutionally harms kids. Tuesday’s hearing was the first appearance by the state’s new team of defense attorneys.

An arrest has been made in connection with an active AMBER Alert involving two children in San Antonio, according to San Antonio police.

The legislation came after The Refuge, a Bastrop foster care facility, hired a caretaker without knowing she had a history of sexual misconduct with children at a state juvenile facility. Coworkers also concealed evidence of the abuse, which further put the foster girls at harm.

Residential facilities did not refill medications in a timely manner, failed to follow psychiatric orders and, in several instances, violated state guidelines, court monitors documented after site inspections. The lawyer representing the foster kids said it could be “the tip of the iceberg.”

The upper chamber unanimously passed Senate Bill 182 after The Texas Tribune reported that a state-licensed foster care facility hired a caretaker whom the Texas Juvenile Justice Department previously fired for having inappropriate relationships with children.

Relative caregivers, like grandparents who want to keep kids out of foster care, usually get half as much state assistance as strangers who take in children.

A board trustee with the North East Independent School District is accused of repeatedly hitting her teenage stepson, withholding food from him and calling the child “her slave,” court filings obtained by KSAT Investigates show.

News reports say three children have been killed and two other children wounded in an attack at a home in Texas on Friday afternoon.

Bills that would give relative caregivers more money have missed key deadlines to make it in front of the full House.

Texas lawmakers and a federal judge say attorneys in the case against the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services should not hire lobbyists using funds won in court.

Most reports of child abuse or neglect turn out to be unfounded. But while under investigation, parents with little understanding of their rights or the process often make decisions that could impact the fate of their families.

The judge warned the state could be held in contempt of court for not following through with three mandates: youths not knowing their rights, not adequately responding to abuse allegations and still having too many children without placement.

In a fifth report tracking the state’s efforts to remedy its embattled foster care system, federal monitors documented persistent risks to Texas children ahead of next week’s court hearing.

Two girls in the care of Child Protective Services were allegedly sexually assaulted in October after sneaking out of a facility run by the state agency. Advocates say it’s a symptom of the Texas foster care systems’ problems.

A father at the center of an ongoing battle with Child Protective Services over the custody of his children has been arrested in San Antonio for the second time in as many weeks, this time in connection to a 2021 felony child abuse case east of Houston.

Child Protective Services released a statement regarding the case of two parents facing charges of interference with child custody.

Former DFPS commissioner Anne Heiligenstein was tapped by Abbott in June to serve as the agency’s executive deputy commissioner. Last month, she was out. Now she’s back.

A Child Protective Services case worker was forced to resign this summer, days after police in San Marcos found a juvenile runaway at her home.

The Texas Tribune spoke with LGBTQ voters, the parents of queer youth and advocates from across the state about what’s at stake for them this November.

The department is terminating the contract of Executive Deputy Commissioner Anne Heiligenstein, who was supposed to work until next June, amid a staffing crisis. The chief of staff for the agency’s top leader has also left.

A San Antonio child psychologist arrested on a child sex abuse charge in August remained under contract with Child Protective Services until this week, state records obtained Friday by KSAT show.

Residential treatment centers are meant to be a last resort for children in the state’s care, reserved for those with histories of severe trauma caused by neglect or abuse.

A Texas woman accused of stabbing and strangling her 5-year-old daughter is due in court Tuesday as disturbing details about the case emerge.

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services leaders instructed employees to avoid written communications about the cases and barred low-level employees from handling the investigations, according to internal agency communications.

During Robert “Rich” Richman’s short tenure, he oversaw the investigation of parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children and the mishandling of allegations of sex abuse at a foster care facility.

The high court also raised questions about why the state opened these investigations in the first place, noting that the child welfare agency is not bound by directives from the governor.

The court-appointed watchdogs expressed concern after learning that a caretaker accused of exploiting children at a state-licensed facility in Bastrop had been previously fired from a state juvenile justice facility for misconduct.

State records show Iesha Greene was fired in 2020 from a state juvenile facility for having inappropriate relationships with children. The Refuge said it was aware of her previous work there, but it never requested her publicly available personnel records.

Candidates hardly ever talk about improving the safety net for kids — unless the holes in the safety net have become big enough to get the attention of voters.

Other investigators don’t want to follow an order they believe harms families but worry about the impact of a mass employee exodus on the state’s most vulnerable children.

A Harlandale High School freshman pulled from class last week to be interviewed by Child Protective Services investigators was not the correct student they were looking for, district officials confirmed this week.

Most of the deaths were attributed to “preexisting medical conditions” or abuse suffered before the children entered the system, according to the DFPS report. The numbers are on par with those reported in previous years.

A teenage girl shot in the neck at a Northwest Side hotel early Wednesday morning was supposed to be in the care of Child Protective Services, testimony during an emergency hearing revealed Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Janis Jack said she is seeking a federal criminal investigation into allegations that children were sexually abused and trafficked at The Refuge, a state-licensed foster care shelter for victims of sex trafficking.

A woman and man are dead, and a baby is safe in Child Protective Services custody after a murder-suicide in west Bexar County, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.

Brooke Crowder said The Refuge is working to incorporate a deeper employee screening process with the help of a company recommended by the governor’s and attorney general’s offices.

The temporary injunction was issued as part of a lawsuit brought on behalf of parents being investigated by child welfare workers for letting their transgender teenager access gender-affirming health care.

The former child care investigations director said there are agency-wide communication issues that led to a breakdown in relaying key information, but two of his staff members are the ones who suffered the consequences.

It was also revealed at a special Texas Senate committee meeting that the Texas foster care worker who allegedly sold nude pictures of girls is also accused of dating a child trafficker.

An attorney representing foster care children in a suit against Texas said Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw’s conclusion that there was no evidence of sexual abuse despite the investigation into the photos was “both surprising and extremely troubling.”

The Refuge, which closed Friday, said it fired an employee accused of coercing the victims to sell nude photos as soon as it found out. The Bastrop-based shelter has not addressed the other eight staff members also accused of causing harm to the girls.

In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Eleanor and Sneha about Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to open child abuse investigations into families providing gender-affirming care for their children.

The Department of Family and Protective Services has been under federal court monitoring for over a decade for violating the civil rights of kids in foster care. Now, the short-staffed agency has to investigate parents who provide their children with gender-affirming care.

The children were sexually abused and neglected while at The Refuge, a facility located in Bastrop contracted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, according to a report from a current employee.

Citing potential criminal penalties, Texas Children’s Hospital will no longer provide hormone therapy to transgender patients.

A Texas judge was scheduled to consider a statewide injunction on investigations of parents over obtaining gender-affirming care. The appeal now puts the hearing on hold.

On the heels of two child deaths in San Antonio, allegedly from abuse, KSAT is taking a look at new laws passed last year that affect abuse and Child Protective Services cases.

Families and advocates against child abuse coming together tonight to call for changes to reporting and investigating alleged abuse.

A hearing was held Wednesday in children's court to find out how the kids found tied up and caged were doing.

As Texas’ long-running struggle to find enough placements for foster care children persists, more than 100 kids were sent out of state last year.

Child Protective Services and San Antonio police are investigating after two toddlers were found tied up and home alone on the Southeast Side.

A single father who’d been living in a van with his five children is among 538 unhoused individuals and families no longer out on the streets.

The director of Child Protective Services for the San Antonio area cited emotional and mental exhaustion and was sharply critical of the state’s foster care agency when stepping down from her position this summer, according to a copy of her resignation letter obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders.

The state’s foster care system has been dangerous to children and embarrassing to the state for years. But with state officials constantly chasing other issues, it’s still suffering from neglect.

The federal judge overseeing the decadelong lawsuit against Texas for conditions in its foster care system cut this week’s hearing short. She proposed all parties involved, including the governor, “cut to the chase” to identify solutions.

Increased oversight and lack of funding mean hundreds of children spend their nights in hotels and churches and on office floors.

The law mandates CPS investigators to verbally remind people under investigation they have the right to record conversations and appeal investigation results.

A San Antonio mother accused of killing one of her children could have access to the other one if a local judge grants permanent custody to the father, according to an attorney representing the second child, who is 11 months old.

A DFPS spokesman was unable to definitively say when the contract would end but said the state would be taking over that role until “if and when” they decide to put the contract out for bid again.

Family Tapestry, the wing of The Children’s Shelter responsible for its community-based care initiative, has canceled its contract with the Department of Family and Protective Services, a DFPS spokesperson confirmed late Monday.

Twenty-three foster care children in Texas have died the past 21 months while in state custody, according to a massive report filed Tuesday as part of a decade-old federal lawsuit.

Data released this month by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services shows an increase in child abuse and neglect deaths in 2020, a jump from the previous two years.

Since 1989, real estate agent Zenobia Coverson was a fairy godmother for children in the foster care system that she called “the forgotten children.”Throughout the year, Coverson would fill about 700 gift baskets and wrapped gifts for distribution to children in the CPS foster care program. CPS caseworker Mary Lou Rodriguez was there as the doors to The Forgotten Child storage unit were opened. Rodriguez was able to pick out gifts for children under her guidance. Eleanor Salazar, a CPS caseworker, said foster children generally don’t have high expectations for the holidays. CPS is looking for brand new gifts for children ages infant to older teenagers.

KERRVILLE, Texas The death of a 2-year-old boy who was injured in Kerrville and taken to a San Antonio hospital last week has been ruled a homicide, an official with the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office confirmed Friday. Gideon Barideaux, who passed away Aug. 9, died from a subdural hemorrhage, an official confirmed to KSAT 12 News. Barideaux was injured in Kerrville while his mother visited her boyfriend, a source familiar with the criminal investigation confirmed. San Antonio police officials on Friday referred all questions about the case to the Kerrville Police Department, which so far has not responded to inquiries from KSAT about its investigation. A subdural hemorrhage, or brain bleed, typically occurs after a person suffers a significant head injury.

SAN ANTONIO – A missing 10-month-old girl from San Antonio has been found safe. Rhiannon Sullivan is now in custody of Child Protective Services, the state agency’s spokeswoman, Mary Walker, said. There is no word on how authorities located the toddler. San Antonio police ask for help in search for missing 10-month old girlPolice issued a public appeal for the whereabouts of Rhiannon, who authorities said may have been with her biological mother. Rhiannon’s mother was recently ordered to turn her over to Child Protective Services, police said.

Published: May 27, 2020, 5:01 am Updated: May 27, 2020, 8:31 amSAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Police Department is seeking the public’s help in finding a missing 10-month-old girl. Police are searching for Rhiannon Sullivan, who they believe may be with her biological mother. Police said Rhiannon’s mother was recently ordered to turn her over to Child Protective Services. Rhiannon has brown hair and brown eyes, and weighs about 20 pounds, police said. She has straight hair to her ears and was wearing a pink onesie.