What is Texas doing to save foster kids?
Eleven more foster children died in the state’s care in the nine months ending April 30, as a decade-long court case over their care continued to grind on. Many of those deaths were avoidable, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack said at a court hearing this month.
“I actually am stunned by the noncompliance of the state,” said Jack, who has repeatedly ordered the state to improve its protections for foster kids. “But I keep being stunned every time we have one of these hearings.”
Texans should be stunned and outraged, too. It is long past time for our state leaders to fix the foster care system.
Jack has provided a detailed road map, with numerous orders requiring state officials to strengthen the oversight of residential facilities for foster kids and ensure investigators quickly address allegations of abuse or neglect in foster homes, among other things. If residential facilities keep failing to meet state standards — as some have — officials must stop sending foster children to them…
