Texas Judge Makes Ruling for Foster Care Reform, State Lawyers Push Back

In December, District Judge Janis Jack of Corpus Christi ruled that the current state of the Texas foster care system was unconstitutional and jeopardized the safety of foster children. To combat these issues, she has moved to implement a series of reforms, including regulating the number of caseworkers and increasing their supervision.
Texas lawyers have responded by asking a federal appeals court to suspend the new requirements. The requests state that the requirements are too vague and could potentially break up sibling groups in foster care. Furthermore, they say that the changes would affect children who are not currently at risk of harm. At the time, the state lawyers’ requests have been denied.
The reform movement will hopefully be the first of many steps toward protecting and improving the welfare of Texas children in foster care.
References:

• “Texas Fights Back Against Judge’s Foster Care Reforms” – The Texas Tribune
• “State officials want foster care reform requirements blocked“ – My Statesman
• “Call Legislature into session to fix Texas foster care system“ – Star-Telegram
• “Paxton asks federal appeals court to stop “judicial takeover” of Texas’ foster care system“ – The Dallas Morning News