Pursuant to DFPS Rider 33, General Appropriations Act, 88th Legislature, the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) shall provide the number of children removed from their homes by child protective services and the number of children investigated, by race and ethnic group, in the seven largest urban regions of the state during the preceding fiscal year.
Key Takeaways for FY 2024
- Across Texas, racial/ethnic disparities followed similar trends between FY 2023 and FY 2024. While the disparity between African American children and White children remained similar for community reporting between these fiscal years, the disparity in removals varied by county. Travis County remains the county with the highest disparity across all stages.
- Statewide, compared to White children, African American children are:
- 1.9 times more likely to be reported,
- 2.2 times more likely to be investigated, and
- 2.1 times more likely to be removed.
- Statewide, Hispanic children had similar outcomes compared to White children.
- Most of the largest urban counties showed Hispanic children had some disparity compared to White children; however, it should be noted these disparities were less pronounced than the disparities observed for African American children.
- Because there is disproportional reporting of African American children, this drives the disparities in outcomes. Once an alleged victim case is progressed from the intake stage to an investigation, the percentage of children by race/ethnicity that result in a removal are similar.
