Background

Child Protective Investigations (CPI) and Child Protective Services (CPS) have been working to reduce imbalance and disparities in the child protection system since 2004, when the department began collecting data to measure and understand the extent of the issue. Data collection revealed that African American and Native American children in Texas are overrepresented in the child protection system, as they are in all 50 states. Hispanic children are not overrepresented, yet they experience disparities at different points in the child protection system.

Texas is a leader in efforts to eliminate disparities in its child protection system and to promote enhanced outcomes for all children and youth. Senate Bill 6 of the 79th Legislature and Senate Bill 758 of the 80th Legislature laid the foundation and directions for addressing these disparities. Texas has analyzed data related to the removal of children from their homes and to enforcement actions by Child Protective Investigations and Child Protective Services. Texas has also reviewed policies and procedures in each child protection program implemented best practices to reduce disparities. To help with this effort, Child Protective Investigations and Child Protective Services:

  • Provide support to local advisory committees across the state.
  • Collaborate with parents, youth, community partners, stakeholders, and faith-based organizations.
  • Focus on family strengths and finding permanent homes for children and youth who might otherwise grow up in foster care without a caring adult in their lives. See the Permanency Care Assistance program.
  • Increase focus on kinship caregivers (extended family and friends).
  • Increase emphasis on development of the cultural responsiveness of staff and stakeholders.

CPS continues to enhance efforts to move children from foster care to permanent homes. This includes recruiting foster and adoptive families for specific children and diligently searching for absent or unidentified parents and kinship caregivers.

See also: CPS Initiatives & Programs Targeted to Reduce Imbalance & Disparities

Contact

For questions about any of the information you see on this page, or for questions about DFPS training opportunities, you may email DFPS.