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Texas Tour Starts This October

In the Fall of 2021, TexProtects electronically “traveled” to eight different cities to find out how we could best serve families and safeguard children. Our legislative priorities for the 88th Legislative Session were shaped by this crucial information. This fall, we are going back to these 8 cities and partnering with on-the-ground organizations to reveal our legislative agenda, participate in additional conversations, gather new information, and encourage continued partnerships to get these efforts across the finish line.

Click your city for more details.

El Paso

Houston

Rio Grande Valley

Panhandle

Austin

South Central

Dallas/Ft. Worth

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Statement from TexProtects: Sophie Phillips Resigns as CEO; Jessica Trudeau Named as Interim CEO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2022

The TexProtects Board of Directors announced that Sophie Phillips has resigned as CEO of TexProtects. Her last day is effective July 20, 2022. The Board has named Jessica Trudeau, TexProtects’ current managing director, as interim CEO.

Dr. Ann Stuart, Chair of the Board of Directors, stated, “Sophie will be missed tremendously. She has been a powerful voice and advocate for child abuse prevention in Texas, and TexProtects’ mission has only flourished and amplified its impact under her leadership. It has been an honor and privilege to watch Sophie build and lead such an incredibly talented team and organization with a mission that is of the utmost importance today. As I reflect on Sophie’s tenure as CEO, I am humbled by what she and the staff have accomplished through education, research, public policy and advocacy. A few highlights include:

  • Securing $6.5 million in federal, local, and philanthropic funding to help incubate and launch the Family Connects North Texas initiative to support more than 5,000 families with newborns
  • Securing an additional $4.5 million in state funds for early childhood home visiting programs
  • Launching the Prenatal-to-Three collaborative with statewide partners to ensure an additional 400,000 infants and toddlers have access to early childhood services and supports by 2026 as an effective strategy for the prevention of maltreatment
  • Advocating for a transparent and accountable system where data drives decision-making and codified in state statute for several child protection indicators to be provided monthly, not annually
  • Raising awareness of early adversity, trauma, child abuse and prevention strategies by authoring over a dozen op-eds in almost every large news market in Texas
  • Equipping the community with resources during the pandemic, including the “Look, Learn, Listen=Prevention” campaign sharing the signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect and distributing flowcharts of the Texas child welfare system

“Ten years ago, I was given the opportunity to join TexProtects in the ranks of public policy for a mission I care so deeply about – ensuring children are safe, nurtured and have the greatest opportunity for success,” Phillips said. “A mission that is even more personal to me as I have grown my family, welcoming my two sweet boys during my tenure as CEO. I have made the bittersweet decision to pursue a new professional opportunity. Effective September 6, I will learn a new side of the nonprofit business, joining The Morris Foundation as the Director of Operations – a private family foundation in Fort Worth that invests in education, healthcare and social services in the community. I hope to carry all I have learned during my time at TexProtects about promoting environments of health, safety and success for children and families from a state to local level.”

Interim CEO Jessica Trudeau, MPH, is a seasoned executive and public health practitioner. Throughout her 20-year career, she has worked in child abuse, HIV/AIDS, injury prevention, mental health and education. Before TexProtects, Trudeau served as executive director at Momentous Institute and Family Compass.

“We are so grateful for the work we’ve been able to accomplish throughout the history of TexProtects and there is still so much to be done to ensure we have a child protection system that works for children and their families,” Dr. Stuart said. “TexProtects continues to have a strong infrastructure, staff and Board to continue our efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of Texas children.”

Photos & Resources
Sophie Phillips headshot
Jessica Trudeau biography & headshot

About TexProtects
TexProtects is the only nonprofit and nonpartisan organization in Texas focused solely on the issue of child abuse and neglect prevention. Our goal is to strengthen the resilience of all families, which in turn protects children from the trauma of child maltreatment. We build strong, safe childhoods by developing and driving smart solutions to child abuse and neglect. By informing the public, collaborating with allies on this issue and advocating for strong policy, we get results for children and secure the future of Texas.

Media contact
Meggie Abendschein
Vice President of PR & Marketing
meggie@texprotects.org
512-423-5888 (cell)

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A Social Work Career in CPS Research and Policy – Episode 6

Do you ever wonder what it looks like to be a political social worker? Kerrie Judice joins us to discusses her social work background, her current role as a CPS Research and Policy Analyst for TexProtects, and her thoughts on social work and politics.

Kerrie is a Licensed Master Social Worker and is the CPS Research and Policy Analyst for TexProtects. During the interview, Kerrie describes her background in social work practice, expressing her passion for advocating for Texas’ most vulnerable youth. She worked directly with children in the foster care system for 8 years; researched restorative justice practices to divert youth from the juvenile justice system; served as a policy analyst in the Texas Senate. She is now advocating for policies that will positively impact children and families in the CPS system.

TexProtects is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group that advocates for children in the CPS system, working all along the prevention spectrum. Kerrie does a deep dive into a day in the life of a social worker in advocacy, discussing what it looks like to work as a Research and Policy Analyst. Come find out how her history in micro social work practice helps her to be a better macro social worker.

The Social Work Amplified Podcast is hosted by SPEAK. SPEAK stands for Social Policy, Education, Advocacy, and Knowledge. SPEAK’s mission is to amplify the voices of social workers in politics and social policy by providing resources, increasing students’ political engagement and facilitating networking opportunities. SPEAK would like to gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Simmons Sister Fund at Texas Women’s Foundation.

Check out the other podcast episodes in the Social Work Amplified playlist! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg…

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Children’s advocacy group discusses Texas foster care crisis

The Texas foster care system has too many problems to detail in just a short TV interview. But for a taste of how bad it is, Good Day talks to Kerrie Judice with the children’s advocacy group TexProtects. She said there are too many foster kids and not enough foster homes, which leaves children sleeping in hotels and CPS offices, as well as places that are called dangerous.

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Opinion: Build Back Better can transform lives of millions of Texas children

We can’t talk about the future of Texas without talking about the well-being of our children.

During the last Texas legislative session, policymakers set a vision and passed legislation that will substantially improve outcomes for our youngest children. Now, we have an opportunity to realize the vision and the potential to transform millions of lives to catapult Texas into a future that is healthier, safer and more prosperous for everyone.

The Build Back Better Act, voted out of the House on Nov. 15 and awaiting a vote in the Senate, would provide once-in-a-lifetime funding for early childhood initiatives. Should it pass Congress, it could potentially grant $400 billion in social infrastructure across the nation. Funding allocation and implementation would be determined at the state level, but the figure would be significant enough to dramatically transform childhood wel-lbeing. Texas policymakers face a pivotal moment in history – and they must seize it.

Read the full article at Austin American Statesman.

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Four Recommendations to Start Transforming the CPS System

Guidance on how to measure outcomes for our child protection system and recommendations for improvement.

View the Report.

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Dallas County ARPA Funding Proposal for Child Welfare

Dear Judge Jenkins and Commissioners Price, Garcia, Daniel, and Koch,

On behalf of TexProtects and the 8 other undersigned local community organizations that advocate for and serve children and youth in Dallas County, we write to urge you to consider the enclosed strategies in American Rescue Plan funding decisions for Dallas County.

There is a current crisis within our CPS and Foster Care systems that requires the attention of our local government. As you are likely aware, the immediate crisis at hand is a historically unprecedented lack of capacity for child beds in foster care. The number of children without placements continue to worsen by the month and there is little relief in sight due to a variety of factors. The approximate 25 children without homes in the county at any given time is just a symptom of many deeper challenges facing the state’s foster care system, which many believe to be on the brink of imploding.

We believe there is a significant opportunity for the County to invest one-time federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars in both the prevention of future child removals and future child maltreatment which will alleviate the burden of capacity challenges our county faces. Both investments could realize savings to the county, but most importantly, save the innocence and prospects of our most vulnerable children. While the outcomes most proximal to these strategies are related to child maltreatment reductions, such investments will also yield positive outcomes for early childhood education, maternal and infant health, behavioral health, and youth at risk of entering our juvenile systems, which have all been severely impacted by the pandemic.

As eligible through ARPA guidance, such strategies outlined as follows, including spending on public health strategies at local hospitals on programs such as Family Connects, or providing improved monetary assistance to Child Placing Agencies and relative caregivers, the County can contribute significantly to alleviating the challenges facing our child welfare system. Funding is just one of many actions that will need to be taken. Each strategy outlines the cost, children impacted, cost-benefit, metrics, and timeline use of such funding. The County holds existing contracts with several entities engaged in these strategies that could be leveraged and expedite the process in reaching these children.

All of you have played a significant role in supporting children over the years and the child protection community is extremely grateful for your support. We also recognize these challenges cannot be solved solely at a state level but also, by utilizing federal funds, need to be aggressively pursued by our community who has the ultimate responsibility in caring for the children in our midst.

We appreciate your consideration of this extremely timely and critical matter. Regards, Sophie Phillips, CEO TexProtects

TexProtects has put forth three key strategies to increase the number of home-based and kinship placements for children entering or at risk of entering foster care within Dallas County to address the foster care capacity crisis and mitigate substantially increased risk of child abuse and neglect that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic on the root causes of child maltreatment with the four-pronged approach below totaling $30.2 million ARPA with 26,597 children impacted.

 Strategy #1: Investment in increased rate for child-placing agencies to provide better quality and increase foster care placement to reduce strain on foster care capacity crisis.

Total Proposed Investment: $5.7 million Total Children Impacted: 1,230

 Strategy #2: Investment in monetary assistance for relative caregivers to prevent children from entering foster care and reduce strain on foster care capacity crisis.

Total Proposed Investment: $17 million

Total Children Impacted: 1,737 (a subset of 3,500 children in substitute care placements in Dallas County during FY2020)

 Strategy #3: Investment in community-based child abuse prevention programs. Total proposed investment: $1 million

Total Children Impacted: 12,930

Click to view PDF.

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The critical foster care reforms in Texas are having unintended consequences

Recently, we have been reading about foster children sleeping in Child Protective Services offices as if sleeping in offices is our child welfare crisis. Sleeping in CPS offices is a symptom of the real crisis, which is that today 524 children don’t have foster care placements. This shortage of placements is a symptom of even deeper and more complex challenges that put the entire foster care system, which cares for 30,000 children, at risk of cratering. Many factors have led us to these dire circumstances.

First, the Texas foster care system has been the subject of litigation since 2011, alleging violations of children’s rights. The case is before federal Judge Janice Graham Jack, who ruled that Texas was in fact violating children’s rights in foster care by subjecting them to abuse, overmedication and repeated placements.

The system needed reform, and although well-intentioned, there have been many unintended consequences resulting from Judge Jack’s orders.

For example, additional regulations ordered by the judge have resulted in increased citations for infractions, some minor, with little to no due process. While such citations are meant to improve safety, it has not been transparent as to how providers can remedy such infractions.

These regulations have driven up costs, with the expectation that the state will continue to pick up the ever-increasing tab. Meanwhile, the new regulations have shifted provider attention away from providing quality care, the intent of the lawsuit, to chasing the ever-changing and elusive paper tiger of compliance.

As a result, several providers of poorer quality have been rightfully shut down, but we also are losing much of the existing quality capacity that was insufficient to begin with.

Concurrently, the Texas Legislature is moving ahead with privatizing the foster care system, known as community-based care, in which the state pays regional private entities to administer foster care instead of the state. Given this new environment, entities that receive contracts may not receive sufficient reimbursement to care for children, cover costs and absorb the regulatory risk. We must be prepared in case of failure and question what the alternative will be if the privatization is not successful.

We cannot keep pointing fingers for the situation we are in because of our collective inability to solve the problem. Immediate action is needed.

Read the full article at the Dallas Morning News.

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State of the State: Texas Child Welfare System Trends

Key data on the state of children in Texas, including the impact of trauma and abuse, child fatalities, numbers on the foster care system, paths to prevention, home visiting outcomes, and more.

View the Report.

3000 Pegasus Park Drive
Suite 708
Dallas, TX 75247 admin@texprotects.org

Guidestar

TexProtects, The Texas Association for the Protection of Children is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Our Federal Tax ID is 46-1332547© 2023 TexProtects