Testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II
The Legislature has made progress on Child Protective Services (CPS) challenges the last two years, but it has much more work to do to adequately fund CPS. Three of the key CPS areas that the Legislature should invest in this session are the subject of today’s hearing.
To reach the goal of helping more children stay safely with their families rather than enter foster care, the Legislature should ensure DFPS has funding to support planning and other changes required to take advantage of new federal funding that will become available in Texas in 2021 when the state begins implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). To help reach the goal of ensuring children are safe when they do enter foster care, the Legislature should invest in the DFPS data system. Finally, to reach the goal of ensuring children in foster care are recovering from trauma and thriving, the Legislature should fully fund Community Based Care (CBC) and investing in developing high quality foster homes and facilities that will minimize the anticipated loss of federal funding for certain foster care placements under the FFPSA.