Texas, it’s not just Houston that has a problem:
Turning People Into Profits:
Across Texas and the US, we have seen how the privatization of prisons turned prisoners into profits. Most of us may not know that the Texas Legislature privatized Child Protective Services (CPS), effectively turning kids into cash under the guise of “Community-Based Care Programs.” Statistics show the average age of a sex trafficking victim is between 12-14 and that 86% of children who are sex trafficked come from the foster care system. Maybe in Houston, we can start to understand why those numbers exist.
A Viral Cell Phone Video Exposes CPS Worker
In August 2022, a video of a Texas CPS worker staying in a hotel with a 14-year-old girl and trying to convince her to become a prostitute went viral across the globe. As an advocate for foster children and recovered victims of sex trafficking, I have seen these children not being believed. Not this time! This intelligent and brave 14-year-old girl exposed an inept system and at least one shameless social worker’s attempt to recruit a child into the world of sex trafficking. We have reported before on an already growing and alarming problem, especially on the southwest side of Houston, where this took place. According to data provided by the State of Texas Audit, the number of Texas foster children placed in unlicensed facilities, such as motels, churches, and offices, surpassed 400 in June 2021 after trending upward for the last year. Before 2021, the number rarely went above 100. The total number of children in Texas foster care each month in 2021 averaged 15,900, less than in previous years[1]. “The child’s mother, Keisha Bazley, told Fox26: ‘My daughter told me that the worker had been telling her she should do these things, so she said she decided to video her.’ In a statement to FOX 26, Texas DFPS Spokesperson Melissa Lanford said, “DFPS is aware of the video and has taken action. The person in the video – who was employed as CPS support staff – was dismissed from her position on August 10. The safety and appropriateness with which children in care must be treated is our paramount concern. Nothing less will be tolerated.” Here are the biggest questions. Why aren’t all social workers licensed caretakers since their task is short-term care? Why did it take a 14-year-old with a cell phone to uncover this much corruption?
More Abuse Ignored
There have been other reports of child sex trafficking allegations from CPS this year. In March of 2022, The Refuge, a Bastrop, Texas-contracted shelter for domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) victims in the care of the Texas Foster Care System, was accused of trafficking the victims turned foster children while in their care. State records show Iesha Greene was fired in 2020 from a state juvenile facility for having inappropriate relationships with children. The Refuge said it was aware of her previous work there, but it never requested her publicly available personnel records. She was hired 16 months later by The Refuge. A court document filed to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services detailed how a former employee, who was working at the ranch at the time, allegedly sold nude photos of two youths in their care. The Refuge stated it learned in December an employee had reportedly coerced the residents into making commercially sexual exploitation material and fired the employee. The organization said it then “immediately contacted the DFPS and the BCSO.” In an emergency hearing, Judge Jack called DFPS’ decision not to remove the children immediately after reports of abuse a system failure. Justin Lewis, former director of child care investigations for Texas’ protective services agency, said, “DFPS was scapegoating those employees.” Before his resignation, he added, “decades of systemic issues and convoluted processes have led to communication breakdowns in the troubled agency — and kept DFPS executives out of the loop.” Judge Jack blasted the State and revealed that she was the one who initially wrote the letter detailing allegations at the Bastrop facility and expressed concerns over the phone. She asked, “Were the Rangers instructed to investigate or disprove?” Jack also questioned the purpose of McCraw’s (Texas Ranger) letter- “What was the purpose of the letter -if not for publicity.”
The Lawsuit and the Judge Trying to Overhaul The Broken System
In 2011, a lawsuit was filed against the Texas Department of Family Services (DFPS) for violating the rights of foster children in the system. In 2015 Federal Judge Janis Graham Jack found that “Texas’s PMC (Permanent Managing Conservatorship) children have been shuttled throughout a system where rape, abuse, psychotropic medication, and instability are the norm.” Judge Jack also documented how the Texas DFPS is deliberately deceptive and inefficient in its management of the Foster Care system and is severely flawed, causing harm to children.“ As the system currently stands, foster children often age out of care more damaged than when they entered.” “Years of abuse, neglect, and shuttling between inappropriate placements across the State has created a population that cannot contribute to society and proves a continued strain on the government through welfare, incarceration, or otherwise. Although some foster children are “able to overcome these obstacles, they should not have to.”
“Plaintiffs have a Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process right to be free from an unreasonable risk of harm caused by the State. Texas currently violates that right.
The public interest will not be harmed by an injunction requiring Texas to conform its foster care system to the Constitution. With all four factors met, the Court holds that injunctive relief is appropriate in this case.”
Since her 2015 Ruling, Judge Janis Jack has held several hearings as a result of status updates and emergency reports from the federal monitors appointed, which have resulted in the following consequences to CPS and The State of Texas:
In June of 2022, Judge Jack threatened to pursue large fines against the State of Texas for continually failing the 30,000 children in their care. Judge Jack has issued several orders regarding the foster care system. Judge Jack had previously fined the state $50,000 a day, which she later suspended for ignoring her orders to have foster children in group settings supervised around the clock by an adult who is also awake. Jack has once again warned Texas to get their Foster care system into a functional, safe space for the children or face additional and larger fines with each failure to comply with the judge’s order to keep children safe.
The Response From Texas
The State of Texas, under the 85th Legislature, in a bipartisan bill (SB11) allowed private LLCs with the most pleasant of names that imply a spa-like experience to become licensed foster care facilities with little to no oversight. These facilities are commonly referred to as Residential Treatment Centers (RTC), and are primarily filled to the brim with teenage children warehoused because of “severe behavioral issues” stemming from abuse, neglect, and trauma. This isn’t an answer to a disaster. This isn’t even a bandaid over a bullet hole and in fact, is more in line with shooting the hostage. As Texas continues to implement its overhaul using its strategic design plan phases, and Judge Janis Graham Jack continues to fight for the foster children of Texas, we will keep you informed.
[1] https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/about_dfps/data_book/child_protective_services/
[2]https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/Foster_Care/Litigation.asp