Head of Texas Family and Protective Services Department is leaving agency in June
Hank Whitman, the commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, announced Tuesday that he will leave the agency in June.
The Houston Chronicle was the first to report that Whitman announced his departure in a video emailed to department employees, which Patrick Crimmins, a DFPS spokesman, confirmed. Whitman’s last day will be June 30, Crimmins wrote in an email.
“It’s been my privilege to meet so many incredible members of the DFPS family,” Whitman said in the video. “So, I want you to be among the first to know that I will be retiring at the end of June. It has been a great honor to work with you. I’ve had a long career in public service before coming here. But I can honestly say that protecting the unprotected with you has been the most satisfying time of my professional life.”
Whitman’s term was set to end Sept. 1, 2019. In the video, Whitman touted changes made during his time at DFPS, but did not give a reason for his early retirement from the agency tasked with overseeing the state’s foster care system and protecting children and the elderly.
“Commissioner Whitman’s long-standing commitment to putting the needs of children and families first helped create a safer future for Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Tuesday. “Hank made fundamental changes to DFPS that resulted in better outcomes for children, and he played an instrumental role in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ transition into its own agency. Because of his leadership, DFPS is left better than he found it, and I extend my sincerest gratitude for his decades of dedicated service to the state of Texas.”
Whitman was appointed by Abbott to lead the agency in April 2016, amid an increase in cases of child abuse and deaths, caseworker turnover and a court ruling that noted Texas’ foster care system often releases children “more damaged than when they entered.”
A high-profile case that led to the firing and resignation of three Child Protective Services employees involved the death of 4-year-old Leiliana Wright, who was beaten to death in March 2016. Months earlier her grandmother had alerted CPS of potential abuse. In agency memos, CPS admitted caseworkers “failed to eliminate danger indicators” after a delayed response to check on Leiliana.
“The status quo at CPS is unacceptable,” Abbott said in a statement at the time. “I’ve insisted on overhauling a broken system, and I applaud the leadership changes that will provide a new direction and focus that puts protecting children first.”
Former Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Chris Traylor said in 2016 that he couldn’t “think of anyone better than a Texas Ranger to protect our most vulnerable Texans.”
But CPS still faced issues with Whitman as head. In November, the agency was hit with more than $127,000 in sanctions by a Harris County court for wrongfully removing a couple’s children and lying about the case.
Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, who has called for support to improve CPS in the past, said in a statement Wednesday that swift action was needed at DFPS and Whitman “took that charge very seriously.”
“Whitman joined the agency at its lowest point and made huge strides to turn it around,” Turner said. “Yes, more needs to be done to ensure that Texas children are protected, and it will take more hard work and more time to get there. From what I have seen, Whitman has laid a solid foundation of reform at the agency and it is my hope that for the sake of Texas’ children, that this type of change continues and grows.”
Before leading the department, Whitman had spent 22 years at the Texas Department of Public Safety, including chief of the Texas Rangers.
In a news release Tuesday, Whitman said he was proudest of spending time with caseworkers on ride-alongs across the state.
“I’ve testified to it at the Legislature, and said it many times,” Whitman said in a statement. “These caseworker jobs at DFPS are the toughest jobs I know. There are lives being saved — and I mean literally — every single day. I am the proudest I have ever been in my career. I will never forget the people here, what they’ve done, and what they will continue to do each day when I’m gone.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2019 at 6:03 PM.
