CPS overhaul is a win for the Legislature

“If you do nothing else this session, cast a vote to save the life of a child.”

That was the clarion call during Gov. Greg Abbott’s January address to a joint session of the Legislature, in which he made reforming Child Protective Services an emergency item.

Almost six months ago, the governor implored lawmakers to remake the state’s “rickety” child welfare system, which has been plagued by a litany of devastating but mostly preventable problems, and was even declared broken by a judge in 2015.

Two days after the close of a tumultuous and sometimes disappointing legislative session, Gov. Abbott signed into law a handful of bills to do exactly that.

We’ll call it a win.

On Wednesday, the governor signed four measures — House Bills 4, 5, 7 and Senate Bill 11 — which combined, will dramatically alter the way the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services works.

Most substantially, House Bill 5 will make the department a standalone agency, giving it complete authority over things like adoption placement, child abuse and neglect investigations and medical services for victims of abuse, both children and the elderly.

The bill re-establishes the Family and Protective Services Council, which should make decision-making faster and improve overall efficiency.

Senate Bill 11 also will make significant changes, allowing the state to contract with nonprofits to oversee children in foster care and adoptive homes.

This “community-based care” model was pioneered by Fort Worth’s own ACH Child and Family Services, and has delivered encouraging results, expanding the number of foster care providers, keeping foster children close to their homes and keeping siblings together, all of which improve foster care outcomes for kids.

Under the law, the department must find eight locations for the new program by the end of 2019.

If other parts of the state see results half as good as those we’ve seen in Fort Worth, this legislation will be a great success.

Broken as it has been, Texas’ child welfare system will not improve overnight.

But these new laws should get it back in the business of protecting the most vulnerable Texans.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "CPS overhaul is a win for the Legislature."