Lawmakers took up a bill Monday that would pass a large part of the state’s responsibility to watch over Texas’ most vulnerable population over to non-profit organizations.
House Bill 6 looks to privatize much of the state’s embattled Child Protective Services to implement what’s known as “community-based care.”
Authored by State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, the latest version of HB 6 went before the House Committee on Health Services Monday morning.
Frank said, “The entire focus of community-based foster care is to have engagement so that we get more foster homes.”
The bill would essentially outsource the responsibilities of CPS caseworkers to social workers at non-profit organizations across the state.
A pastor in north Texas, Nathan Buchanan took in a three-week-old baby boy, Jackson, at the start of 2016. Now, almost a year and a half later, Jackson still lives with Buchanan, his wife, and their three biological daughters.
Buchanan became a foster parent through a pilot program that put the role held by state caseworkers in the hands of non-profit workers with ACH Child and Family Services.
“I think there’s a great amount of people who want to help, they just don’t know how to help,” Buchanan said.
He added community-based care makes it easier for Texans to become foster parents.
Wayne Carson, CEO of ACH Child and Family Services, told lawmakers HB 6 would also improve child welfare services in the state.
“It will lead to shorter length in foster care, faster adoption, and fewer children turning 18 while they are in foster care,” said Carson.
Harrison Hiner, the legislative director for the Texas State Employees Union, testified against HB 6.
“When it comes to addressing our state’s foster care problems, there is no substitute for lower caseloads or employee turnover,” Hines said.
He added CPS caseworkers could do the job, if properly funded and staffed. “The problem cannot be fixed if additional funding is not used to bring down caseloads,” said Hines.
If different non-profits are tasked with watching over abused and neglected children, Hiner argued the state could lose oversight under community-based care
Hon. Darlene Byrne, who sits on the 126th District Civil Court in Travis County, echoed that argument and encouraged the state to invest in CPS. She and other critics also questioned the cost of community-based care.
“Privatization will waste millions of precious dollars and ultimately cut a hole in our state government’s safety net for children,” Byrne said.
Supporters of the bill said HB 6 would expand that safety net to get more kids, like Jackson, in foster homes that don’t take them too far away from their communities.
“These kids are staying closer so they can stay within their own schools, they have connections with family,” Buchanan said.
No action was taken after public testimony Monday, HB 6 was left pending in the House Committee on Health Services.