The Follow Up (#6)

I recently wrote a blog post questioning the continuation of abuse of abused and neglected children in the foster care system. I criticized the system flaws in the system and kind of bashed Child Protective Services (CPS) for not doing anything about for two years. Texas has been under scrutiny for so long for poorly supervising children during their time in foster care. After the death of two-year old Alexandria Hill and other children something is now being done for children who are still abused and neglected within the foster care system.

 As I stated once before in my pervious blog Texas Mentor is the third largest foster care contractor in the state that places children in foster homes. Texas Mentor is a private company that finds homes for foster children could lose tens of thousands of dollars in the upcoming months (Ball, 2013). Texas Mentor is now on the verge of trying to fix its discrepancies that have caused children more danger and trauma. The Department of Family and Protective Services has stopped placing children with Texas Mentor late last month due to many violations in it foster care homes, such as inappropriate punishment and poor supervision However the agency will still continue to care for the 600-puls youths currently in its foster homes, but will not receive any new children or the money that comes with taking care of them, which is between $1,300and $5,600 per month/per child (Ball, 2013). This suspension is the strongest penalty that the state can levy against the 350 agencies that contract to recruit licensed and train foster families in Texas. Suspending financial funds for a child placing agency can cost the agencies finances to decrease depending on how long it takes to get off of suspension (Ball, 2013).  According to Ball (2013) the state has cited Texas Mentor at least a dozen of times over the past two years for failing to ensure that criminal background checks were done for residents or frequent foster home visitors were done or updated. Texas Mentor is now in the works of a correction plan (developed between them and the state) that includes the company strengthening it background checks that expand to include all immediate family member within a 150-mile radius, adding oversight to the approval process for foster parents, bolstering the financial review for prospective families, and implementing an Internet and social media screening for current and prospective foster parents (Ball, 2013).

I wish they would have caught these red flags a long time ago because this could have saved so many other children lives, but due to the lack of extensive back ground checks from Texas Mentor on foster care families who make about $650 to $700 a month to care for foster children (Austin American- Statesman, 2013) can cause more harm than help to these young children and can cause children to be afraid of their foster families. Some of these families may just be in it for the money and may not care about the child’s well-being. Children are so precious and should not be taken for granted and I hope that Texas Mentor rightfully serves children after this. Overall, the foster care system is in desperate need of repair.

Observation

Yesterday I volunteered at the University Presbyterian Church Micah 6 Food Pantry. This food pantry helps low-income families and homeless youth meet their basic needs for food.