New state law throws child welfare system a curveball as home removals plummet - WOAI
SAN ANTONIO – The number of children being removed from homes across Texas has plummeted, but not because abuse and neglect have gone away.
The Trouble Shooters found out it’s because a new state law has thrown the system a curveball.
“I can't stray from the letter of the law,” says 45th District Court Judge Mary Lou Alvarez.
She says stripping parents of Constitutional rights and removing children from homes weigh heavily on her and fellow judges.
“Trying to do what is in the best interest of the children,” Judge Alvarez explains.
Their decisions are now guided by a new state law, House Bill 567 which went into effect last September. It deals only with neglect, not abuse. And when children are removed from neglectful homes, the standard has now changed from “substantial risk” to “immediate danger.”
“Substantial risk would be something that could happen or could likely happen in a week, in a day, in a month,” Judge Alvarez says. “You've got some space with substantial risk. When you then apply immediate danger, the space becomes more narrow.”
The two words are causing a ripple effect through the entire Texas child welfare system, with fewer cases being put in front of judges.
“What CASA is seeing statewide is something like a 50% to 75% drop in children being removed,” says Angela White, who runs CASA’s office in San Antonio.
She fears children are being left in homes they shouldn’t be.
“CASA advocates are stepping up and into those cases when requested by the judges,” White says.
The Trouble Shooters turned to the man who wrote the law: State Rep. James Frank (R - Wichita Falls), who experienced the system firsthand when he fostered and adopted two of his sons.
“I think sometimes we pretend that when we remove the child from a home, that we've removed any risk. And yet we're putting them into a foster system that by definition has risk,” State Rep. Frank says.
The vast majority - 75% - of child removals are because of neglect. He says much of his law tightens the definition, giving this real-world example.
“Literally where a parent gets caught smoking pot - which is not good, but a child being removed because a parent was caught smoking point shouldn't be a reason for removal,” State Rep. Frank says. “We are only talking about the ones that are neglect. If somebody is getting abused, nothing has changed. And if somebody is confused about that - they're not reading the law.”
His goal is to weed out low-level cases so caseworkers and attorneys can focus on actual abuse.
State Sen. Jose Menendez (D - San Antonio) voted for the law. With removals in Bexar County down 55%, we asked him about the law’s impact.
“Was this law an over-correction?” reporter Emily Baucum asked.
“I think the law, the language, the way it's being read by the attorneys who are refusing to work up the cases - I think that is the problem,” State Sen. Menendez says. “I know that one of the sticking points is, they can't prove that it's immediate. You take that before a judge and let them make the interpretation.”
The law’s language can always be tweaked during next year’s legislative session, but no one we spoke with wants to wait that long to do something. So right now, lawmakers, lawyers and caseworkers all over Texas are having tough conversations to make sure everyone understands it.
By EMILY BAUCUM
source: https://news4sanantonio.com/news/trouble-shooters/new-state-law-throws-child-welfare-system-a-curveball-as-home-removals-plummet
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