In 2017, the Texas Legislature implemented the Community-Based Care initiative to partner with independent agencies and organizations to handle child welfare services locally. Eventually, all 11 regions in the state are expected to shift to this model. LOCALIZING CARE
PROVIDING SERVICES
Through the new Community-Based Care system, service providers work alongside state officials to ensure children are placed in appropriate placements while in foster care.
Areport ismadeof a child inneedof services.
Department of Family andProtective Services (DFPS) receives reports and oversees state agencies that promote safe and healthy families, and protect vulnerable children and adults fromabuse, neglect and exploitation. Abuse can be reported at 800-252-5400.
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Single Source Continuum Contractor, or SSCC. An SSCC is an existing organization or nonprofit that is located in one of the 11 DFPS regions and con- tracts with the state to offer services for foster chil- dren within that region. The state’s redesign project was expanded in 2017 when the Community-Based Care model was estab- lished to further transition the state’s child welfare system from a statewide approach to regional ser- vice providers. “It’s a sweeping system change from the state han- dling all of the foster care and the placement and everything to a contractor such as a nonprofit organi- zation,” said Lauren Sides, chief public relations offi- cer for SJRC Texas, which previously operated as Saint Jude’s Ranch for Children. In the spring of 2021, SJRC Texas received a contract to oversee the initiative for DFPS Region 8B. Region 8B spans 27 counties between Jackson County and Val Verde County, though Bexar County is separated into Region 8a. Community-Based Care is broken into three stages, during which the contractors work with state officials to create a local network of services, foster homes and other living arrangements before assum- ing case management responsibilities. SJRC Texas formed the Belong division to act as an SSCC and began managing foster care placements in October, Sides said, which is the first stage of implementation. In late 2018, The Children’s Shelter in San Antonio received a contract to serve Region 8A and formed Family Tapestry to act as the contractor, according to DFPS documents. Family Tapestry began accepting placement refer- rals in early 2019, but gave notice to terminate its con- tract in April 2021 after closing its emergency shelter. The DFPS resumed all responsibilities by July 2021. Jacob Huereca, CEO of Connections Individual and Family Services in New Braunfels, said although Family Tapestry failed, area shelters and agencies gained experience with the system and were pre- pared to work with Belong. CIFS operates a youth shelter that is partnered with Belong to provide emergency placement services. “Because Family Tapestry had already started pri- vatization of San Antonio, all the providers in this area were used to how to set up a separate contract,” Huereca said. Through the new system, the DFPS will notify Belong before a child is removed from their home within Region 8B and staff will begin searching for an appropriate placement with a local provider or foster home, SJRC Texas CEO Tara Roussett said.
“We send out a mass blast email to all of the pro- viders to see if they’re able to take them, andwe work nonstop until we can find placement,” Sides said. A primary goal of the CBC program is to keep chil- dren as close to their home community, school and support system as possible, she said, and contractors are encouraged to place children within 50 miles of their home, if possible. “In the prior system, sometimes kids, let’s say, were from New Braunfels—they could be placed in Dallas,” Sides said. “And that can be equally as trau- matic [as being removed from their home], going from a smaller kind of community to this big city and not knowing anyone.” If a placement is not found, the SSCC becomes the direct provider of care. In regions without a contrac- tor, the DFPS becomes the provider. Childrenwithout placement Across the state, the number of children who spent at least one night without proper placement skyrock- eted from 53 in September 2019 to 416 in July 2021. Multiple factors have contributed to the rise in chil- dren without placement, or CWOP, including hun- dreds of beds lost due to facility closures, according to a September report by court-appointed monitors inspecting Texas’ foster system. In 2018, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals established “heightenedmonitoring” of Texas’ childwelfare oper- ations as a result of ongoing litigation against the state. As a result of the court’s order, Texas lost 2,129 gen- eral residential beds between January 2020 and Sep- tember 2021, according to the report. In 2021, Senate Bill 1896 forbade DFPS and SSCCs from housing children in an office overnight. “That didn’t do anything because what they did is instead of putting the kids in offices, they started put- ting them in hotel rooms or churches,” Huereca said. “These are still kids without placement. They just weren’t in the office building.” The DFPS has identified a need for 669 additional beds throughout the state, according to the report, and Belong estimates 150 foster homes are needed in Region 8B. As of January, Sides said there were no children in the region that were without placement. At the emergency shelter in New Braunfels, Huereca said the shortage of foster homes has led to longer stays for children and youth with the average stay ranging from 50-60 days. “We have seenwith COVID[-19], especially with our older kids, they are staying a lot longer, unfortunately. … A lot of times because there’s nowhere for them to go,” he said. “You really don’t want the kids to stay at
Child is removedand investigationbegins.
ChildProtective Services (CPS) is responsible for removal and investigations associated with reports of abuse of a child. The CPS worker assigned to a case will also work with biological families to address reported issues and tomake the home safe for children.
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The stateor anonprofit places the child.
In regions implementing Community-Based Care (CBC) , a Single Source ContinuumContractor (SSCC) is responsible for managing placement and services for children in the foster care system. In Region 8B this is SJRC Texas’ Belong division. In regions without an SSCC, CPS officials will continue to manage placement responsibilities.
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Placements:
Family or kinship
Foster homes
Emergency shelters
Fictive kin (other trusted adults in the child’s life that have been approved by officials)
Residential care facilities
SOURCES: DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES, SJRC TEXAS/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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outs,” VanDusen said. “We’ve kind of had it a lot of different ways. Some are able to help more than oth- ers. But there’s just a lot of teamwork and sending out information asking for help and trying to navi- gate that all together.” As the region shifts to a more localized model of services for foster families, local organizations, and foster and adoption agencies are hopeful that the system will simplify the process for children to receive the care they need. Community-based care In 2010, the DFPS began the Foster Care Redesign effort that expanded the role of community service providers to include placement services, network development, community engagement and the deliv- ery of services to children in foster care through a
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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