Department of Family and Protective Services

Overview

The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is the state agency responsible for ensuring the safety of children, older adults, and adults with disabilities. DFPS is an independent agency that provides services and supports to reduce the likelihood of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The DFPS headquarters are in Austin and, as of February 2024, includes roughly 13,000 employees that work in 250 local offices in 11 geographic regions.1

DFPS has five major programs: Child Protective Services (CPS), Adult Protective Services (APS), Child Protective Investigations (CPI), Statewide Intake (SWI), and Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI). Effective September 1, 2024, all services, authority, and staff from the PEI program will be transferred from DFPS to the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). This change is a result of SB 24 (Kolkhorst/Frank) passed during the 88th legislative session.

Neither CPS or APS themselves provide mental health services. However, CPS does interface with the mental health system in key ways: connects parents with necessary mental health and substance use services in its prevention services, contracts with behavioral health providers for court-ordered services as needed once a child has been removed, and works with HHSC on the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) Project, which assists families avoid unnecessary child relinquishment in order to receive mental health services for their youth in crisis. 

According to DFPS, “behavioral health needs for youth in their conservatorship remain a major issue.”2 To address some of the agency’s needs, funding was provided during the 88th legislative session to create a Chief Strategist for Mental Health and an Office of Behavioral Health Strategy (OBHS) within DFPS.3 The new office and position are tasked with helping the agency better understand and address behavioral health of youth in their care, creating a strategic approach to address these needs, and collaborating with HHSC to implement legislatively funded projects, including: Behavioral Health Kinship Funding Initiative, Youth Extended Stay Beds, Youth Crisis Outreach Teams, and a Temporary Stabilization Program (TSP) pilot.4

To see the DFPS organizational chart, visit this page.

Fast Facts

  • In FY 2023: 
    • There were 31,475 children in DFPS legal responsibility.5 
    • 12,804 children exited DFPS legal custody. 6
    • 18,833 families received family preservation services. 7
    • CPS completed 163,855 investigations, with 268,734 alleged victims of child abuse/neglect and 58,120 confirmed victims. 8,9
  • As of August 2023, 18,029 children were in DFPS Substitute Care, of which 11,175 were in foster care. The placements and number of children placed:10
    • Child Placing Agency (CPA) Foster Homes: 7,615 
    • DFPS Foster Homes: 447 
    • Basic Child Care: 704 
    • Residential Treatment Centers (RTCs): 1,085 
    • Emergency Shelters: 378 
    • Other types of Foster Care: 715 
    • Other Care: 231 
  • Of the remaining 6,854 children in other types of Substitute Care, children were placed in:11
    • Kinship Care: 6,088 
    • CPA Adoptive Homes: 256 
    • DFPS Adoptive Homes: 37 
    • Other Substitute Care: 473 
  • In FY 23, PEI served over 40,000 children through Community Youth Development (CYD), Family and Youth Success (FAYS), and Statewide Youth Services Network (SYSN) programs.12
    • Of the 17,114 youth served in CYD, over 98 percent were not referred to juvenile probation. 
    • Of the 21,363 youth served in FAYS, over 97 percent of children remained safe. 
    • Of the 2,932 youth were served in SYSN , over 98 percent were not referred to juvenile probation. 13
  • In FY 23, over 24,600 families were served across PEI’s five child abuse and neglect prevention programs. 14
  • Adult Protective Services (APS) completed 83,737 in-home investigations, with 49,077 of those investigations validated and 37,319 completed in-home service delivery stages.15,16,17
  • Across the nation in 2021, Texas ranked second for the highest number of contacts made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The hotline received over 3,500 substantive phone calls, texts, Webchats, emails, or online tip reports from Texas.18,19
  • An estimated 79,000 youth are victims of sex trafficking in the state at any given time. 20
  • In FY 22, 1,224 children and youth in DFPS conservatorship were reported missing at some point. 79 of those children were identified as sex trafficking victims and 1-5 children were estimated to be labor trafficking victims during their missing episode.21,22
  • In FY 22, Texas had 182 confirmed child abuse and neglect-related fatalities with 65 confirmed abuse and neglect-related near fatalities.23

Policy Concerns

  • Increasing access to mental health and substance use services for children, youth, and their families to prevent unnecessary involvement with the child welfare system. 
  • Continuing innovative practices for families in an effort to prevent the need for child relinquishment to obtain mental health services for children or youth in crisis. 
  • Continuing the focus on supporting and providing treatment for parents at risk of engagement with CPS due to mental health and substance use issues. 
  • Continuing to support kinship placements and access to needed mental health and substance use supports once a child is in their home to reduce additional permanency disruptions. 
  • Addressing the ongoing needs of children without placement (CWOP) staying in offices, hotels, and churches. 
  • Support all youth in foster care, including access to medically necessary services and inclusive mental health supports for all special populations. 
  • Ensuring access to medically-necessary gender-affirming care for transgender youth in care without unnecessary investigation from CPS. 
  • Address suicide attempts and suicide rates of youth currently or formerly in foster care. 
  • Maintaining quality, accessible mental health treatment and support services for both children and their families during the agency’s ongoing transition to community-based care. 
  • Increasing focus on housing stability, employment, and normalcy for foster youth, including those aging out of foster care. 
  • Improving support for youth transitioning from child to adult services (ages 17-24). 
  • Addressing disproportionality of minority and LGBTQIA+ youth in the CPS system and providing adequate, trauma-informed mental health services to meet the needs of these children and youth. 
  • Providing more individualized interventions and treatment plans for youth with dual diagnoses (i.e., mental health and substance use or intellectual/developmental disabilities). 
  • Continued system-wide integration of trauma-informed practices into all levels of care, including accessible trainings for all mental health professionals, caregivers, and all state and private-agency staff working within and around the system. 
  • Combatting human trafficking and child exploitation for children within the foster care system and young adults who have aged out. 
  • Continuing CPS focus on and implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act in Texas in an effort to draw down funding for additional mental health and substance use treatment, support, and prevention efforts. 
  • Creating a comprehensive plan with other child-facing agencies and programs to work across systems to address the youth mental health crisis. 
  • Ensuring continuity of services and supports provided to children and families through the PEI programs in the division’s transition to HHSC. 
  • Implementing and sustaining recommendations and initiatives created through the Office of Behavioral Health Strategy. 

Legislative Overview

Several bills passed and budget items funded to improve and support the mental health needs of children in or at risk of entering the child welfare system. The agency received about $1.2 million for five full-time employees (FTEs) to create a Chief Strategist for Mental Health and an Office of Behavioral Health Strategy (OBHS) focused on “a coordinated and outcome-based approach to meeting the behavioral health needs for youth in DFPS conservatorship.”24

The transfer of the PEI division from DFPS to HHSC is one major change from the 88th legislative session. With the passage of SB 24 (Kolkhorst/Frank), the PEI division will be transferred to HHSC, renamed the Family Support Services Division, and receive an additional $65 million of funding.25 Additionally, SB 26 (Kolkhorst/Jetton) created a matching grant program for mental health early intervention and treatment, with specific priorities to include reducing participation in the RTC project and the number of children at risk of placement in foster care.26 The grant program, named the Supporting Mental Health and Resiliency in Texans (SMART) Innovation grant program, was funded at $15 million per year and its application period closed on February 8, 2024. Grant agreements are anticipated to begin on July 1, 2024.27

The Legislature fully funded foster care “rate modernization” as proposed by DFPS and HHSC, totaling $220 million in state funding to DFPS and a 12-20 percent pay increase to foster care providers. According to Texans Care for Children, the funding will “improve providers’ ability to meet the unique needs of children in foster care, improve placement stability, and strengthen the quality of foster care services.”28 The legislature also recognized the needs of kinship caregivers and developed a license specifically for those caregivers with $7 million in funding to help more kin become licensed and provide other concrete financial support.29 

Missed opportunities include the legislature not acting to support youth aging out of care with greater access to higher education and housing. Further, there was little attention to the crisis of the mental health needs of children without placement (CWOP) and those at risk of re-entering the foster care system due to ongoing mental health needs. 

Passed

SB 24 (Kolkhorst/Frank) – Duties, Powers, and Transfers Between HHSC and DFPS 

Transfers prevention and early intervention services currently provided by DFPS to HHSC, consolidates certain support programs within HHSC under a new family support services program, and provides for the establishment of the Thriving Texas Families Program as the continuation of the Alternatives to Abortion (A2A) program. 

SB 26 (Kolkhorst/Jetton)- Changes to LMHA/LBHA Audits, Reporting, Services, and Programs 

Among its provisions, creates a matching grant program for children’s mental health, admission and transition of care for certain individuals, and performance and financial audits of LMHAs. 

Did Not Pass

HB 2822 (Garcia) – Housing Study on Youth Transitioning Out of Foster Care or The Juvenile Justice System 

Would have required the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless to conduct a study to examine the housing needs of youth transitioning from foster care or the juvenile justice system to independent living. 

HB 4065 (Rose/Johnson) – DFPS Suicide Data Reporting for Youth in Managing Conservatorship

Would have required DFPS to report on suicide attempts in foster youth. 

HB 4091 (Johnson/Kolkhorst) – Inpatient Authorization for Youth in Managing Conservatorship

Would have expanded the circumstances under which DFPS would be authorized to request the admission of a minor in DFPS managing conservatorship to an inpatient mental health facility. 

Funding

DFPS Funding Trends: All Funds 30,31,32,33

DFPS Funding by Method of Finance (FY2024-25) 34

References

  1. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.) DFPS data book. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  2.  Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (2024). DFPS FY 2024 annual plan: A path forward. ↩︎
  3. Ita, T. (2024, February 24). Office of Behavioral Health Strategy [Powerpoint slides]. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.  ↩︎
  4. Ibid.
    ↩︎
  5.  Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPS conservatoryship: Children in DFPS legal responsibility [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024  ↩︎
  6. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPS conservatoryship: Children exiting DFPS legal custody [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024  ↩︎
  7.  Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPS family preservation (FPR): Families served [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  8. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPI completed investigations: Victims [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  9. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPI completed investigations: Activity [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024  ↩︎
  10. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPS placements: Children in substitute care on August 31 [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  11. Ibid. ↩︎
  12. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). PEI youth served – Fiscal Year [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  13. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). CPS conservatoryship: Children in DFPS legal responsibility [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  14. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). PEI outcomes, outputs & efficiences [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024   ↩︎
  15. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). APS investigations: Activity [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  16. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). APS investigations: Victims [Infographic] ↩︎
  17. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). APS Services: Activity [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024   ↩︎
  18. National Human Trafficking Hotline (2021). National Human trafficking hotline data report 2021.  ↩︎
  19. National Human Trafficking Hotline (2021).  Texas state report. Retrieved May 15, 2024  ↩︎
  20.  Busch-Armendariz, N., Nale, N.L., Kammer-Kerwick, M., Kellison, B., Maldonado Torres, M.I., Heffron, L.C., & Nehme, J. (2016). Human trafficking by the numbers: The initial benchmark of prevalence and economic impact for Texas. The University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work, Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.   ↩︎
  21. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). HTCE children missing [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024 ↩︎
  22. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (n.d.). Suspected or confirmed trafficking incidents [Infographic]. Retrieved February 25, 2024  ↩︎
  23. Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. (2023). Fiscal Year 2022 child maltreatment fatalities and near fatalities annual report.  ↩︎
  24. The Texas Statewide Behavioral Health Coordinating Council. (2023). Coordinated statewide behavioral health expenditure report, FY 2024. Texas Health and Human Services Commission. ↩︎
  25. TexProtects. (2023). 88th Texas Legislative session outcomes.   ↩︎
  26. Rivers, M. and Henderson, C. (2024, January 12). Pre-submittal applicant conference. Request for Applications No. HHS0013881. 26 Supporting Mental Health and Resiliency in Texans (SMART)Innovation Grant Program [Powerpoint]. Texas Health and Human Services. ↩︎
  27. Ibid. ↩︎
  28. Texans Care for Children. (2023). Review of policy progress during the 2023 Texas legislative session: Child protection.   ↩︎
  29. Ibid. ↩︎
  30. Texas Legislature Online (2017). S.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 85th Legislature, FY 2018-19. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/85R/billtext/pdf/SB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
  31. Texas Legislature Online (2019). H.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 86th Legislature, FY 2020-21.  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/billtext/pdf/HB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
  32. Texas Legislature Online (2021). S.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 87th Legislature, FY 2022-23. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/SB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
  33. Texas Legislature Online (2023). H.B. 1, General Appropriations Act, 88th Legislature, FY 2024-25. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/HB00001F.pdf#navpanes=0 ↩︎
  34. Ibid. ↩︎

Updated on December 16th, 2024



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