Plano-area children’s advocates hail improvements to CPS retention, turn focus to foster care system

By Daniel Houston

Designed by Breanna Flores/Community Impact Newspaper

The state of Texas last year approved funding and undertook other legislative measures to address a series of critical problems in the Child Protective Services system. Caseworkers were leaving their jobs at high rates, and caseloads were so high that it made it difficult to check on some vulnerable children in a timely manner.

Since then, conditions for CPS investigators have improved across the board, a fact acknowledged by children’s advocacy groups that have been pushing for reform and supported by data tracked by the state. Salaries are one-third higher, turnover rates are down, and caseworker responses to reports of abuse or neglect are more timely than their recent lows in 2016.

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