Many people see the Texas foster care system as inadequate due to thousands of children staying in state custody for a time period that is longer than necessary. Critics say many children in Texas foster care are forced to be transferred from placement to placement because of the heavy workload given to caseworkers and the lack of foster homes that are available.
This is why the organization Children's Rights has filed a class-action lawsuit against Texas Governor Rick Perry and other state officials, alleging that the state has not done enough to get the children in state custody into permanent homes.
The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack ruled on Thursday that she would grant class certification for the lawsuit, which was first filed in March. The suit was filed on behalf of the nine children between the ages of nine and 16 and seeks to change the state’s foster care system so that children will no longer be put in harmful and mismanaged situations.
Nine children are at the forefront of this case, but Corpus Christi Caller Times reports that Judge Jack has agreed to actually certify 12,000 children as part of the class in the lawsuit. One plaintiff in the suit, who has been identified by initials M.D., allegedly entered the foster care system when she was eight years of age and claims that she was sexually assaulted while in the care of a relative whom the state placed her with. The suit states that M.D. has been placed in six different homes since the assault six years ago.
The suit claims the Texas foster care system is unconstitutional and should be reformed.
Related Resources:
- Find a Houston Family Law Attorney (FindLaw)
- Foster Care and the Law (FindLaw)
- Foster Care: Background and History (FindLaw)
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