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Report: #211773

Complaint Review: Texas Department Of Family And Protective Services - San Antonio Texas

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  • Reported By: San Antonio Texas
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  • Texas Department Of Family And Protective Services 3635 S.E. Military Dr. San Antonio, Texas U.S.A.

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Child Protective Services (CPS) took my daughter Jesilyn from me on March 23rd, 2004.

Jesilyn should have never been taken. I don't know why CPS officially took her. I was given many reasons including risk, neglectful supervision, and an unstable home. Jesilyn and I were living with my mother, sister, and my ex-boyfriend. My mother was never a stable person and on the 17th of March she attempted to commit suicide and checked herself into the hospital. She left me with my sister who is cognitively delayed. My sister ran away, she told a Karate studio that I had kicked her out, and the studio called the police. When the police came they asked where our mother was and if I was able to care for my sister until my mom got home. I was honest and revealed I couldn't care for her.
My sister was taken to Boys Town. A CPS investigation was opened on my mother. Subsequently a CPS investigation was opened on me. I had taken Jesilyn to a sitter for a while due to my work situation and having no sitter (my mother was my sitter).

Two weeks after Jesilyn was taken I went to my first court hearing. I stood in front of Judge Sakai terrified, waiting for him to tell me whether or not my daughter could come home. I was ordered to complete a service plan that included counseling, parenting classes, anger management, weekly visits, and more. I was also ordered to quit my job because I was working in the adult industry.

I lost my home because I wasn't working, I lost everything I had, and was forced onto the street. I lived day-by-day struggling to keep up everything CPS required of me. If it weren't for a very nice bus driver who let me ride for free on the day of my visits with Jesilyn, I might never have seen her. I begged my caseworker Fernando Martinez, my Lawyer Patricia DeVeau, my counselor Sylvia Moreno, and my CASA worker Rosa Linda Martinez for help. No one helped me. I was alone and fighting an uphill battle for my child.


I found out Jesilyn was being starved and abused in foster care. Rosa Linda noticed my daughter always had bruises and was loosing a large amount of weight. The issue was taken to court. Jesilyn was ordered out of the foster home and it was ordered that within two weeks she be back home with me. I had secured a stable home, completed my entire service plan, and had gotten back on SSI for my heart condition. In November of 2004 I moved into a shelter for single women and families. In February Jesilyn was returned to me and I was assigned a new caseworker named Sherry Caperton.

While Jesilyn was back in my custody I found that she had many issues. She was argumentative, she threw wild temper tantrums, and she was found touching another child's private parts in daycare. The child she touched was the child of my roommate at Peacock Village. I asked Jesilyn why she touched her, she told me because a man at Momma Jackie's touched me. Jackie Brown was her foster mother. Jackie Brown continues to be a foster mother and no action was taken against her.

Sherry secured a safer home for me at the Salvation Army's Peacock Village While at Peacock Village I reunited with my friend named Samuel Hall. Samuel and I are now engaged and planning on being married very soon. I told Sherry about Samuel on Feb 15th, the day after we got together. She refused to run a criminal background check. I was ordered to stay away from home. CPS ordered me to put Jesilyn in daycare. On the daycare list I had to put down people who could pick up Jesilyn incase of emergencies. I put Samuel on the list. My daughter didn't like Sherry and I didn't feel comfortable allowing her to pick Jesilyn up from daycare.


In March I made a bad decision to visit my mother with Jesilyn. Sherry took Jesilyn away from me. I was forced to move out of Peacock Village because I no longer had a child and once again found myself homeless. When I asked Sherry why she took Jesilyn, she never gave me a straight answer. She told me two different reasons. 1. Because I took Jesilyn to my mothers, and 2. Because I wrote Samuels name on the daycare list over hers (which I didn't).


Samuel and I moved in with my mother the day Jesilyn was taken. I wasn't allowed to see Jesilyn or talk to her. I made a very hard decision to move to my grandmothers in Albuquerque, NM in April. I was in contact with Sherry on a daily basis. I called my uncle in Virginia and asked him if he would be willing to adopt Jesilyn in case something happened. I was battling with the idea of signing over my rights because for 15 month I was told I was a horrible mother and I would never be able to give Jesilyn the life she deserved.


My uncle hired Patricia's associate Dorothy Diaz as an intervener. In May I went to court and told Patricia I was going to fight for Jesilyn. That is when Patricia and Dorothy began telling me I would never get Jesilyn back and I needed to sign a voluntary relinquishment of my parental rights. I was pregnant with Taylor and they told me that if I didn't sign the papers then they would make sure that Albuquerque CPS would take my unborn child from me. They told me it was either sign away Jesilyn or lose both my children. I was forced to sign the relinquishment.


I am currently in college to earn a Bachelors in Human Services/Management. I'm pulling a 4.0 GPA, and I'm planning on continuing my education at Harvard Law School after I earn my Bachelors. I am engaged to Samuel and plan to be married by the summer. I live in Albuquerque, NM. We live in a four-bedroom home with my grandmother, and our daughter Taylor. Samuel has a job and pays all of our bills. I am now financially stable. All I needed was help and no one from CPS would give me that.


CPS has destroyed my life and my daughter's life. My daughter was abused, molested, and starved in foster care. I never hurt my child. I had a dysfunctional home. I lived the only way I new how. I grew up in a dysfunctional home and I was abused much of my life. I was punished because I was abused. I had my child taken from me and I didn't deserve it. I will fight till the day I die to get my child back. I deserve my child and she deserves me.

Elizabet
San Antonio, Texas
U.S.A.

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#7 General Comment

Tx DFPS Racial Discrimination

AUTHOR: Htwn98 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, December 12, 2010

One thing that a lot of people don't know is that CPS will only award financial compensation or even adoption assistance, if the child is not white...if you adopt a white child, they inform you that these are the first to be adopted, so as an incentive, they only offer money to families who foster or adopt the other races...this was stated by a caseworker out of San Antonio, Texas...

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#6 Consumer Comment

File an OCA report, Elizabeth.

AUTHOR: TXRed - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, November 28, 2010

That's the advice I received from the first CPS Investigator to visit my home. My daughter's father is in jail and has nothing better to do than harass me via CPS. This is the third time they have been out.  The first two, I was cleared, of course, no cause.

But this third investigator is psycho and I had to call the first one to find out what to do because I am afraid of what this lying b*tch might try next.

Here is the email I had to send to my instructor because I couldn't complete my homework this weekend. I am working on my Master's in Cybersecurity.

It is my worst nightmare!

My daughter's father has called CPS on me for the 3rd time in less than a year. The investigator stood outside my door for 15 minutes while my daughter was throwing a major fit because her friend that had just spent the night wasn't going to be able to come back over. She was pushing me and pushing me, (literally) and I cursed at her. She still wouldn't stop pulling on me and I told her if she didn't start obeying and stop breaking her boundaries I was going to have to send her back to the mental hospital (anger management from PTSD).  That (according to the investigator) is when she knocked on the door.

She came in barrels blazing and threatened to take my daughter away from me and only allow me supervised visits for the next 3 to 6 months. A snapshot of our lives (and you both know what we have been through) and I have lost my daughter. I could truly lose custody of her when my ex gets out or even through this modification hearing that will probably happen in January.

Because the mental hospital wouldn't take her, no cause (duh), the investigator is allowing a friend of mine from church (her daughter was the one who spent the night) to keep her until Monday when who knows what will happen.




I forged a good relationship with the first investigator that came out. I am going to call her on Monday. This new woman is very sneaky, and that is putting it politely and she is a liar as well.  That is what has me so scared. How can you fight a lying Child Protective Service Investigator? Can you tell me one parent who hasn't yelled at their child? Can you tell me one parent who hasn't said a cuss word? (It's not like I allow her to do it; she gets her mouth washed out with soap...really!).  And just for that she threatens to take her away from me? She was even bullying the psychiatrist at the hospital and her stories and "plans" keep changing and my daughter tells me one thing and she is telling me another.

I know
my daughter isn't lying because it is during "conversation" and she admits to some and denies other statements, yet they all contradict what this woman is telling me. Can you believe when my daughter was in the mental hospital a couple of weeks ago, after I told this woman that she was just diagnosed with PTSD due to the surfacing of repressed memories of abuse by her father, that she told my daughter she was going to go talk to her dad? After 2 phones calls to her and 2 to her supervisor, she finally called me back and I jumped down her throat for being reckless and endangering my daughter's fragile psyche...she said she never said that to my daughter, but I know she did.

How am I going to survive all of this? I thought the last 3 years were bad, but these last 3 months have been way worse. I can't call my aunt, who is my Christian mentor, because she is suffering from breast cancer (had lumpectomy in Sept.) and she cannot handle ANY stress. She has always been the one person in my life that I could tell anything and she always had the right thing to say or the right prayer to pray. I am lost without her too.

I miss my baby.




Let me give you some more details.

She first called me when I was going to apply for the protective order. I told her
my daughter was in the mental hospital and told her about the PTSD and the abuse. I asked if we could delay the interview to give my daughter time to come home and for me to prepare her for it. She said she couldn't give much time. I then asked if we could have 2 days and then I would bring her to her office for an interview. (I am trying to keep our home a "safe zone"). She said that would be fine. She told me she was going to "call" the hospital and make sure my daughter was getting good medical care. I am not an idiot, I knew she was going to go interview her and that was fine with me; I don't have anything to hide and again, the interview was taking place outside the house, so I was really good with it, even though she lied to me.

My daughter later told me that during the interview she told my daughter she was going to talk to her father, who is in prison. That is when I first got angry and when I finally spoke with her I asked her how she could possibly tell my daughter that she was going to talk with her father when he is the source of her PTSD and anxiety? She claims she never told that to my daughter and that is lie #2. She also told my daughter that she "met" with me that morning; we only spoke on the phone. Not a huge lie, but she is developing a pattern here. She then calls me last week and says she has to come to the house to take pictures. I asked her if I could have a few days because I wanted to pick up because with me being so sick and taking care of my daughter and school, the house was messy.  "Sure, no problem".  We set it for noon on Friday.

When I found out my mother was going to visit my brother in Houston for Thanksgiving, leaving Friday, I called and asked if we could make it at 2 pm because I knew my mother wasn't going to get up and go at 8:30 am like she was saying and I wanted to make sure my mother was gone before she came because of all of the stress and anxiety that my mother is under. "No problem". Well, when Friday came, my mother was still in bed at 10:30 am and hadn't packed her suitcase, I called and asked if we could do it on Saturday at 12:30 pm. My exact words to her were, "Do I know my mother or what? She still hasn't packed her suitcase. Are you still on call this weekend? Could we reschedule for tomorrow at 12:30 pm?". "Sure, no problem".

So, you know what happens when she gets here at 12:30 pm? She tells me that she has been standing at my door listening for 15 minutes while I am fighting off my daughter and trying to pick up more from the sleepover. Yes, I got frustrated when she was blocking the hallway and when she moved, I walked down the hall and yelled, "I can't f'ing believe this". She tells me she is surprised my neighbors haven't called CPS on me; I told her it doesn't happen that often.  Doesn't she think that CPS is intimidating, especially to a 9 year old girl, who is already having a behavioral meltdown? After going off on me about that, she then in a bizarre way, goes off on me, asking me why I didn't call her yesterday before my mother left so she could come over and interview her. (Huh?). I re-explained that I had told her from the beginning that I didn't want my mother here because she couldn't handle the stress and had planned to tell her when she came back. She then told me, well I have to interview her. I told her, you never told me that. She said, "Yes I did; she lives here). I then replied back, you never told me you needed to interview my mother. (What she had actually told me was she just needed to come over and take a few pictures to show that they were there and it wouldn't take much time.) Then she asks me if I have something to hide. Uh, no.

She first threatened me in front of
my daughter that my daughter was going to have to go somewhere and I could only have supervised visits. My daughter fell apart and so did I. Why do these people talk like this in front of the children? Both of my parents are out of town and I asked if she could go to my neighbors. I called my neighbor and she needed to talk to her husband. That was when she told me it would be for 3 to 6 months. My neighbors are getting up in years and couldn't, not that I would even ask, take my daughter for that long of a time. Then "Amber" asked me if I was just threatening my daughter with taking her back to the mental hospital. I told her no, I wouldn't threaten my daughter with such a thing. I told her I would have to take her back if her behavior started to disintegrate and she couldn't control her behavior.

Before that, Amber has said she could stay with my friend from church, but when she asked me that, then her "plan" changed to admitting
my daughter into the mental hospital, once again traumatizing my daughter. We couldn't get a hold of admissions and I had left a voice mail. She expected me to follow her way across town, 25-30 minutes, since we couldn't get anyone on the phone. Praise God the hospital called me back as I was loading the car. I thought it was an admissions clerk I was talking to (found out later it was actually the doctor on call) and he kept asking me what the emergency was and I told him my daughter was behaving aggressively and to be honest, I couldn't think of any other reason why my daughter should go. When I had told my daughter I was going to have to put her back in the hospital, it wasn't for acute treatment, but for partial-care, where she would go from 8-5pm, for all types of therapy. I told the doctor that CPS was here and please talk to her. I heard her bullying the doctor. I told her I needed to go back in and pack my daughter's medicine.

The next thing I know, they are at the front door and
my daughter tells me, "I get to stay at Connie's". Again, this is after Amber had told me that bipolars and PTSD victims can snap at any time and she couldn't put my friend's family at risk (First she had said yes, then no, the mental hospital and then yes to my friends). I told her my daughter is an angel for everyone expect me and my mother (my daughter has stated before that she behaves this way with us because she is not scared of us). So now, there is no "plan" for Monday. Amber will get back with me. Do you see how she bounced around with her "plans" and from what I understand, my daughter can come home on Monday. Oh and if my daughter did the 2-week inpatient program at the hospital, then she could come home, not the 3-6 month deal. My head is spinning! I went to bed last night at 9 pm, unheard of for me!!! I was so mentally and emotionally exhausted, my computer woke me up and I didn't get up until 10:30 am this morning, with my eyes all swollen. I slept with her blanket.

You know me. Before yesterday, I was incapable of hate. I don't even hate my ex. But I hate this woman and prayed last night for forgiveness, because I do hate this woman. I think she is dangerous and on some kind of power trip. Her "plan" went from 3-6 months to 3 days. Oh, I forgot these lies. She told me
my daughter said that she and I fight like this all the time, my daughter and my mom fight like this all the time and me and my mom fight this all the time. I told her that wasn't true. Later I told my daughter what Amber said and my daughter told me again, "She's lying". "I told her, 'not often'". Then when I told my daughter that my daughter told me that she said my mom always thinks she is lying, my daughter said, "Yes, I told her that". So you can see how I know that my daughter is not lying to me.

This woman scares me.
When she was leaving, she told my daughter and I to be nice and love one another while I took her to my friend's and for my daughter to take a break and to give me a break. I found out today that Amber never even called my friend to check to see whether or not I took her there. She never called the first CPS investigator that I gave as a reference because she does know what my daughter and I have been through and she tells me I can call her anytime.

When I told her the story above, she kept saying, "what?, what?, what? I want to know why she was standing outside your door for 15 minutes instead of knocking." Her advice to me was to go to the Program director and give them all of my information and have the psychiatrist she bullied write a letter as well. She went from taking her away from me for 3-6 months, to 2 weeks in the mental hospital, to 2 days at my friend's house, without so much as giving me the Parent's Hand Guide or a Safety Plan for my daughter staying at my friend's. She told me if it appeared that the Program Director wasn't doing anything to file an OCA report. My CPS "friend" also told me that having my daughter admitted to mental hospital was a way to close the case faster and asked me on what grounds was she having her committed and I told her she told the doctor that it was a voluntary parental admission.

I am so sorry for what you have been through and continue to go through. Isn't it amazing that no one, especially the CPS workers posting here have shown you any real empathy? I am angry for another reason. While I am being harassed by my ex and CPS is all over me, there are 1000s of kids out there who could really use their stressed out workers and limited resources.

God Bless you and your family and may Jesilyn come home soon.

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#5 UPDATE Employee

Money?

AUTHOR: Ab - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I have worked for CPS since 1996, and I have never been paid a bonus or any other monies whatsoever for assisting with consummating the adoptions I have worked on.

I have also NEVER known an adoptive family to get "between $750 and $2250" per month for every child they adopt, or whatever ridiculous amount of money the ex-employee above claimed the adoptive families get paid.

Per the Texas Family Code, adoptive families who are approved for adoption subsidies can get the minimum amount of $150 per month, which is theoretically to assist with medical insurance premiums. I have NEVER known a family who has adopted a child through the state to receive more than $450 per month in adoption subsidy per child they have adopted. Children who are adopted from the CPS foster care system are generally exempt from college tuition and fees at state universities. Adoptive parents, if they qualify, may receive a reimbursement of up to $1600 to cover the fees of the attorney who represented them for the consummation of the adoption.

I ain't gonna tell y'all that all caseworkers are perfect and all clients are bad. I have run into my share of misguided, ineffective, and horrid caseworkers in my time. I've investigated many families in which no abuse or neglect was found and those people still say hello to me when they see me five and ten years later.

I don't blame anyone for their general mistrust of CPS. Just don't blame me for my occasional mistrust of my clients. I don't know you, I don't know your family, and I've got to make a snap decision about the safety of your child when you might have a gun tucked into the back of your jeans or a meth lab in the next room, and your four-year-old has a bruise on her forehead, more on her legs, and a broken arm, and you've got vague explanations at best as to how these injuries occurred. I'm not gonna know whether *I* can trust *you* unless you let me do my job. Trust me, I'm gonna give you ample opportunity to show me you can do yours as a parent.

Yeah, yeah, I work for the agency, so I'm probably just blowing smoke with this money stuff, right? Here's a little research for y'all to peek at:

From the CPS policy handbook:

***6883 College Tuition Waiver for Youth Who Have Been Adopted
CPS October 2004

Any youth is exempt from college tuition and fees if he or she was

either:

in foster or other residential care under DFPS conservatorship as of the youth's 14th birthday; and

eligible for adoption on or after that day;

or

adopted; and

the subject of a signed adoption assistance agreement between DFPS and the adoptive parents under Subchapter D, Chapter 162, of the Texas Family Code.

Texas Education Code 54.2111

See Item 6579, College Tuition Waiver for Youth, for details on enrollment deadline.

And from the Texas Family Code:

*** 162.301. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Adoption assistance agreement" means a written
agreement, binding on the parties to the agreement, between the
department and the prospective adoptive parents that specifies the
nature and amount of any payment, services, or assistance to be
provided under the agreement and stipulates that the agreement will
remain in effect without regard to the state in which the
prospective adoptive parents reside at any particular time.
(2) "Child" means a child who cannot be placed for
adoption with appropriate adoptive parents without the provision of
adoption assistance because of factors including ethnic
background, age, membership in a minority or sibling group, the
presence of a medical condition, or a physical, mental, or
emotional disability.
(3) "Department" means the Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, 1, eff. April 20, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 412, 1, eff. Aug. 28,
1995.


162.302. ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. (a) The
department shall administer a program designed to promote the
adoption of children by providing information to prospective
adoptive parents concerning the availability and needs of the
children, assisting the parents in completing the adoption process,
and providing adoption assistance necessary for the parents to
adopt the children.
(b) The legislature intends that the program benefit
children residing in foster homes at state or county expense by
providing them with the stability and security of permanent homes
and that the costs paid by the state and counties for foster home
care for the children be reduced.
(c) The program shall be carried out by licensed
child-placing agencies or county child-care or welfare units under
rules adopted by the department.
(d) The department shall keep records necessary to evaluate
the program's effectiveness in encouraging and promoting the
adoption of children.
(e) It is the intent of the legislature that the department
in providing adoption services, when it is in the children's best
interest, keep siblings together and whenever possible place
siblings in the same adoptive home.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, 1, eff. April 20, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 412, 2, eff. Aug. 28,
1995; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 744, 1, eff. June 13, 2001.

162.304. FINANCIAL AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. (a) The
department shall enter into adoption assistance agreements with the
adoptive parents of a child as authorized by Part E of Title IV of
the federal Social Security Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section
673).
(b) The adoption of a child may be subsidized by the
department. The need for and amount of the subsidy shall be
determined by the department under its rules.
(b-1) The department shall pay a $150 subsidy each month for
the premiums for health benefits coverage for a child with respect
to whom a court has entered a final order of adoption if the child:
(1) was in the conservatorship of the department at
the time of the child's adoptive placement;
(2) after the adoption, is not eligible for medical
assistance under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code; and
(3) is younger than 18 years of age.
(b-2) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
Subsection (b-1), including rules that:
(1) limit eligibility for the subsidy under that
subsection to a child whose adoptive family income is less than 300
percent of the federal poverty level;
(2) provide for the manner in which the department
shall pay the subsidy under that subsection; and
(3) specify any documentation required to be provided
by an adoptive parent as proof that the subsidy is used to obtain
and maintain health benefits coverage for the adopted child.
(c) In addition to the subsidy under Subsection (b), the
department may subsidize the cost of medical care for a child. The
department shall determine the amount and need for the subsidy.
(d) The county may pay a subsidy under Subsection (b) or (c)
if the county is responsible for the child's foster care at the time
of the child's adoptive placement.
(e) If the child is receiving supplemental security income
from the federal government, the state may pay the subsidy
regardless of whether the state is the managing conservator for the
child.
(f) Subject to the availability of funds, the department
shall work with the Health and Human Services Commission and the
federal government to develop a program to provide medical
assistance under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, to children who
were in the conservatorship of the department at the time of
adoptive placement and need medical or rehabilitative care but do
not qualify for adoption assistance.

Text of subsection as added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 267,
2
(g) A child for whom a subsidy is provided under Subsection
(b-1) for premiums for health benefits coverage and who does not
receive any other subsidy under this section is not considered to be
the subject of an adoption assistance agreement for any other
purpose, including for determining eligibility for the exemption
from payment of tuition and fees for higher education under Section
54.2111, Education Code.

Text of subsection as added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1406,
4
(g) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission by rule shall provide that the maximum amount
of the subsidy under Subsection (b) that may be paid to an adoptive
parent of a child under an adoption assistance agreement is an
amount that is equal to the amount that would have been paid to the
foster parent of the child, based on the child's foster care service
level on the date the department and the adoptive parent enter into
the adoption assistance agreement. This subsection applies only
to a child who, based on factors specified in rules of the
department, the department determines would otherwise have been
expected to remain in foster care until the child's 18th birthday
and for whom this state would have made foster care payments for
that care. Factors the department may consider in determining
whether a child is eligible for the amount of the subsidy authorized
by this subsection include the following:
(1) the child's mental or physical disability, age,
and membership in a sibling group; and
(2) the number of prior placement disruptions the
child has experienced.
(h) In determining the amount that would have been paid to a
foster parent for purposes of Subsection (g), the department:
(1) shall use the minimum amount required to be paid to
a foster parent for a child assigned the same service level as the
child who is the subject of the adoption assistance agreement; and
(2) may not include any amount that a child-placing
agency is entitled to retain under the foster care rate structure in
effect on the date the department and the adoptive parent enter into
the agreement.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, 1, eff. April 20, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 412, 4, eff. Aug. 28,
1995.

Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 268, 1.09, eff. September 1,
2005.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 267, 2(a), eff.
September 1, 2007.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1406, 4(a), eff.
September 1, 2007.


162.3041. CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE AFTER CHILD'S
18TH BIRTHDAY. (a) The department shall, in accordance with
department rules, offer adoption assistance after a child's 18th
birthday to the child's adoptive parents under an existing adoption
assistance agreement entered into under Section 162.304 until:
(1) the first day of the month of the child's 21st
birthday if the department determines, as provided by department
rules, that:
(A) the child has a mental or physical disability
that warrants the continuation of that assistance;
(B) the child, or the child's adoptive parent on
behalf of the child, has applied for federal benefits under the
supplemental security income program (42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et
seq.), as amended; and
(C) the child's adoptive parents are providing
the child's financial support; or
(2) if the child does not meet the requirements of
Subdivision (1), the earlier of:
(A) the date the child ceases to regularly attend
high school or a vocational or technical program;
(B) the date the child obtains a high school
diploma or high school equivalency certificate;
(C) the date the child's adoptive parents stop
providing financial support to the child; or
(D) the first day of the month of the child's 19th
birthday.
(b) In determining whether a child meets the requirements of
Subdivision (a)(1), the department may conduct an assessment of the
child's mental or physical disability or may contract for the
assessment to be conducted.
(c) The department and any person with whom the department
contracts to conduct an assessment under Subsection (b) shall:
(1) inform the adoptive parents of the child for whom
the assessment is conducted of the application requirement under
Subsection (a)(1)(B) for federal benefits for the child under the
supplemental security income program (42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et
seq.), as amended;
(2) provide assistance to the adoptive parents and the
child in preparing an application for benefits under that program;
and
(3) provide ongoing consultation and guidance to the
adoptive parents and the child throughout the eligibility
determination process for benefits under that program.
(d) If the legislature does not appropriate sufficient
money to provide adoption assistance to the adoptive parents of all
children described by Subsection (a), the department shall provide
adoption assistance only to the adoptive parents of children
described by Subsection (a)(1).

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1449, 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.


162.305. FUNDS. The department and other state
agencies shall actively seek and use federal funds available for
the purposes of this subchapter.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, 1, eff. April 20, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 412, 5, eff. Aug. 28,
1995.


162.306. POSTADOPTION SERVICES. (a) The department
may provide services after adoption to adoptees and adoptive
families for whom the department provided services before the
adoption.
(b) The department may provide services under this section
directly or through contract.
(c) The services may include financial assistance, respite
care, placement services, parenting programs, support groups,
counseling services, crisis intervention, and medical aid.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, 1, eff. April 20, 1995.
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 412, 6, eff. Aug. 28,
1995.

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#4 Author of original report

CPS does NOT try to re-unite with family....

AUTHOR: Elizabet - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, March 08, 2008

My uncle hired a lawyer and worked his butt off to adopt Jesilyn. I have since learned that the family that adopted MY daughter paid a hell of a lot more to the case workers, lawyers, and advocates on my case than my uncle could ever afford. My uncle wasn't going to stoop to that level. All MY daughter was, was a paycheck to the Texas Department of Childrens services!!! Justice WILL be served!

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#3 Consumer Comment

Ignorant Erin?

AUTHOR: Sharon - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, March 08, 2008

If there is a CPS worker who actually works to PROTECT the children, then they are the exception to the rule. In the sexual abuse of my granddaughter, our caseworker did nothing except to pass of the interview of the molester to another office. The scope of that investigation was to ask him if he was molesting the child. Of course, he said no as I guess he probably didn't have an overwhelming desire to admit to crimes that could land him in jail. Case was closed!

A year after the initial report by a physician, her therapist filed a report with CPS based on counseling sessions. Imagine what happened now that there was a second report--you guessed it! CPS asked the Dad again if he had been molesting the child, he said no and case was closed again. So much for investigations and dedication of the CPS staff to protecting abused children. So pardon us, Erin, if we do not have faith in CPS, the ethics or standards they follow, or in their ability to do their job of protecting abused children.

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#2 UPDATE Employee

Ignorant

AUTHOR: Erin - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, October 15, 2006

This rebuttal is THE most ignorant thing I've heard. CPS workers get a bonus if we rip families apart and adopt out children? Are you freaking kidding me?

Social workers, at least in Texas, work very hard to reunite families and I have done so VERY often. Adoption to strangers is the very last thing you ever want a child to have to go through.

Social workers make crap money and work strenously to help these families. This "ex-employee" is an ex employee for a reason or is a lying parent who is just in denial for the reason they lost their own children.

My families respect me and know how hard I work with them to help them. I reunite often and help families break free from substance abuse.

We DO NOT get any such bonus for adopting out children.

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#1 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Elizabeth, Appeal the Actions in the Interest of What is BEST for Your Child!

AUTHOR: L. - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, September 23, 2006

What's going on NOW is in the interest of what is BEST for the DHS agency and NOT for you or your child!

Elizabeth, I'm sure that when you were requested to relinquish parenting rights, you were NOT given good advice or support. DHS does NOT want you to know there are options available to help you if you need help. They get more money when they can find a way to adopt a child.

DHS is always eager to have parents relinquish parenting rights. It's their job! They thrive on catching the parent while they're still distraught. The DHS worker gives mockery guidance saying "If you'll do this or that, you'll get your child back when you finish." That's a lie! All the while you're taking the classes and trying to comply with their orders, they're looking for a way to take your parenting rights away. They're NOT planning on returning your child once they have him/her in custody.

Elizabeth, be aware that you cannot trust any caseworker! DHS/CPS caseworkers, their supervisors, case managers, and agency directors ALL get paid big bucks to find a way to adopt a child. They ALL get Bonus Money when their agency meets their 'mean' adoption rate. Your DHS agency will get $4,000-6,000 Bonus Money for adopting your child. Some children are adopted to their own biological parents so they can get a second batch of Bonus Money on the same child.

Were you emotionally stable when you were talked into volunteering to relinquish you parenting rights? Certainly not! You were ganged up on by the DHS worker, DA and the court system. No parent, in their right mind, willingly relinquishes their parenting rights. How can you be in your right mind when they've stolen your child, the child you brought into this world to love and share your life with?

Read about the ELEVEN children who were adopted to one couple. According to the report on Internet and in newspapers, they left those children in cages while they went on an extended vacation. A neighbor found them. Those parents were getting from $750-2,500+ each month for EACH child in their home. No wonder they went on an extended vacation! It's a get rich scam designed to destroy families, permanently emotionally disable each child. DHS agencies advertise for money-hungry people to apply to be foster and/or adoptive parents.

The adoptive parents get Adoption Assistance of $750-2,500+ EACH month for EACH child they adopt until the child in eighteen years old, or twenty-two years old if they're still in school.

DHS contractors give each child mind-altering drugs and/or counseling. DAs drill little children on what to say in their testimony. They're told that their parents NEVER want to see them again! They're told that their parents are VERY BAD people!

Read the Witchhunt cases of Winahachee. The DA drilled the children on what to testify telling them their parents would get out of jail if they make the statements they're told. It's the DA's job to manipulate the child's story. It's their way to win the case and get promotions for a job well-done.

Those Winahachee parents are one-by-one winning their cases against those who tore their families apart. They've served their prison term and their children are grown. Now, the children are telling their parents that the DA told them what to say and the promises made to thm. Read about the cases on the Internet. They parents are being given settlements of thousands of dollars but they're forced to sign a statement to keep their mouth shut about the amount given. Lawyers say the case is a Landmark Case of misjudgement.

Elizabeth, when your baby is adopted, the adoptive parents will tell your child that you are dead and there's no members of their family is alive. That's the DHS agency's way to stop the child from ever looking for his/her parents or biological family.

When the two people from Harrah, Oklahoma found their baby sister, she was living in Texas and had been told that all her family was dead. The three children were finally re-united about two years ago. They were adopted into three separate homes about twenty years ago. The oldest child found her younger brother but they didn't know what happened to their baby sister. The newspaper reported that the oldest child contacted OKDHS and using her baby sister's birthdate, was able to find her sister in their adoption records.

DHS agencies have Reunification Services but they WILL not even try to reunify the family unless the child AND the family have both asked for reunification. That just does not happen! The baby sister would NEVER have asked for reunification because she had been told she had no family member living!

Elizabeth, do all you legally can to get your baby back in your home. If necessary, have a psychiatric examination to prove you were not mentally stable enough, AT THE TIME YOU WERE APPROACHED, to know what you were doing when they convinced you to voluntarily sign documents to relinquish your parenting rights. Sure, the judge asks you if you're in your right mind. Who can be in their right mind with all this emotional trauma being forced on them.

Americans need to know what is going on inside the walls of DHS agencies. IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY! The Bonus Money comes, UNLIMITED, from our Social Security Fund (FICA Taxes). Adoption Assistance comes from the DHS agency and/or from Medicare.

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