Human Resources Code 48.152 requires that APS investigations include an interview with the person age 65 or older or adult with disabilities, if appropriate, and with persons thought to have knowledge of the circumstances.

APS interviews all appropriate parties, including reporters, alleged victims, alleged perpetrators, witnesses, medical staff, and others who have knowledge of allegations and alleged victims' situations.

DFPS staff must not disclose the reporter’s name to the victim, the victim’s family, or the public. The reporter’s name may be released verbally or in writing to the courts, the district or county attorney, law enforcement agencies, and DFPS staff.

APS case-related information is confidential. APS only provides the reporter with pertinent case information necessary to:
• confirm whether allegations will be accepted for investigation;
• collect evidence and gather relevant information related to allegations and the alleged victim’s overall situation and risk; and
• arrange for protective services to reduce risk of harm or alleviate abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation.

1. A report of abuse/neglect/financial exploitation may come from multiple sources making the source total higher than the total number of intakes.

2. Inclusion based on intake closure date.

Children in the Custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)- All children for whom DFPS legal responsibility through court ordered temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis. These children may be residing in substitute care or may be living with a parent, referred to as a trial home visit. DFPS legal responsibility terminates when a court orders DFPS custody ended or a youth turns 18, whichever comes first.

Substitute care - all children who are living in a DFPS out of home placement. It does not include children in DFPS custody who are living with a parent on a return and monitor. Unless otherwise noted, it does include youth over 18 who are in extended foster care but are not in DFPS custody.

Kinship care- a subset of substitute care that includes all children in DFPS custody who are living with a legal or blood relative or other individual who has a significant relationship with the child or the child's family known as "fictive kin."

Foster care - all children in DFPS custody living in a placement that has been verified to provide 24-hour residential care for a child, in accordance with Chapter 42 of the Human Resources Code and related regulations. These placements include foster homes, including kinship care where the caregiver has been verified, general residential operations (GRO), emergency shelters, residential treatment centers (RTC), and juvenile facilities.

Paid foster care - a subset of foster care where DFPS is making foster care payments.

Visit https://www.dfps.texas.gov/ for information on substitute care placements and all DFPS programs

For children who cannot reunify and for whom adoption has been ruled out, the Permanency Care Assistance (PCA) Program provides a monthly subsidy to relatives and fictive kin that take legal custody as a permanent managing conservator and have been a verified foster care provider for the child for at least 6 months. The PCA subsidy is similar to an adoption subsidy.

Does not include non-recurring payments.

Note: The Permanency Care Assistance program began in Fiscal Year 2011.

This chart counts the number of children in DFPS custody on August 31 of the fiscal year who meet all of the following criteria:
(1) a court has terminated all parental rights;
(2) the child has a plan of adoption; and
(3) the child is not in an adoptive placement.

The count includes both children who are in an intended to be permanent home and children who are not in an intended to be permanent home. Use the filter to isolate these counts.

Children in DFPS custody are those for whom a court has appointed DFPS legal responsibility through temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis. An adoptive placement occurs when the child's caseworker, the family's case manager, and the adoptive family sign paperwork officially placing the child in the home for adoption. Before the paperwork can be signed, a child must be free for adoption (meaning a court has terminated parental rights), have a permanency goal of adoption and the family must have been approved for adoption through a licensed child placing agency.

Family Preservation (FPR) Services are services provided to the child and the family where the caregiver retains legal custody.

Only families in FPR service stages that closed during the fiscal year are included. If a family exited services twice in the same year, they are counted twice.

Tracks six month, one year, and five year outcomes for children who returned home from DFPS custody exiting CPS Conservatorship and subsequently alleged as a victim in an investigation within the noted time period.

Children in DFPS custody are those for whom a court has appointed DFPS legal responsibility through temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis.

The six month period is calculated by following those children who exited DFPS Legal Responsibility within the first six months of the fiscal year (FY) and counting forward six months to see if the same child is a designated victim in an abuse/neglect child protective investigation.

For the one year outcome, those children who exited DFPS Legal Responsibility in the prior FY are tracked for one year and reported in the next fiscal year. The outcomes reported in FY 2018 had a beginning cohort from FY 2017.

The five year outcomes starts with the FY five years prior and follows each child for five years to track outcomes. FY 2018 would have a beginning cohort of those children who exited DFPS Legal Responsibility in FY 2013.

This does not track recidivism, which is defined by CPS as subsequent reason to believe finding in a new investigation or subsequent open case to FBSS or removal within a given timeframe.

This dashboard addresses the Texas Human Resources Code Section 40.0516 (a)(9)(A), (B), (C) and (a)(10).

More information at www.dfps.texas.gov

The Transitional Living Services Program includes the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program, Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program and other services and supports to help youth transition from foster care to a successful adulthood.

PAL services ensure that youth in DFPS foster care and those transitioning from foster care to a successful adulthood receive the tools, resources, supports, and personal and community connections they need to become self-sufficient adults. PAL supportive services and benefits are provided to eligible youth and young adults ages 16 to 21. 14-15 year old youth in the Permanent Managing Conservatorship (PMC) of DFPS will receive a life skills assessment. All other youth age 14 and 15 can be served, if funding or resources are available.

The ETV program can assist youth and young adults ages 16-23. ETV services can be provided to eligible youth and young adults for 5 years or 15 semesters up to their 23rd birthday.

Visit dfps.state.tx.us for information on the Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program and all DFPS programs.

A removal occurs when CPS determines that a child cannot safely remain in their own home and that DFPS needs to seek legal custody to ensure child safety. Removals can occur in an investigation, family preservation, family substitute care or family reunification stage.

Visit dfps.texas.gov for information on CPS Abuse/Neglect Investigations and all DFPS programs.

Snapshot of Children in Substitute Care on August 31 broken out by placement type and relative placements. Please review all of our data and DFPS services at dfps.state.tx.us

This counts placement types, not unique children in substitute care. Children will be duplicated by moving from foster care to other substitute care or by relative to non-relative placements. For example, a child who spent a portion of the year with a relative, but the rest with a non-relative would be counted twice.

Children in DFPS custody are those for whom a court has appointed DFPS legal responsibility through temporary or permanent managing conservatorship or other court ordered legal basis. These children may be residing in substitute care or may be living with a parent, referred to as a return and monitor. DFPS legal responsibility terminates when a court orders DFPS custody ended or a youth turns 18, whichever comes first.

Substitute care - all children who are living in a DFPS out of home placement. It does not include children in DFPS custody who are living with a parent on a return and monitor. Unless otherwise noted, it does include youth over 18 who are in extended foster care but are not in DFPS custody.

Kinship care- a subset of substitute care that includes all children in DFPS custody who are living with a legal or blood relative or other individual who has a significant relationship with the child or the child's family known as "fictive kin."

Foster care - a subset of substitute care that includes all children living in a placement that has been verified to provide 24-hour residential care for a child, in accordance with Chapter 42 of the Human Resources Code and related regulations. These placements include foster homes, including kinship care where the caregiver has been verified, general residential operations (GRO), emergency shelters, residential treatment centers (RTC), and juvenile facilities.

Paid foster care - a subset of foster care where DFPS is making foster care payments.

Visit dfps.state.tx.us for information on substitute care placements and all DFPS programs.