Over 400,000 children are in foster care in the US.

Foster Care

What is Foster Care?

When children can't live safely at home and no appropriate non-custodial parent, relative, for close family friend is willing and able to care for them, the court can give temporary legal possession to Child Protective Services (CPS).  CPS temporarily places these children in foster care. Foster care settings include:

  • Foster family homes.

  • Foster family group homes.

  • Residential group care facilities.

  • Facilities overseen by another state agency.

Foster care is meant to be temporary until a permanent living arrangement is found. However, it can become permanent - usually when a foster parent adopts or accepts permanent managing conservatorship of a child. CPS strives to ensure quality services for children in foster care. However, children in foster care may have to change placements several times while in foster care due to a variety of factors such as licensing standards violations, court rulings, or changes in the foster home or facility. CPS has a variety of initiatives designed to increase placement options to better match the needs of each individual child.

Some thoughts to ponder regarding children who are placed in foster care is that approximately 30% of those children will never see their biological parents again and a staggering 63% will never go back to the home of their original family.

Stats on Foster Kids

In January 2014, there were 31,174 children, age 0-17, living in the foster care system throughout the 11 regions defined by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Of those, there were 6,937 children living in Region 3, which is comprised of 18 counties in north central Texas including Tarrant, Dallas, and surrounding counties.

The Tarrant and Dallas counties alone comprise over 22% of the total children living in the foster care system in Region 3.

* Statistics provided by the US Administration for Children and Families, the US Department of Justice, the Casey Foundation and the National Foster Care Coalition.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a central place to report:

  • Child abuse and neglect.

  • Abuse, neglect, self-neglect, and exploitation of the elderly or adults with disabilities living at home.

  • Abuse of children in child-care facilities or treatment centers

  • Abuse of adults and children who live in state facilities or are being helped by programs for people with mental illness or intellectual disabilities. These are run by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) or Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS).

Texas law says anyone who thinks a child, or person 65 years or older, or an adult with disabilities is being abused, neglected, or exploited must report it to DFPS. A person who reports abuse in good faith is immune from civil or criminal liability. DFPS keeps the name of the person making the report confidential. Anyone who does not report suspected abuse can be held liable for a misdemeanor or felony. Time frames for investigating reports are based on the severity of the allegations. Reporting suspected abuse makes it possible for a family to get help.

Report Abuse, Neglect, or Exploitation

Two Ways to Report Abuse

1-800-252-5400 - Call their Abuse Hotline toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nationwide.

Texas Abuse Hotline - Report with our secure website and get a response within 24 hours.

Special Note

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services cannot accept email reports of suspected abuse or neglect.