Judge finds Texas agency in contempt for foster care problems, imposes $100,000-a-day fine

The head of the state’s sweeping health agency is in contempt of court for failing to address shortcomings in the Texas foster care system and faces fines of $100,000 a day until they are corrected, a federal judge ruled Monday.

In a 427-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack said foster care system officials failed to address prior court orders requiring adequate and prompt investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect involving children in state custody.

“Delays in completing investigations can create risk of harm for children because alleged perpetrators might remain free to continue causing harm to children until the investigation is finally completed,” Jack wrote in her order.

Lawyers for the state appealed the contempt order Tuesday.

This was the third time the state has been held in contempt since the judge ruled in 2015 that children in state custody faced an unconstitutional risk of harm.

Paul Yetter, lead attorney for the foster children in the lawsuit that began in 2011, said the state continues “running an unsafe foster care system.”

“The judge’s ruling is measured but urgent, given the shocking evidence. Innocent children are suffering every day,” Yetter said in an emailed statement. “After all these years, when will state leadership get serious about fixing this disaster?”

Yetter also said the state’s decision to challenge the contempt order at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “sends a terrible message.”

“Rather than certify safe, timely investigations of reports of child abuse and neglect, the state seems determined to avoid responsibility,” he said Tuesday.

Jack ruled that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission failed to ensure allegations of serious abuse and neglect are properly investigated in a timely fashion “and conducted taking into account at all times the child’s safety needs.”

Cecile Erwin Young, head of the commission, was held in contempt and faces $100,000 in fines to be assessed daily until her agency certifies that problems with investigations have been addressed, Jack ruled.

The judge also set a June 26 hearing on requests for additional contempt findings related to high caseloads for caseworkers, the use of psychotropic medications, and methods for informing foster children about how to report abuse. Complaints also persist about the treatment of children housed in unlicensed settings, including leased homes or motel rooms, and supervised by caseworkers on overtime.

Asked for comment, agency spokesman José Andrés Araiza said, “HHSC is reviewing the 427 page order and its attachments.”