Texas Child Protective Services has been battling a lot of bad press. The system is overloaded, just like the rest of the country. The number of children in foster care is outrageous. However, CPS tries to do its job to protect children to the best of its ability, which sometimes means removing children from their homes. One issue with that, though, is that there is a disproportionality when it comes to race and removal of children.
The disproportionality issue, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, is largely affecting minorities. Specifically, African Americans face a larger likelihood of being reported to CPS and having their children removed from the home compared to all other races. Children of all ethnicities other than white are more likely to have an investigation or face removal from the home.
In addition, when it comes to returning children to the home, African Americans, again, are less likely to see this happen than any other race. When they cannot go home, they enter the foster system with many of those children never getting adopted. African American children face a higher likelihood of not being adopted than other races as well.
On the other side of things, it appears that American Indians have it the best when it comes with dealing with CPS. While this may be due to special protections at the federal level, it does mean that American Indians are less likely to have CPS investigations and removals. If the children are removed from the home, there is a higher chance of them going back. If they cannot go home, then they have the highest chance of adoption of any race. This information is for education and is not legal advice.
