Child advocates are pushing back against a Texas law requiring substantial proof of abuse or neglect before children can be removed from their parents or guardians.
In 2021, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 567, which barred the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) from removing children from their homes unless they could be proven to be in “immediate danger” of harm.
“The trend is with these legislative changes are heightened thresholds, heightened requirements of proof for judges, like me, to consider removal orders or protection orders,” Judge Monique Diaz of the 150th District Court told KSAT.
Previously, the state allowed children to be taken from their parents or guardians if they were at “substantial risk.” The change in the law has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of removals by Child Protective Services (CPS), according to data. For instance, in 2022 just 9,623 children were removed by CPS compared to 16,522 in 2020.
The proponents of the new law were aiming to limit overreach by CPS, protect parental rights, and reduce the psychological harm done to children.
“[T]here is a 100% chance they will be traumatized. … We guarantee you if you strip them from their family, they will be traumatized. The question that we’ve never asked is this: is it worth it?” said Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) in support of the bill when it was being considered in the Texas House, according to the Family Freedom Project.
Similarly, as covered in The Dallas Express, another law was enacted earlier this year — House Bill 63 —banning people from filing anonymous reports of child abuse. Supporters stressed that it would curb the false reporting of child abuse by malicious actors.
While Angie White, CEO of Child Advocates San Antonio, can understand the arguments behind these bills, she is leading a drive to see them changed.
“We have children left for longer and then, they’re the media stories,” White said, according to WFAA.
Although this initiative does not appear to have gained much traction among lawmakers yet, tragic stories of Texas children not getting removed from abusive situations in time have filled the headlines.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez from Fort Worth is presumed dead after reportedly being last seen by extended family members in November 2022. His mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, who allegedly abused and neglected him, was indicted on capital murder charges this October.
Texas authorities are hoping her indictment will ease her extradition from India, where she reportedly fled. Noel had been placed in foster care along with two of his siblings for nearly a year before being returned to his mother in 2021.
More recently, in Bexar County in November, a 1-year-old girl was dropped off at the hospital by her parents, Amanda Mann and Dustin Lawrence. She was covered in severe burns and tested positive for meth, according to KSAT.
Although her parents now face several child abuse charges, Mann’s sister, Samantha Feathers, claimed that she had filed several reports with the authorities to have the infant and her five siblings removed from the home to no avail.
“The kids weren’t being fed. They were dirty. They weren’t being taken care of. There was drugs in the house,” Feathers said, according to KSAT.
It turns out the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office denied a previous request made by DFPS in 2022 to remove the children from the home due to there not being enough evidence of abuse and neglect.
In 2022, 182 children died as a result of abuse and neglect in Texas, with 80% being under the age of 3, according to data from DFPS. The vast majority of the time CPS had received no reports of abuse in the family or had not launched an investigation.