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Running Head: SENATE BILL 11 SECTION 17 POLICY ANALYSIS 1

SENATE BILL 11 SECTION 17 POLICY ANALYSIS

Fosters Home Group

Tarleton State University

2SENATE BILL 11 SECTION 17 POLICY ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 11 Section 17 Policy Analysis

Introduction

Community based care is defined as a community-based approach to meeting the

individual and unique needs of children, youth, and families (DFPS, 2017, para 1). The intent of

the legislation of Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is to provide community based care by contracting

with the local governmental agencies to check if they are able to provide services such as case

management to ensure safety, permanency, and well-being to children (DFPS, n.d., para 1).

Senate Bill 11 Section 17 discusses community based care which is currently being implemented

in Region 3B.

Historical Background

In 1854, orphan trains transported children for the first time. They transported children

until the early 1930s hoping that placing a child in a family setting would leave them with

positive care. The trains later became replaced by foster care. In 1909, 200 leaders in children’s

issues came together to discuss institutional care and advocated for State oversight of foster care,

adoption, and medical care for foster children and this was known as the White House

Conference on the Care of Dependent Children. The Children’s Bureau was founded on April 9,

1912 by President Taft and it took 11 bills and six years for this to pass. The Children’s Bureau

was first to look at infant mortality. Julia Lathrop was the first Chief of the Children’s Bureau. In

1923, the Children’s Bureau took notice into the growing interest in foster home care. The fifth

White House Conference was in 1950, and it was the first conference to focus on the emotional

well-being of children. During the 1960s, the number of children receiving child welfare services

increased by 50-percent (Children’s Bureau, p 1967). Fewer children in foster care were placed


there due to poverty meaning that more children were there because of abuse, neglect, parent

instability, or substance abuse (Children’s Bureau, n.d.).

In September 2015 there were 15865 children in foster care. The percentage of children

that year that were placed outside of there county was 59.6% and children at were placed outside

their region was 20.5% (DFPS, n.d.). The aim of Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is to implement

community based care to keep children within their home county.

Necessitating the Policy

Senate Bill 11 Section 17, “focuses on community bases care and is needed in

order to collect the data to create a short and long term plan for foster care needs, capacity, and

placement in each region and implement it” (SB11, 2017). Community based care is a

community-based approach to meeting the individual and unique needs of children, youth, and

families. The purpose of this particular section of the bill would be addresses the foster care

shortages in the state of Texas and what repairs are needed. The logistics of it is there are not

enough foster care homes and/or families to care for the amount of children needing placement.

Due to these shortages, children have to sleep in state offices or hotels (Spriggs, 2016). Children

are being placed out of the counties and the regions they live in due to the shortages of foster

care facilities and private foster homes.

In the state of Texas, as of August 2017, there are 16,618 kids in foster care. Texas state

records for that same month show that 77.7% are placed within their region, however, 22.2% are

placed out of their region due to the shortages (DFPS, 2018). Texas as started to implement

community based care in one region, that being Region 3B. In Region 3B, there are seven

counties. These counties are Erath, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, and Tarrant

County. Placements needed in this region are 1,349, but there are only 652 current homes in


Region 3B. The lack of homes in the seven different counties has led to 790 kids having to be

placed in a different county than they are from (Foster’s Home for Children, 2017, para 3). These

shortages are all over Texas and therefore full implementation of community based care in all

Texas counties is needed.

Policy Description

Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is focused on community based care. Community Based Care is

described as meeting the individual and unique needs of children, youth, and families. Providing

community based services is important for supporting foster children. With the implementation

of Senate Bill 11 Section 17, a contractor is held accountable for locating foster homes or

alternate living arrangements for foster children in state care and accommodating them with

continuing services. The contractor is in charge of services that transfer children from kinship

care or foster care into a permanent home and case management. Community Based Care is

designed to allow the community and a contractor more flexibility to renovate to meet the needs

of the children, youth, and families in each designated service area. Senate Bill 11 was passed on

May 31, 2017. The creators of this bill are Charles Schwertner, Jane Nelson, and Carlos Uresti.

In an effort to create community based care, under Section 264.128, the state is working

with child placing agencies to develop individual service plans, which is called Single Child Plan

of Service Initiative. The Single Child Plan Service Initiative looks to increase cooperation

between caregivers, CPS, parents, and contracted placements on the progress of a single child

plan of service instead of there being two plans. One plan being produced by CPS and the other

being produced by the placement entity. The departments in the regions of the state where

Community Based Care has yet to be implemented have begun to partner with child placing

agencies to enforce the single child plan of service model developed under the single child plan


of service initiative. They also have begun to make certain that a single child plan of service is

developed for each child in foster care in those regions (Legiscan, n.d.).

Objective Analysis

The primary goal of Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is the implementation of community-

based care. Per Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, community-based care is

“meeting the individual and unique needs of children, youth, and families” (DFPS, 2017, para 1).

Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 plans to implement direct case management to ensure child

“safety, permanency, and well-being” (Subchapter B-1). Again, in Texas Senate Bill 11 Section

17, certain goals are established and planned to be implemented. The following are the 12 goals

for community based care from the Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17.

1. Safety of children in placement.2. Placement of children in each child’s home community.3. Provision of services to children in the least restrictive environment possible and, if

possible, in a family home environment4. Minimal placement changes for children 5. Maintenance of contact between children and their families and other important persons 6. Placement of children with siblings 7. Provision of services that respect each child’s culture8. Preparation of children and youth in foster care for adulthood9. Provision of opportunities, experiences, and activities for children and youth in foster

care that are available to children and youth who are not in foster care10. Participation by children and youth in making decision relating to their own lives 11. Reunification of children with the biological parents of the children when possible; and 12. Promotion of placement of child with relative or kinship caregivers if reunification is not

possible” (Subchapter B-1).

The 12 goals of this bill will ensure each foster children’s needs are met. The goal of the

group is to have the Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 implemented in every region in Texas. If

this goal is reached, community based care will benefit children in foster care. These 12 goals

will be implemented once community based care is implemented.

The goals of Senate Bill 11 Section 17 are being implemented in a pilot area. A pilot area is


the area where the foster care redesign is being implemented as a trial run to see how well it is

received before implementing it into other regions. The pilot area is Region 3B which consists of

seven counties: Tarrant, Parker, Palo Pinto, Hood, Somervell, Erath and Johnson County. These

counties have been working with these goals for the past two years. The community care

provider for these counties is 'Our Community, Our Kids' (OCOK). Over the last two years

OCOK has taken over transportation for the visits between foster children and their biological

parent(s). Also, there are no more children without placement which means that the foster

children are no longer staying the night in offices. The Department of Family and Protective

Services works to expand the goals of Senate Bill 11 Section 17 to larger areas in the state.

The impact of Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is expected to be profound to the children in the

care of TDFPS (Texas Department of Family and Protective Services). These proposed changes

provide an opportunity to improve the quality of life for these children. The goals of the bill can

be carried out if there is enough funding allotted to do so. Dr. Ray Perryman is the President and

CEO of The Perryman Group which is an economic analysis and research firm. Dr. Perryman

determined that, “every dollar invested in Foster Care Redesign yields an estimated return of

$3.44 to the state in long-term revenue” (Progress Report, 2016, para. 93). Obstacles to the

success of this bill is funding for the increased number of case managers needed for direct care

and supervision of meeting these goals. The long-term benefits originate from the choices made

for children in foster care which will determine the type of life that person will live. If granted

funding for this bill, these goals are feasible over a time period once staff and policies are put

together.


Arguments in Favor

Senate Bill 11 was unanimously approved by all nine members of the Senate (Evans,

2017). The House voted with six members and favor, one nay, and two members were absent.

Members of the house who voted for the bill to be passed were Richard Raymond, James Frank,

Mark Keough, Stephanie Klick, Rick Miller, and Ina Minjarez (Schwertner, 2017). The bill was

written by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Senator Charles Schwertner was

the bill’s main author (Evans, 2017). This bill is an idea to prevent and end the shortage of

caseworkers, high turnover rates, and administrative miscues in the Texas Department of Family

and Protective Services. The Senate approved the bill without any opposition. The House had a

lengthy discussion about an amendment, pertaining to whether it should be removed, before

approving the bill. Another argument in favor of the bill stated that community based care is the

answer. Mike Ward is the Austin Bureau Chief of the Houston Chronicle and he specifically said

that is because the community is who most knows the child and can best help the child (Ward,

2017). Senate Bill 11 is a new approach to child welfare. The bill changes the agency that

watches over foster care and child welfare in the state of Texas. According to Evans (2017) this

bill is different from band aid approaches that have been used in the past and have not worked.

Arguments Against

Additionally, the community based foster care has negatives. When children are to be

placed in their own community with “alternative caregivers” they may not be prepared

adequately to care for a foster child with special needs and/or behavioral issues. “Alternative

caregivers” are inadequately trained to take in the foster children even for the short period of

time that they are allowed to care for them (Sponsors, 2017, Subchapter B-1). Children in foster

care have a higher rate of mental issues over the general population of up to 80% (NCSL, 2016,


para 1). Kinship (2017) states by staying in the child’s own community the foster children and

caregivers may be more susceptible to unwanted/ or unwelcome contact by birth parents

(Kinship, 2017, para 9). Children have had to stay in hotels and Child Protective Services (CPS)

offices more often due to lack of foster homes and families in their own communities as it is

because there are no foster families and/or homes available. The community based care could

cause half of the current CPS workers to eventually lose their jobs to the proposed outsourcing

(Dallas, 2017, para 13).

Communication with Legislatures

Tarleton social work students traveled to Austin, Texas on Monday, March 26, 2018 to

speak with legislatures about the Senate Bill 11 Section 17, which focused on community based

care. The bill was passed in 2017. The students were advocating for the full implementation of

the Foster Care Redesign into every county in Texas. They spoke with three legislatures on how

well the implementation was being received in Region 3B. The social work students set up three

meetings. The first meeting was with Ruth Mesta, the second meeting was with Alyssa Jones,

and the last meeting was with Maureen Metteaur. The students were able to ask a variety of

questions such as: what are your views on this bill, what effectively is the Foster Care Redesign

being implemented, what are some of the positives, are there any changes that need to be

amended to this bill, and looking towards the future what is seen for this bill.

The first meeting was with Ruth Mesta, the aide to Representative Mark Keough. Mr.

Keough is the Representative for District 15 and his main office is in Woodlands, Texas.

Representative Mark Keough worked with Representative James Frank for a year designing the

bill and fully supports the foster care redesign and Section 17, Community Based Care. The

students explained the reason they were visiting the capital that day and asked what Ms. Mesta’s


thoughts were on the bill. The future for this bill, as of right now, is that it is not being

implemented all over the state of Texas and a new work group for this bill has not been

established for the next session to see what prospects of the bill’s future. Ruth Mesta states the

“hopes” are that it will extend to the entire state of Texas. The positives of this bill are that some

children are getting to keep the sense of normalcy in their lives and not being uprooted. As a

whole, it is helping CPS and keeping children in their own communities. The effectiveness of

this bill, or any changes needing to be made, is unknown at this point due to the fact that it has

been implemented in only one region and has yet to expand to any other regions (Mesta, March

26, 2018, personal communication).

Alyssa Jones, in Representative Charles Schwernter’s office, requested to not have any of

her information quoted. She did not want to speak for Representative Charles Schwernter and did

not want to be quoted with false information. All the information in this section with Alyssa

Jones and Representative Charles Schwertner is not quoted and is published for general

information purpose only and does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability,

and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find in this

section on Alyssa Jones and Representative Charles Schwertner is strictly at your own risk and

will not be liable for any wrong or misstated information in connection with the use of this paper

or the source, Alyssa Jones. The second meeting was with Alyssa Jones, the aide for

Representative Charles Schwertner. He is over District 5 and his district home site is in

Georgetown, Texas. This bill was written by him and his aide Alyssa Jones. When he spoke on

the senate floor regarding this bill, he supported it and the children by improving services for

children, which in turn, improves the outcome for the children. The legislature has budgeted for

four more regions implement the foster care redesign over the next year and a half. The positive


outcomes coming out of Region 3B with the foster care redesign include a rapid increase in

foster home capacity. Since its implementation, Palo Pinto County grew from three to twenty

foster homes in a year, more therapeutic foster homes have been opening, and more children are

staying in their home community. It is too early to tell if any changes need to be made to the bill;

however, the future of the bill is unknown. Every county and region is different, but there needs

to be a rapid growth and roll out of foster care design because of how well it is going in Region

3B (Jones, March 26, 2018, Personal Communication).

The last meeting at the capitol that day was with Representative James Frank’s clerk,

Maureen Metteaur. Representative James Frank is based in Wichita Falls, Texas and is over

District 69. He is the house chair of the Human Services Committee. That committee deals with

issues ranging from foster care to Medicaid and works with state agencies such as the following:

the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS), the Department of Family and

Protective Services (DFPS), the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners (TSBWE), the

Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors (TSBEPC), and the Health and

Human Services Commission (HHSC). Mr. Frank was the house sponsor of Senate Bill 11,

because when a bill goes from one chamber to another, example being it went from the senate to

the house, it has to have a sponsor. Individual needs of the children are better met locally that can

better tailor services and plans for the kids to get them to permanency.

Senate Bill 11 passed overwhelmingly out of the house with support of many. It is

currently in the implementation stage in Region 3B. DFPS is currently contacting out to get this

out in two additional regions; one is around San Antonio in Bexar County. The positive outcome

so far in Region 3B, compared to other regions and counties, are fewer children in need of foster

placements, OCOK has done a better job of recruiting more foster parents where there were


never any foster parents, and they have a stronger data system for managing their placements.

There is roughly 30% of children in Texas (not including Region 3B) that are placed out of their

region due to lack of foster homes or have to stay in inappropriate places, such as offices because

of these shortages. Maureen Metteaur states there are many reasons that moving them out of their

region makes it harder. The children have to attend new schools, and the county the child was

living in when the child was removed has jurisdiction so the court dates are conducted in that

county.

Also, if parents get visitation, it requires the child or the parents to travel, DFPS workers

have to travel, and case workers and social workers have to see their kids at least once every

thirty days, so the more children kept within their own communities and regions, the less

complications. Children in Region 3B have to be placed within fifty miles of their home, unless

there are extenuating circumstances, such as the child being seriously ill or having special needs.

The Legacy program, which is what is used in all the other parts of Texas, does not have that

type of placement. In West Texas, there is a shortage of foster homes so most of the time the

child is removed and placed in Austin or Houston. The Foster Care Redesign section on

community based care makes it easier to manage 3,000 to 5,000 kids instead of over 30,000.

Senate Bill 11 was effective as of September 1, 2017 and is still fairly new to determine if any

changes need to contrive. The redesign is not a concept that needs to be changing as its being

implemented. Ms. Metteaur explains it as if” you keep moving the goal post and never being able

to reach that goal”. The effectiveness of the implementation is premature to tell at this moment.

The budget funded five areas to do implement the redesign. The requests for proposal (RFP)

processes are finished for the two extra regions of community based care. The future of this bill

cannot be determined. According to Maureen Metteaur, “the statutes under Senate Bill 11 are


clear that it needs to continue to roll out and provide DFPS specific instructions that they expect

these areas to roll out with community based care and foster care redesign” (Metteaur, March 26,

2018, Personal Communication).

Petition and Rally Efforts

The social work students then went on to plan a rally to raise awareness for Senate Bill

11 section 17. They worked with their community partner, Harriet Frazier at Foster’s Home for

Children, to plan what was needed to be completed by each member and programs to contact to

search for guest speakers for the rally. Harriet was also able to get the group members matching

shirts for the day of the rally. The students found three speakers to come to their rally. They had

Sabrina Carter, a foster parent, Jessica Sanchez, a CASA supervisor, and Stephanie Williams, a

CPS investigator. The speakers were all speaking on different points of view on community

based care. The group also planned activities to do throughout the rally to keep the audience

engaged. All the activities used left the participants with a chance to win something. In the first

activity participants were able to win candy and in the second and third activity they were

entered into a chance to win a gift card. The first activity was trivia. The students found common

facts and myths related to foster care to read out loud. Participants were told to go to a certain

side of the amphitheater based on if they thought it was a fact or myth. The students would then

state whether it was a fact or myth and if it was a myth a fact to state why. The second activity

was a photo booth. Participants were given a chance to take a picture inside of a frame that

promoted Senate Bill 11 and community based care. The participants were then asked to post the

picture to social media to raise awareness. After posting the picture to social media they were

able to receive a raffle ticket for the gift card. The last activity was a word search. The first three

people to finish received a second raffle ticket for the gift card.


The group members all had different tasks in putting the rally together. All members

were responsible for contributing to get the gift card. Rebecca found the speaker Sabrina Carter,

Clare found the speaker Jessica Sanchez, and Alyssa found the speaker Stephanie Williams.

Alyssa reserved tables and chairs as well as made the picture frame for the photo booth and some

posters. Clare reserved the speaker and got the group raffle tickets and made a facts poster board.

The group had meetings often to discuss the rally agenda and who would speak when. All group

members were responsible for getting signatures on the petition that Alyssa created and sent out

to the group. The group members also all posted a rally invitation to social media inviting people

to come and participate. On the day of the rally Alyssa, Becca, and Clare set up the rally that

morning, and all four member worked to clean up afterwards.

Critical Evaluation

The issue of Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is it is not fully implemented in

every region in Texas. This issue is causing foster children to be placed outside of their

communities, which in turn, cause multiple placements that hurt the foster children. According to

the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, in 2018 there are 16,618 children in

foster care. According to Wayne Carson with ACH Child and Family Services, there are about

1,300 children in foster care in Region 3B. The previous statement means, roughly 15,000

children in foster care do not fall under the foster care redesign and community based care.

With the full implantation of Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 foster children will be able

to be placed in their home community. Having children stay in their community because they can

stay with siblings, stay in the same school, and most importantly, the family is able to stay in

contact more. According to Marissa Gonzalez, a Child Protective Services spokeswoman, “The

primary goal is to develop the homes and the services they need in their home community so


they don’t have to go somewhere else” (Shrock, 2014, para.4). Marissa Gonzalez also stated “It

is a lot of upheaval for children to be removed from their home” (Shrock, 2014, para.4). As a

social worker, one does not want to cause more pain to the child with unnecessary changes.

Unnecessary changes become an issue when community based care is not implemented in each

region, because it causes more changes to children in foster care.

Without Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 normalcy for foster children becomes an issue.

A goal of this bill is to provide “the provision of opportunities, experiences, and activities for

children and youth in foster care that are available to children and youth who are not in foster

care” (Subchapter B-1). This bill needs to be fully implemented in every region in Texas so

children in foster care have the similar experiences and opportunities as the children and youth

who are not in foster care. With the full implementation of this bill, the goal is achieved.

The issue of not having the bill fully implemented leads to the issue of not having enough

foster parents. Per Foster’s Home for Children (2017), there are 652 current homes and 790

children who are placed outside of Region 3b. Region 3b is the region that is a part of the foster

care redesign and there is still an issue of not having enough foster families. Texas Senate Bill 11

Section 17 will provide the opportunity for reunification of children with the biological parents

or relatives when possible. Texas Senate Bill 11 Section 17 aids the issue of not having enough

foster homes for the number of children in foster care.

Implications for Social Work

Senate Bill 11 Section 17 affects a diverse population of individuals across all three

levels of social work. Senate Bill 11 Section 17 affects foster children on the micro level by

providing them with fewer placements, placements with their siblings, and allowing them to

remain in their home community or at least within a 50-mile radius. Senate Bill 11 Section 17


affects families such as the biological parents and foster parents on the mezzo level. The foster

children’s biological parents are better able to have ongoing interactions with their children

while working with the CPS caseworker on their goals for reunification. The foster parents are

able to provide more efficient care and a consistent schedule for the foster children while they

are in placement in their home community. Senate Bill 11 Section 17 affects many aspects of the

foster children’s lives on the macro level. These aspects include where they attend school, the

doctors they use, and how often they are able to see their siblings and parents for visits. Foster

children remaining in the same school helps them keep relationships with their teachers as well

as preserving their education. Also on the macro level, Senate Bill 11 Section 17 allows agencies

to recruit foster parents locally, building up a list of local foster homes and having several

placements to choose from in the child’s home community. These factors place more focus on

the community to become involved. Community based care affects every level of social work

and Senate Bill 11 Section 17 is working towards implementing it into every level.


References

(2017, May 31). Texas SB11 2017-2018 85th Legislature. Retrieved from

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB11/2017

Children's Bureau Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://cb100.acf.hhs.gov/childrens-bureau

timeline

Evans, M. (2017, March 01). Texas House, Senate unanimously pass measures overhauling

child

welfare system. Retrieved from The Texas Tribune:

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/03/01/texas-house-senate-taking-child-welfare-bills

floor/

Foster's Home for Children. (2017). “Provide a home away from home” [Brochure].

Stephenville, TX: Foster’s Home for Children

Progress Report: Foster Care Redesign in Texas Region 3B. (2016, July). All Church Home.

Retrieved from http://achservices.org/am-site/media/foster-care-redesign-progress-report-

2016.pdf

Reunification and Permanency team. (n.d.). Single Child's Plan of Service Initiative. Retrieved

from http://texascasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Single-Child-Plan-for-CASA.pdf

Schrock, S. (2014, September 28). Foster care redesign begins in North Texas. Retrieved April

14, 2018, from

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article3875171.html

Schwertner, et al. (2017, May 18). House Research Organization bill analysis. Retrieved March

2, 2018, from House Research Organization:

http://www.hro.house.state.tx.us/pdf/ba85R/SB0011.PDF


Sponsors. (2017, May 31). Texas SB11, 2017-2018. Retrieved from

https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB11/2017

Spriggs, V. (2016, May 23). Time for child-focused foster care reform. Retrieved from

https://www.tribtalk.org/2016/05/23/time-for-child-focused-foster-care-reform/

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). Community-Based Care FAQs.

(n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/Community_Based_Care/faq.asp

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). (2017, December). Community

Based Care. Retrieved from

https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/Community_Based_Care/default.asp

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/PCS/Regional_Statistics/

Ward, M. (2017, March 2). House, Senate pass trio of CPS reform bills. Retrieved

from Houston Chronicle:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/House-Senate-pass-trio-of

CPS-reform-bills-10970430.php

Williams, S. (2018, March 5). Personal Communication.

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