Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 6:40 p.m. with additional information.
The private contractor that manages all Child Protective Services cases in the Dallas area is being removed from the job, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
In an email to The Lab Report Tuesday morning, DFPS said the management of child welfare cases in Dallas and eight surrounding counties will be handed over to two other private contractors. The decision was made after “an extensive assessment,” the agency said, and comes four months after a judge placed Empower under state supervision due to mishandled cases and the deaths of two infants.
All cases in Dallas County will be managed by Texas Family Care Network, which is based in Nederland, Texas and is currently the private contractor over child welfare cases in a 15-county region along the state’s eastern edge. The other eight counties Empower oversees will be managed by Our Community Our Kids, which is based in Fort Worth and manages cases in ten counties including Tarrant.
The transition process will take several months, DFPS said. In the interim, Empower will continue to manage the more than 2,000 child welfare cases in the nine-county region and will do so under state supervision.
“This decision was made with one priority in mind: helping ensure children, youth, and families receive safe, stable, and high-quality services,” the state said in a written statement. “It also reflects DFPS’ continued commitment to the Community-Based Care model and to partnering with organizations that can deliver strong outcomes for children and families.”
Empower leadership said in a written statement they are disappointed by the decision to end their management of foster care services.
“We are proud of our dedicated staff, providers, and partners and the positive impact they have made in the lives of countless children and families,” the statement said. “We will work collaboratively with DFPS throughout this new transition to minimize disruption in services for children and families. The well-being of those we serve will continue to guide our efforts every step of the way.”
“This decision was made with one priority in mind: helping ensure children, youth, and families receive safe, stable, and high-quality services.”
Texas Department of family and protective services
DFPS, which administers the state’s child welfare system, asked the court in March to place Empower in receivership while laying out a searing assessment of Empower’s performance since it began managing CPS cases two years ago. The agency called out “systemic failures” that place children in “imminent danger,” such as a lack of in-person visits with kids and case files missing critical information. Efforts to address those failures — including more than a dozen quality improvement plans and two corrective action plans — were unsuccessful, warranting the “extraordinary” step to request receivership, DFPS said.
The receivership, which Empower did not contest, allowed DFPS to remain in charge for up to 90 days and to petition the court for multiple 60-day extensions. The agency filed for an extension on May 12, and again on July 17.
“The conditions that gave rise to the receivership have not been fully resolved,” the most recent extension request said. More time was needed to implement corrective measures, further reduce safety risks, and to “complete a safe and orderly transition to either a fully compliant Empower or an alternative long-term arrangement.”
As receiver, DFPS was required to provide an assessment of Empower’s “ability to ensure child welfare” by May 15, then file similar reports every 60 days for the duration of the receivership. Those reports were sealed by a judge at the agency’s request.
Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman said he previously expressed concerns about Empower and the privatization of foster care management at large. DFPS’s decision to pull Empower off the job validates those concerns, he told The Lab Report in a phone interview, and he wishes it had happened sooner.
“It is clear that it has failed through the receivership that was put through,” he said. “We are now starting all over again. This is bad again. And because we are starting all over again, kids will fall through the cracks.”
The decision to divide the region Empower was put in charge of is a good one, Sommerman said, as Dallas County’s share of child welfare cases far outnumbers each of the other counties. But worries that the issues with Empower will perpetuate under new private contractors are justified, he said.
“I know nothing about this new entity. I have no history with them. I don’t have a report card on them. I don’t know why they were selected, but I hope they do a great job,” he said of Texas Family Care Network. “Dallas County stands ready to help them in every which way we can possibly do so.”
When reached for comment, Texas Family Care Network said all media requests are being handled by DFPS at this time.
Through internal company records, dozens of court proceedings, and interviews with current and former Empower staff, The Lab Report found chronic failures to protect Texas’ most vulnerable children. An investigation into the practices and procedures at Empower unveiled a system riddled with dangerous gaps in preparedness and accountability.
High employee turnover, missed paperwork, ballooning case loads, and improper training plagued the company, according to employees.
“It was hard to keep up with everything because of retention,” a former Empower caseworker supervisor said. “Children were getting lost in the cracks.”
In more than 60 court hearings The Lab Report observed, Empower caseworkers and supervisors frequently went before the judge unprepared and unequipped with basic information about the children for whom they were responsible. In one case, a caseworker did not know whether a child was enrolled in Medicaid. In another, the caseworker was unable to clearly answer the judge when asked if the child had been prescribed psychotropic medication.
Texas shifted from state-run foster care to a privatized model in 2017 in an effort to fix a long-broken system, which included kids sleeping in hotels and Child Protective Services offices. The community-based case management approach, which state legislators believed would improve outcomes for kids, has rolled out slowly in phases across the state since the law passed. Empower, whose parent company is Kansas-based The Family Initiative, won the contract to manage cases in Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, and Rockwall counties in February 2023. It assumed management responsibilities in March 2024.
Empower’s shortcomings were among the reasons lawmakers passed legislation last year to improve accountability and transparency in the privatization model, including putting in place the receivership provision the Texas Attorney General’s Office invoked in its filing on behalf of DFPS earlier this year.
As the transition from Empower to Texas Family Care Network gets underway, local child advocacy groups like Dallas CASA and the Dallas County Child Welfare Board say they are ready to assist to make the change as smooth as possible.
“We recognize that transitions of this magnitude can create uncertainty for children, families, caregivers, service providers, and child welfare professionals,” said Kathleen LaValle, president and CEO of Dallas CASA. “Our primary concern remains the safety and well-being of children involved in the child welfare system.”
LaValle said she is encouraged by the receiver’s attention on strengthening safety assessments, improving oversight and supporting and stabilizing the workforce serving children and families.
“We hope those efforts will continue throughout the transition period,” she said.