A new company has begun the onerous task of course correcting Dallas’ foster care system.
Texas Family Care Network, a Nederland-based nonprofit, was contracted by the state to manage and monitor foster cases in Dallas County after the previous company in charge, Empower, failed to keep kids safe.
When Empower’s contract was revoked in July, the nine-county region it was responsible for was bifurcated — TFCN was assigned Dallas County, which accounts for the majority of cases in the region, and Fort Worth-based Our Community Our Kids was given the other eight counties.
TFCN, an off-shoot of Pennsylvania-based child welfare organization Pressley Ridge, has overseen foster care in a 15-county region of East Texas since 2023. On paper, the work is the same in Dallas as it is in East Texas, but taking on the county’s roughly 2,000 foster cases, and its problems, is a significant increase in the nonprofit’s responsibilities.
A week before TFCN assumed its new role on Nov. 1, the company’s freshly appointed CEO, Rocky Hensarling, sat down with The Lab Report to talk about how he plans to address the fractures in Dallas foster care.
The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity.
Your company currently manages about 750 cases across 15 counties in East Texas. You’re taking on around 2,000 more cases in Dallas County. How have you been preparing for that much of an increase in responsibility?
It’s having a solid workforce and going in and building a model that’s based on lower caseloads that fall within the federal standards. The systems that we have in place are just scaled up or down. Seeing kids every month, making sure you’re assessing safety, making sure families have resources, making sure folks come to court and that they’re responsive — that doesn’t change. It’s just making sure we’ve got a solid workforce, and then the right resources and supports around that workforce to meet the needs of the cases. That would happen in a giant county just as much as it happens in our smallest county in Region 5.
Nearly 200 Empower employees are moving over to TFCN. What would you say to the people who have expressed concern that retaining that workforce will perpetuate the problems that existed under Empower?
I’m actually excited that we’re getting a good group of folks who are coming over. We need a stable workforce to meet the needs. What’s helpful, too, is getting continuity so that kids and families don’t have to reestablish relationships, or that that transition happens as little as possible. We didn’t want disruptions through this. What I would respond to, though, to the concerns are that they’re valid concerns. Folks have the right to question what’s happened. What I want folks to hear, though, is that our focus is on retraining the staff, getting them the right resources, and getting them the tools they need to respond to the needs. That should be what’s the difference. Even though it might be the same workforce, we’re giving them more tools and resources to be better prepared.
You began your child welfare career as a caseworker for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. How does that inform your approach to hiring and training?
To do this work, you’ve got to have folks who want to see kids and families healthy and connected. So first it’s finding those people who want to do this work. Then when you get them in the door, you’ve got to welcome them into a culture that embraces that this is hard work but it can be done. Giving them the right resources and training is extremely vital. And it’s not just training, but it’s ongoing trainings. You can teach, but only so much, right? Then you’ve got to be able to have them go out in the field and see and do, so you’ve got to have folks who can model and mentor.
Based on what you know about how employee training was conducted at Empower, how will it be different at TFCN?
The core professional development, which is really a 13-regimen course, is set. We have the ability to add to what that training is, but we can’t take away from it because it’s federally required. What we have done differently is we built a little bit longer of an on-ramp. So when someone gets hired on, their first couple weeks are really just out shadowing and really understanding what to expect, so that when they go to the classroom, they’re not hearing some of these things for the first time. The other thing is, when someone’s in training, there should be regular check-ins with their supervisor to understand what they’re hearing and to build a really close partnership with the caseworker and supervisor.
In addition to the foundational pieces, you also start teaching the culture. You start teaching them about the organization and what our expectations are so that they know those non-negotiables. And that’s where I think there will be another shift. For a lot of the workforce, coming into the culture that we have set up will help them because it connects back to what intrinsically drives us forward to do this work.
Training, or perhaps the lack of it, was a big factor in the state’s request for receivership over Empower and the termination of the company’s contract, but that’s only part of the reason why you’re sitting here today about to take over the job. What is your assessment of what went wrong with Empower and what you’re being tasked with fixing?
I think the bigger piece is the lack of community confidence. I think some of the things that happened just happen in the ecosystem because we work with humans and sometimes it may be unpredictable. But I think you need to have the right community partners at your side to help with the work. And probably the most encouraging thing is the amount of community partners who’ve said, ‘We want to help this get back on track.’ I think previously it might have been that they weren’t at the table, and so bringing everybody back to the table so that we can continue to rebuild what the ecosystem of Dallas can be will be extremely helpful. Beyond the case issues that happened, I think that’s likely the bigger piece.
Caseworker turnover is a multi-pronged issue, but it has a real impact on children in the system and it’s been an issue in Dallas. What is your goal for how many caseworkers a child has over the duration of their case and how will you accomplish that?
The goal is always one. You want to have one from the time they get assigned until they reach permanency, and that’s going to be a little bit tricky at the beginning. I think what we have to continue to do is build a culture so that when folks come in, they know they’re going to get the support that they need to do this work. And making sure that further upstream we’re recruiting the right folks that have the heart and have the know-how, and that they’re willing to learn. And then it’s having them come into a culture where they feel appreciated, like they’ve got what they need, and that they can also learn and grow within the organization. Turnover is something that is organic, but people aren’t going to leave if they feel connected to the work and connected to the organization.
The general public, and even people who work in Dallas’ foster care system, had no idea the situation with Empower was as bad as it was until the state filed a receivership petition earlier this year after two children died. How will the public know if TFCN is doing its job and hitting the marks it should?
That’s a very fair question. I think it’s going to depend on which viewpoint they look at, right? So, for example, the courts should be able to see that our staff come to court, they’re prepared, showing up on time, they’ve got the right answers, they know some core things about the case that shows that we’ve done the work. We also have performance measures. We’re happy to talk about where the system is getting healthier, and at the same time, we’re also happy to acknowledge if something doesn’t go the right way. Our response is not to go run and hide from it, but it’s to talk about what’s happening, and then talk about how we’re responding to those pieces. So hopefully, a little bit more of an outward viewpoint will help folks see the differences and see that it’s moving in the right direction.
You’ve spent the past few months fielding questions from the Dallas child welfare community and reminding people that problems aren’t going to be fixed on Nov. 1. But what is your own deadline for when things should fully be operating at TFCN’s ideal level?
I think realistically I would say six months. Change takes time, and true change takes even longer. What I would like to be able to do is to look back in six months and see where we are, what are those things that have improved, and what are those that maybe haven’t. What we want to make sure is that there’s nothing that’s happening that’s causing harm, that’s causing hurt. But I’m optimistic that in six months we should start to see some leveling off. The first little bit of time is really our staff getting to know us, us getting to know our staff, and building those relationships. And then, as we continue to listen and learn and build as we transition, I do think that that’s a good checkpoint to see where we’re at. Obviously, though, if something’s not working, we’re not going to wait till six months to address it.
By what point do you think the grace extended during the initial takeover will or should expire?
I’ve been very cautious about asking for grace. Folks have the right to have expected more. So any grace that’s given I certainly appreciate, but we’re going in this as if we don’t have it because the expectation is that it’s our responsibility and I want to make sure we’re hitting as many of those marks as possible on Nov. 1. And then at the end of that first week we’ll look back and say, “OK, here’s where we’re at. This is what we’ve learned. Now we move to next week.” And we’ll take it day by day, week by week. But I cautiously don’t think I’m asking for grace because I feel like grace has been extended, and folks are probably a little bit exhausted by extending that grace.
There was a lot of frustration from everyone from foster parents to child placement agencies over the fact that there wasn’t an effective way to voice and address problems with Empower. How do you plan to field concerns and feedback?
It’s making ourselves available. Having the ability to stay regularly connected, knowing who’s the person to call and reach out to, and then making sure that that person answers and responds — that’s really what our model is. There will be plenty of people that someone could call. I’m available to help support as much as possible. We’ll have a local vice president that’s here that oversees the work in Dallas and that will be somebody else that’s responsible and contactable. The bigger thing, though, is that if somebody’s reaching out and they’re not getting a response, that’s what we certainly want to hear. No one should feel like they can’t reach out and address things because that’s just not the way we do our business.
Many people are feeling uncertain about what comes next for foster kids in Dallas. What do you want them to know?
Part of it is to acknowledge that this has to get better. Dallas County has the right to expect that kids and families are going to get their needs met. We want to continue to make sure that we aren’t making the same errors and that when something happens we’re going to be responsive and we’re going to move it forward. This work is tricky and staying tuned in with it, coming to the table, and problem solving collaboratively is really what is going to move this in the right direction.
I think there’s this concept that [the system] is broken and not repairable, and that’s so far from the truth. We are filled with staff and foster parents and caregivers and organizations who care incredibly deeply about this system. I think there are situations and processes that don’t sometimes work the right way, but the system overall is not broken. It just needs help. It needs support. We’re going to get to work and we’re going to move this in the right direction, and we look forward to sharing what that looks like as we go along.
Claire Ballor is a staff writer at The Lab Report. claire@labreportdallas.com.
