DFPS Releases Annual Foster Care Needs Assessment
The Department of Family and Protective Services released its annual Foster Care Needs Assessment which provides a forecast for daily demand for substitute care through Fiscal Year 2021 and an estimated daily current supply for regions across Texas. Overall, DFPS concluded that when growing capacity across Texas the focus should be on: Safely placing as many children as possible with relatives. Growing additional foster home capacity across the state for: youth 14 and older with basic and moderate service levels; or all higher needs children and youth; and in rural areas, capacity for all ages and service levels. Next steps are similar to last year’s efforts by DFPS which include each DFPS Regional Director facilitating a collaborative discussion about the data in this needs assessment and any needed revisions or updates to last year’s regional strategic capacity building plan to ideally continue capacity building strategies that are effective and ensure local capacity growth is moving in the right direction to meet the anticipated demand. The demand for capacity across Texas’ child welfare system continues to drastically surpass the supply across our State, and community organizations such as yourselves feel the weight of that mounting pressure. The TACFS team will continue to keep you posted on upcoming regional capacity meetings and events. Please read through this report at your convenience to identify local capacity concerns identified by DFPS in your community, and reach out to us with any comments, questions, or concerns.