Appeals court temporarily halts federal judge's order that TX make big improvements in foster care
AUSTIN — A federal appeals court late Friday granted Texas a temporary stay of a trial judge's final edict that ordered sweeping and rapid changes to the long-term housing, treatment and support of abused and neglected children in Texas.
Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack of Corpus Christi spelled out numerous remedies Texas must make, including a much better-distributed and managed array of foster homes and treatment center beds and a push within the next five months to protect other kids by putting all sexually aggressive foster children into "single-child placements."
Jack also ordered that children who enter the "permanent managing conservatorship" of the state must if possible continue to have legal representation and regular visits from a Child Protective Services worker.
The state, though, said Jack's order would disrupt existing arrangements and force it to immediately move children out of group homes and other "congregate care" settings.
After state Attorney General Ken Paxton sought a temporary stay of Jack's order, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday imposed a temporary halt to her ordered remedies.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-politics/2018/01/19/federal-judgeorders-sweeping-improvements-texas-foster-care-ignoring-state-objections
