TEXAS, USA — Editor's note: The video above was published in September 2021.
A new report from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) indicates that youth pregnancy is a serious challenge facing children in the state's foster care system.
According to the report on Fiscal Year 2021, 380 Texas youth in foster care were pregnant, 267 youth were parents of children of their own and 39 children were removed by Child Protective Services (CPS) from youth who were still in foster care themselves.
Texas Care for Children is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group that pushes for protections for children in foster care. Kate Murphy, the senior policy associate for child protection at Texans Care for Children, said in a press release that it is up to lawmakers to do something about the challenges pregnancy poses for these youth.
"Policymakers need to address this challenge so youth in foster care can stay healthy, succeed in school and recover from trauma rather than experiencing the new trauma of CPS removing their baby because they didn’t get the support they needed,” Murphy said. "The legislature should make sure youth in foster care are getting the support they need to wait to become parents when they are ready and, for youth who have a baby while in foster care, the support to have a healthy pregnancy and safely raise a healthy baby.”
Drawing on data published in the last five annual DFPS reports on pregnant and parenting youth in foster care, as well as data on the overall population of Texas children in foster care, Texans Care for Children said it found that youth in foster care were more likely to be pregnant in 2021 compared to any of the previous four years.
Texans Care for Children noted that the data shown below compares the annual pregnancy rate for youth of all ages in foster care, not the teen pregnancy rate specifically.
Murphy said that the DFPS deserves credit for working to address this challenge and that the Texas Legislature took some important steps in 2021 as well. But she says there is "clearly more for the Legislature to do" to support these children and their children and to "ensure the state is accepting its responsibility as the temporary parent of youth in foster care."
"We’re talking about a relatively small number of youth in foster care who become pregnant each year, so Texas could provide them and their babies with ample support if policymakers make it a priority," Murphy said.
Texans Care for Children said that the latest DFPS report comes as the state is facing a shortage of safe and supportive placements for youth in foster care with complex needs – a situation that has led to youth sleeping in motels and other unlicensed facilities, such as offices.
The group said the report also comes as State leaders are considering the foster care recommendations from an expert panel that was convened after a federal judge found that Texas was violating the constitutional rights of foster children.
In its press release, Texans Care for Children cited a number of laws passed by the Texas Legislature in 2021 in collaboration with child advocates, as well as several bills the group believes should have been passed. For a breakdown of the legislation Texans Care for Children says would help support pregnant and parenting youth and their children, read the group's full press release.
Britny Eubank on social media: Twitter
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: