Our mission is to empower Texas’ child welfare community by transforming complex public data into clear, actionable insights. We harness information to create intuitive dashboards, making it simple for nonprofits, advocates, and stakeholders to understand trends, identify critical needs, and pinpoint where their efforts can have the most significant impact for children and families.
By making data accessible, we aim to foster a culture of informed collaboration across the state of Texas. We believe that equipping our partners with these tools will help build a more responsive and effective child welfare system.
Nuestra misión es empoderar el sistema de protección infantil de Texas transformando datos públicos complejos en perspectivas claras y procesables. Aprovechamos la información para crear tablero de datos intuitivos, facilitando a las organizaciones sin fines de lucro, los defensores y las partes interesadas la comprensión de las tendencias, la identificación de las necesidades críticas y la determinación de dónde sus esfuerzos pueden tener el impacto más significativo para los niños y las familias.
Al hacer que los datos sean accesibles, pretendemos fomentar una cultura de colaboración informada en todo el estado de Texas. Creemos que equipar a nuestros socios con estas herramientas ayudará a construir un sistema de bienestar infantil más sensible y eficaz.
The visuals below represent the profile of children by demographic in Texas foster care. As of this month there are 5,850 children and youth in Texas foster care.
Los siguientes gráficos representan el perfil de los niños por grupo demográfico en hogares de acogida en Texas. A partir de este mes hay 5.850 niños y jóvenes en cuidado sustituto de Texas.
Age
Gender
Race/Ethnicity
In the visual below, the line chart trends total number of children by type of living arrangement in the DFPS regions in which they are placed.
When a child’s safety is at risk, they enter Texas’ comprehensive substitute care system, a network overseen by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) that offers a wide range of placements. Upon removal from a home, children may be placed in an emergency shelter, which provides immediate, temporary housing and critical services, prioritizing keeping sibling groups together. The system’s primary goal is to place children with relatives in kinship care, but when that is not possible, it provides licensed foster homes for a nurturing environment or Residential Treatment Centers for those with higher emotional and behavioral needs. This entire continuum is increasingly managed locally through the Community-Based Care (CBC) model, aiming for more responsive, community-attuned solutions.
The ultimate goal of the substitute care system is to provide a safe, temporary home while working towards a permanent solution like family reunification or adoption. For older youth navigating the path to adulthood, the system offers crucial support through transitional and independent living programs. Services like Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) provide essential life-skills training, while Supervised Independent Living (SIL) programs allow young adults aged 18 to 22 to experience living on their own in apartments or dorms with continued casework and support. These programs are vital in equipping youth with the skills and resources needed to successfully transition out of care and build a stable, self-sufficient future.
En la siguiente imagen, el gráfico de líneas muestra la tendencia del número total de niños por tipo de vivienda en las regiones del DFPS en las que se encuentran.
Cuando la seguridad de un niño está en peligro, entra en el sistema integral de cuidados sustitutos de Texas, una red supervisada por el Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) que ofrece una amplia gama de colocaciones. En caso de expulsión del hogar, los niños pueden ser colocados en un centro de acogida de emergencia, que proporciona alojamiento temporal inmediato y servicios críticos, dando prioridad a mantener unidos a los grupos de hermanos. El objetivo principal del sistema es colocar a los niños con parientes en acogimiento familiar, pero cuando eso no es posible, proporciona hogares de acogida autorizados para un entorno enriquecedor o Centros Residenciales de Tratamiento para aquellos con mayores necesidades emocionales y de comportamiento. Todo este proceso continuo se gestiona cada vez más a nivel local mediante el modelo de Community-Based Care (CBC), que busca soluciones más receptivas y adaptadas a la comunidad.
El objetivo último del sistema de atención sustitutoria es proporcionar un hogar seguro y temporal mientras se trabaja hacia una solución permanente como la reunificación familiar o la adopción. Para los jóvenes de más edad que se encaminan hacia la edad adulta, el sistema ofrece un apoyo crucial a través de programas de transición y de vida independiente. Servicios como el de Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) proporcionan una formación esencial en habilidades para la vida, mientras que los programas de Supervised Independent Living (SIL) permiten a los jóvenes adultos de entre 18 y 21 años experimentar la vida por su cuenta en apartamentos o residencias con asistencia social y apoyo continuados. Estos programas son vitales para dotar a los jóvenes de las habilidades y los recursos necesarios para salir con éxito del sistema de tutela y labrarse un futuro estable y autosuficiente.
Living Arrangements by Placement DFPS Region
The map and table below provide insight into the number of children and youth placed in each Texas county from their designated legal region (region of removal). This map can be filtered by Community-Based Care (CBC) Catchment Areas as well as Child Protection Court jurisdiction.
El mapa y la tabla a continuación proporcionan información sobre el número de niños y jóvenes colocados en cada condado de Texas desde su región legal designada (región de expulsión). Este mapa puede filtrarse por áreas de captación del Community-Based Care (CBC), así como por jurisdicción del Tribunal de Protección de Menores.
County Placement Map
The series of visuals below offer an insight into Rider 15 which outlines performance measures for Community-Base Care (CBC). Each of the visuals highlights one of the following quarterly Department of Family and Protective Services reports, Legislative Budget Board (LBB) Performance Measures, CBC Foster Care Performance Measures, and CBC Conservatorship Performance Measures.
Community-Based Care represents a fundamental transformation of the Texas foster care system, deliberately shifting case management responsibilities from the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to local nonprofit organizations. This model utilizes a Single Source Continuum Contractor (SSCC) within a designated geographic area to manage the full spectrum of care for children. While DFPS continues to handle child protection investigations, the SSCC is responsible for recruiting foster homes, placing children, and providing comprehensive services to children and their families. The primary goal of this community-driven approach is to improve outcomes by keeping children closer to their homes, increasing the availability of local resources, reducing the number of moves a child experiences, and fostering local innovation to meet community-specific needs.
The statewide transition to CBC is being executed through a phased rollout rather than a single, simultaneous event. The implementation in each catchment area is methodical, occurring in two main stages. In Stage I, the SSCC assumes responsibility for foster care placements and case management. In Stage II, the SSCC’s duties expand to include permanency services, such as managing the processes for family reunification, kinship placements, and adoption. As of mid-2025, this transition is actively underway across Texas, with different regions at various stages of implementation, ranging from initial procurement of an SSCC to being fully operational in Stage II.
LBB Rider 15 Community Based Care Performance Measures
To support our mission of making child welfare data accessible and empowering data-driven advocacy, please consider making a contribution. Your support helps us maintain this platform and expand our tools for nonprofits and stakeholders across Texas. Simply scan the QR code to give. Thank you for helping us build a better future for children.
