Resources for Parent Caregivers

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Parent Resource Workgroup

The Parent Resource Workgroup supports efforts to assist parents in understanding the Texas child welfare system, their role and responsibilities when involved in a child welfare case, and the roles and responsibilities of others. As a result of these efforts, the Family Helpline and Parent Resource Guide were created. 

Resources for Caregivers

  • Parent Resource Guide: The Parent Resource Guide is a handbook designed to help parents and caregivers understand the Texas child welfare system, their roles and responsibilities when involved in a Child Protective Services case, and the roles and responsibilities of others. The guide is updated periodically and made available on the Children’s Commission website. A copy of the most recent version of the Parent Resource Guide is available below.
  • Family Helpline: In 2017, the Children’s Commission partnered with Access to Justice and the Children’s Justice Act to fund the Texas Legal Services Corporation to establish the Family Helpline for Strong Families and Safe Children (“Family Helpline”), which provides easily available, statewide access for parents, family members, and community members to basic information, education, and resources addressing issues facing parents and caregivers as they relate to child welfare law including: 
    • Child Protective Investigations;
    • The provision of Family-Based Safety Services;
    • Safety Plan and Parental Child Safety Placements;
    • Chapter 34 non-parent agreements;
    • Termination of parental rights;
    • Custody, access, and visitation;
    • Service plans;
    • The court’s role in conducting hearings and oversight;
    • The right to legal counsel;
    • Non-offending parents, minor parents, and incarcerated parents;
    • Survivors of family violence;
    • Intergenerational issues;
    • Reinstatement of parental rights; and 
    • Other variations of these situations.

The Children’s Commission partners with or supports individual court efforts seeking to adopt specialized practices or programs. For more information about our work in child protection courts, please visit the  Specialty Courts webpage.

For more information, please visit Foster Care & Education webpage.

The Texas Blueprint:

2018 Foster Care & Education Summit

In July 2018, Texas hosted its second Foster Care and Education Summit. The 2018 Summit provided an opportunity to look at past accomplishments, assess current challenges, and build momentum going forward. Teams attended from every region in Texas and they included advocates, attorneys, child welfare and education professionals, foster care alumni, and judges. Key themes included using data to drive decisions, engaging youth in decisions that impact their lives, approaching students with a trauma-informed lens, and creating a college-going culture for children and youth in foster care.

Materials:

Texas Foster Care & Education Collaborative Reports:

Additional Foster Care & Education Resources

Contacts:

Links:

Foster Care & Education:

  • Understanding Support for Foster Alumni: Financial Aid, Enrollment Process & Campus Support
  • Enhancing Support for Foster Alumni: Financial Aid, the Foster Care Tuition Waiver, and Campus Support
  • Changes to Educational Services for Texas Foster Youth
  • THECB Tuition and Fee Waiver: The tuition and fee waiver in the Texas Education Code offers eligible young adults the opportunity to attend any Texas public institution of higher education without the payment of tuition and fees. The video clarifies the eligibility criteria for the state tuition and fee waiver and explains how the waiver can be utilized in Texas.

Homelessness creates serious adverse conditions for children and youth, including medical and mental health, lack of school stability, physical safety, food insecurity, risk of exploitation and trafficking, and substance abuse. 

Texas Appleseed, in partnership with Weatherford International and Baker & McKenzie LLP, created the Homeless Youth Handbook. This handbook provides homeless youth with Texas-specific information about their rights, responsibilities, and available resources related to every major aspect of their lives, including education, employment, health, housing, parenting, and other major topics.

For more information, please visit the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children webpage.

For more information about our work in legal representation, please visit the Legal Practice & Process webpage.

Recent publications:

2024 Tool Kit for Attorneys Representing the Department of Family and Protective Services in Child Welfare Cases

The 2024 Tool Kit for Attorneys Representing the Department of Family and Protective Services in Child Welfare Cases is now available in the following formats:

For more information, please visit the Mediation webpage. 

For more information about current projects, please visit the Parent Resources Workgroup webpage.

The Parent Resource Guide

The Parent Resource Guide is a handbook designed to help parents understand the Texas child welfare system, their roles and responsibilities when involved in a Child Protective Services case, and the roles and responsibilities of others. The guide is current up to the 86th Legislative Session.

The 2020 Parent Resource Guide is available below in English and Spanish: 

 

The following brochures explain the responsibilities of an attorney for a parent or child towards their client and how to resolve issues between the attorney and the client. The brochures are intended to be shared with parents and foster parents in child welfare cases and may be helpful for judges to have available in the courtroom and/or a courthouse library or information center.       

The Family Helpline

In 2017, the Children’s Commission partnered with Access to Justice and the Children’s Justice Act to fund the Texas Legal Services Corporation to establish the Family Helpline for Strong Families and Safe Children (“Family Helpline”), which provides easily available, statewide access for parents, family members, and community members to basic information, education, and resources addressing issues facing parents and caregivers as they relate to child welfare law including: 

  • Child Protective Investigations;
  • The provision of Family-Based Safety Services;
  • Safety Plan and Parental Child Safety Placements;
  • Chapter 34 non-parent agreements;
  • Termination of parental rights;
  • Custody, access, and visitation;
  • Service plans;
  • The court’s role in conducting hearings and oversight;
  • The right to legal counsel;
  • Non-offending parents, minor parents, and incarcerated parents;
  • Survivors of family violence;
  • Intergenerational issues;
  • Reinstatement of parental rights; and 
  • Other variations of these situations.

The Family Helpline is staffed by experienced attorneys who offer callers live support in a one-on-one exchange. TLSC employs attorneys with child welfare case experience who can offer callers legal information and education and refer to resources such as the Children’s Commission’s Parent Resource Guide, but not offer legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship with the caller.

For more information on the Family Helpline, visit TexasLawHelp.org

 

Prevention Before CPS Involvement

The majority of cases in the child welfare system involve neglect, which in some cases, conflate poverty and neglect. Families living in poverty are often faced with questions about resources for housing, mental health, food subsidies, parenting resources, substance use disorders, and/or job assistance. Resolution of these issues can also help maintain the safety, permanency, and well‐being of children. Prevention Before CPS Involvement: Supporting Families at Risk gives an overview of DFPS’s Prevention and Early Intervention services aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect at the community level and diverting families from child welfare involvement and introduces additional resources and community supports to further the goal of prevention. Please note that MCLE is not offered for this replay.

 

 

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For more information about our work in Trauma-Informed Care, please visit the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care page. 

  • TraumaInformedTexas.com includes resources created in whole or in part by members of the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care (SCTIC) as well as resources from other state and national organizations.
  • Building a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System: A Blueprint (available upon request)
  • In collaboration with the Children’s Commission, the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) published Building a Network of Trauma Informed Courts in Texas which highlights the work and the resources created by the Trauma-Informed Courts Pilot Project.
  • February 8th, 2019 Commission Meeting PowerPoint Presentation
  • Judicial Trauma Institute Videos and Materials - The Judicial Trauma Institute was presented live on April 22-23, 2021 via webcast. The content was designed by Commission staff in partnership with the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care (SCTIC) Training Workgroup and hosted by the Texas Center for the Judiciary. The goal of the conference was for judicial teams to gain information and discover practical tools and resources about how to become a trauma-informed and trauma-responsive court in CPS cases. Video replays and conference materials can be accessed on the Judicial Trauma Institute webpage.

Additional Resources:

The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) utilizes Zoom technology to support video conferencing for participating courts. For more information, please visit the Zoom Information and YouTube Support webpage provided by OCA. 

For more information about the Children's Commission's work in youth voice and normalcy, please visit the Youth Voice & Normalcy webpage.

Your Lawyer Works for You! What You Need to Know 

The Children’s Commission is pleased to announce a two-part video series designed for youth to explain the attorney-client relationship. “Your Lawyer Works for You.” The videos are a collaboration between the Children’s Commission and the Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) Young Adult Leadership Council (YALC) and feature young adults formerly in foster care discussing their experiences with their attorneys, articulating basics about the attorney-client relationship, and helping youth understand how to resolve problems with their attorneys. The videos are available on the Children’s Commission's YouTube Youth Voice Playlist and the TNOYS YouTube Channel.

Helpful Resources

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Foster Care Ombudsman:

For children and youth experiencing foster care, complaints can be submitted to the Foster Care Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is available to assist children and youth who report maltreatment in foster care and has the authority to conduct an investigation into individual complaints. Children and youth experiencing foster care may contact the Ombudsman by any of the following means:

  • By phone: 1-844-286-0769; Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
  • Online form: Foster Care Ombudsman Online Submission Form
  • By mail:
    Texas Health and Human Services Commission
    Foster Care Ombudsman, MC H-700
    P O Box 13247
    Austin, Texas 78711-3247
  • Website

Guides and Handbooks: 

Websites for Youth in Foster Care: 

Children's Commission YouTube Channel

Foster Care & Education:

  • Understanding Support for Foster Alumni: Financial Aid, Enrollment Process & Campus Support
  • Enhancing Support for Foster Alumni: Financial Aid, the Foster Care Tuition Waiver, and Campus Support
  • Changes to Educational Services for Texas Foster Youth
  • THECB Tuition and Fee Waiver: The tuition and fee waiver in the Texas Education Code offers eligible young adults the opportunity to attend any Texas public institution of higher education without the payment of tuition and fees. The video clarifies the eligibility criteria for the state tuition and fee waiver and explains how the waiver can be utilized in Texas.