State asks to continue monitoring Dallas-area foster care contractor until August
By Terri Langford and Stephen Simpson, The Texas Tribune
March 18, 2026
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and a Dallas-area private foster care contractor have jointly asked a court to extend the state’s oversight of the nonprofit through the summer.
In March, a judge approved DFPS’ request to take over foster care case management authority from EMPOWER, the private contractor after two children died under its care and the company failed to correct persistent deficiencies. That temporary state receivership was to expire June 16. It will now extend to mid-August.
But late Wednesday, the state agency and EMPOWER asked for a 60-day extension to allow for a more comprehensive assessment to determine what next steps going forward are needed by the $188 million state nonprofit contractor before it can be released from state receivership.
“While progress has been made, the conditions that gave rise to the receivership have not been fully resolved,” the petition filed in Dallas County district court stated.
Additional time is needed to determine if the state agency’s corrective measures can be sustained and further risk to children can be reduced, the petition explained. In a separate filing, DFPS and EMPOWER want the court to seal the state agency’s 60-day report — expected on May 18 — from the public’s view on EMPOWER’s progress, insisting that by doing so would not “have an adverse effect on public health and safety.”
The two argue that keeping it public would potentially include case histories of children and details about caregivers that could “undermine long-standing confidentiality protections” and the information “could be misused to identify or target facilities, foster homes, or programs, or to infer the locations of especially vulnerable children.”
Since March 1, 2024, EMPOWER and its parent, Texas Family Initiative, have been managing foster care children’s placements and care in nine counties: Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman and Navarro.
The state has made clear to the court that EMPOWER has “struggled to maintain proper caseloads for its case workers” due to worker turnover and failed to follow state procedures. There have been 17 improvement notices known as “continuous quality improvement plans” sent to EMPOWER since it took over all case management of foster care children in the Dallas region. Those notices detail persistent deficiencies in employee training and case management protocols.
EMPOWER issued a statement.
“EMPOWER remains committed to working closely with DFPS and the local community to strengthen services and ensure children and families receive safe, stable and high‑quality care,” EMPOWER said in an issued statement on Wednesday. “As always, our number one priority is the safety and well‑being of the children and families we serve.”
A state audit of EMPOWER released in late March also detailed problems with adequately documenting each child’s case progress. “Recently, DFPS conducted a sample review of 178 Empower cases, including 83 cases where the children were placed back into the parents’ home with court oversight. Empower inadequately addressed or documented safety concerns for these children,” this new court petition stated. Because of that, it was difficult to assess what resources were needed for the child and the family.
As a result of DFPS’ move to place EMPOWER under state management, District Judge Monica Purdy approved George Cannata, a Child Protective Services regional director in North Texas, to oversee case management and executive operations for EMPOWER, a nonprofit foster care service provider.
In court documents, the agency said Cannata’s appointment was necessary because EMPOWER’s “systemic failures” placed foster care children in imminent danger, including a newborn who died after the foster care agency did not create a plan for care despite allegations of abuse with the family’s previous child. According to court records, another baby died after being reunited with its parents without proper safeguards.
EMPOWER, which oversees the Dallas region community-based foster care system, was placed under receivership, in which a court-approved third party takes control of and manages a business or entity.
“The goal of the receivership is to stabilize operations and ensure that children and families receive safe and consistent services without interruption. DFPS remains committed to strong partnerships with the many organizations that support children and families across the state,” said Marissa Gonzales, a DFPS spokesperson.
A spokesperson for EMPOWER said that throughout the receivership process, the organization will retain its state contract and continue to work cooperatively and transparently with the state.
“We are committed to continuing to strengthen services for our local communities. As always, our number one priority is the safety and well-being of the children and families we serve,” said Taylor Forrest, a spokesperson for EMPOWER.
Three years ago, DFPS awarded EMPOWER a contract to oversee foster case management for children in the Metroplex East Community-Based Care region, which includes Dallas, Collin and seven surrounding counties, until 2028. Since being awarded that contract, the foster care organization has repeatedly failed to improve despite state interventions, with issues including untimely reporting, unsafe transport, unmet measures, contract breaches, caseload failures and undocumented visits, DFPS stated in a petition to the court.
State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said he approved of the change in case management
“I have personally worked with DFPS and local judges to ensure EMPOWER’s caseworkers were showing up for court prepared and ready to proceed, because local judges reached out to me and raised concerns about EMPOWER caseworkers showing up unprepared,” West told The Texas Tribune.
Texas lawmakers in 2017 passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state’s child welfare system, including a bill that shifted foster care to a “community-based care” model by allowing contracted organizations to monitor children in foster care and adoptive homes to provide relief for the low-resourced state system.
DFPS reports that about a quarter of the children in state custody are in community-based care, and the agency expects to expand this to the entire population by 2029.
EMPOWER, part of the collaborative under Texas Family Initiative, is a key component of this model, covering some of the state’s most populous regions, but the recent petition calls into question the organization’s ability to adhere to the proposed community care model.
“The Department of Family and Protective Services has worked closely with EMPOWER over the last two years to help them overcome a variety of challenges,” West said. “However, following recent developments, it became clear that EMPOWER is no longer in a place where it can safely manage its caseload on its own, and asking the Court to allow for a Receiver has become necessary.”
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.