Things got heated on the Texas House floor on the last day of the legislative session.
Child Protective Services
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Health care
Abbott signs bills aimed at addressing crisis in child welfare system
Two days after the end of the legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott held a public ceremony to sign four major child welfare bills into law.
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Health care
Child welfare overhaul bills await Abbott’s signature
Texas legislators cast final votes Sunday evening on a pair of bills overhauling how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services works with and finds homes for abused and neglected children.
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Health care
Senate passes religious protections for child welfare agencies
Texas state senators voted to allow child welfare providers to be protected from legal retaliation if they assert their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
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Health care
Texas Senate approves monthly payments for relative caregivers of abused children
Texas senators voted unanimously on Monday to increase money given to kinship care families.
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Health care
Texas House passes child welfare reforms
The Texas House on Thursday passed a package of sweeping measures aimed at addressing a crisis in the state’s child welfare system.
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Health care
House backs measure barring mandatory vaccines for foster children
Discussion over a bill that would improve the state’s Child Protective Services agency turned into a heated debate over vaccines — and whether they should be required for children placed in foster care.
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Health care
House OKs bill allowing adoption agencies to reject parents on religious grounds
Faith-based adoption agencies in Texas would be able to reject prospective parents on religious grounds under a bill the state House approved Tuesday over objections from Democratic lawmakers.
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State Government
Analysis: Think Texas has a weak governor? Not in the month of May
A Texas governor’s powers peak at the end of a legislative session, as deadline-haunted legislators begin to fear the threat of a veto from the state’s chief executive.
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Health care
For troubled foster kids in Houston, sleeping in offices is “rock bottom”
No child is supposed to sleep or spend more than a few hours at the Harris County Youth Services Center’s Point of Entry in Houston. But Texas’ foster care placement crisis has forced some of the state’s most troubled teens to sleep in a place that isn’t equipped to care for them.