Advocates and families testified all day in front of House Human Services members as legislators buckled down to look at key bills that would overhaul how the state takes care of endangered children.
Child Protective Services
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When it comes to helping sex-trafficking victims, success is elusive
How do you help sex trafficking victims like Sarah who’ve learned that the way to survive is to flee?
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She was a sex-trafficking victim, but Texas law labeled her a pimp
Laws the state uses to put sex traffickers behind bars can sweep up their prey, too. A few years in age can mean the difference between a chance at rehabilitation and a lengthy prison sentence, as Yvette learned.
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Texas couldn’t help this sex-trafficked teen, so authorities sent her to jail
No one wanted Lena behind bars. She was not a prostitute; she was a child who had been sexually exploited. But teenage sex-trafficking victims in Texas end up in jail for one simple reason: There’s nowhere else for them to go.
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When foster care couldn’t help this 16-year-old, she ran to a pimp
After her father raped her, Jean became one of the roughly 12,000 Texas kids in long-term foster care, a system that often leaves children more damaged than when they arrive. For Jean, selling sex seemed like a safer bet.
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How hollow rhetoric and a broken child welfare system feed Texas’ sex-trafficking underworld
Texas leaders have publicly battled sex trafficking for more than a decade, but they’ve devoted hardly any resources to helping victims.
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Criminal Justice
Help us report on sex trafficking in Texas
Over the past five months, The Texas Tribune has investigated the hidden world of sex trafficking. Now, we want to hear about your experiences.
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Criminal Justice
Ask us anything about our investigation into sex trafficking in Texas
Texas Tribune reporters Neena Satija, Morgan Smith and Edgar Walters hosted a live discussion about sex trafficking with Chuck Paul, a former child welfare investigator.
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Health care
Texas House bills lay out some initial plans to overhaul CPS
Texas representatives have filed legislation to start an overhaul of the the state’s Child Protective Services, following a crisis that has left thousands of kids at risk.
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Health care
Texas legislators urged to “get it right” on child welfare at rally
Standing in front of the Capitol in 80-degree heat, attendees gathered at a rally sponsored by Child Protection Roundtable of Texas and the Texas Home Visiting Coalition urging legislators to make long awaited changes to how the state handles abused and neglected children.