Texas Senate approves sweeping child welfare reform legislation
The Texas Senate unanimously approved sweeping legislation Wednesday to fix the state’s troubled child welfare system, including a provision to test privatizing key foster care services.
Meanwhile, the House gave initial approval Wednesday to two bills to fix the system, but not before a heated debate over whether unauthorized immigrants should be excluded from a measure that would boost pay for low-income foster families caring for a foster child who is a relative.
“Here we are starting off a program right off the bat and paying monies … to somebody who is not a documented citizen. I have a hard time with that,” said state Rep. Mark Keough, R-The Woodlands, who proposed an amendment to House Bill 4 to exclude people lacking legal immigration status.
Several Democrats accused Keough, a former car dealership sales manager, of being racist and a hypocrite for doing business with at least one person in the country illegally, and for putting politics before vulnerable children.
Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/texas-senate-approves-sweeping-child-welfare-reform-legislation/swjtRbx2AEYA3y8C1Q595J/
