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Texas must continue drafting court-ordered plans to fix its broken foster care system, according to a new order from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
State officials have repeatedly gone to court seeking to avoid compliance with a ruling last year by U.S. District Judge Janis Jack finding the state’s long-term foster care system in such disrepair that it systemically violated children’s civil rights.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, represented by lawyers from the Texas Attorney General’s office, has argued that Jack lacked standing to order changes to the state’s foster care system. State officials also charged that her ruling ignored years of progress made by the agency.
Despite a series of setbacks in appeals court, Texas officials most recently hoped to derail the plan for reforms that is currently being overseen by outside appointees.
Justices on the bench of the 5th Circuit, considered one of the country’s most conservative appellate courts, found that lawyers for the state “failed to demonstrate that they have a ‘clear and indisputable’ entitlement to relief” from complying with the reform process.
