4 Regional CPS Directors Fired Amid Texas Agency's Shakeup
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AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Child Protective Services has fired four regional directors as it looks to overhaul operations following years of complaints that the agency fails to adequately protect children who are abused or neglected.
The four directors were terminated this week and a fifth in El Paso opted to retire. The five represent half of CPS' regional directors in Texas.
The move is another indication that Henry "Hank" Whitman, commissioner of the Texas Department Family and Protective Services, which oversees CPS, seeks to introduce significant changes when it comes to the care of vulnerable children. Whitman, the former head of the Texas Rangers, took the position back in April.
CPS has long contended with high turnover among caseworkers, low pay and plummeting morale. High-level managers, meanwhile, had continued to remain in place despite repeated instances of the state failing to protect children subject to abuse.
Here in North Texas, a CPS caseworker and supervisor were fired and a special investigator with the agency resigned in April after allegations they knew about the abuse of a 4-year-old Grand Prairie girl and did little to help her or prevent her eventual death. The little girl's mother and her boyfriend were arrested and charged for the death.
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