Nearly 3,000 Texas foster youth have safe home environments.
SAN ANTONIO — There is encouraging news for foster children across Bexar County and surrounding communities.
Officials say there are currently no foster children in Texas Region 8 living in temporary placements such as hotels or office spaces after being removed from homes due to abuse or neglect.
Texas Region 8 includes Bexar County and 27 surrounding counties, serving roughly 3,000 children in the foster care system.
SJRC Texas CEO Tara Roussett said every child in the region currently has a safe place to stay.
“We have no children without placement right now,” Roussett said. “Every child is in a safe, stable home.”
In the past, children removed from unsafe environments sometimes had to stay temporarily in offices, hotels or other spaces when foster placements were unavailable, an issue that has affected communities across Texas and the nation.
Roussett says that is no longer the case in Region 8.
“It’s a huge deal,” she said. “Kinship and foster families have all stepped up and there is no child without placement. Every child is in a safe placement with nobody sleeping in office spaces or hotels.”
SJRC Texas achieved the milestone after taking over management of Texas Region 8-A, which includes Bexar County. Roussett credits the progress to collaboration between foster families, caseworkers and community partners.
“It makes me so proud of our team and our community and state partnerships working together for these children and families that we serve,” she said. “Nobody deserves to not know where they are sleeping tonight and safe placements are paramount.”
Roussett said the goal now is to maintain that progress while continuing to support children entering the system.
“We don’t want any child to come into the system first off,” she said. “We want every child to be in a safe, loving home and not have to come into foster care. But if they do, we want it to be a short amount of time and the safest placement to get them to permanency as fast as possible.”
She added that communities across Bexar County and the surrounding region should be proud of the work being done to support vulnerable children and families.
Officials say about 3,000 foster children across Texas Region 8 currently have safe home placements.