The Texas Center for Child and Family Studies (The Center) is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting organization of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS).

Maintaining dedication and the highest integrity, The Center is focused on providing Texas child, youth, and family service agencies with the knowledge, skills, and ability they need to provide high-quality services in their communities. Staying on the forefront of innovation and best practices while also anticipating issues and areas of concern, The Center strives to accomplish our mission through trainings, consultations, education, and rigorous research. Informed by this work, the Center additionally undertakes targeted and strategic initiatives to address the most pressing issues facing the care and services for at-risk children, youth, and families in Texas. Inevitably, our goal is to empower individuals and organizations across the continuum of care to serve in their roles competently, ethically, and reflectively. We seek to advance the growth of a highly skilled workforce so that vulnerable children, youth, and families across Texas receive the best care possible.

What We Do

Learning & Development

The Center designs and delivers a wide variety of engaging learning opportunities on child welfare, clinical, and organizational practice. Our learning opportunities are self-guided via our online learning center, instructor-led, and collaborative. We can also develop and provide customized trainings to meet your organization’s unique needs. And we regularly partner with members to amplify your expertise across our shared network.

Texas Family Support Network

The Texas Family Support Network (TFSN) is the state-level member network of the National Family Support Network (NFSN). NFSN advances positive outcomes for all children, families, and communities by leveraging the collective impact of state networks and championing quality family support and strengthening practices and policies.

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Consultation & Technical Assistance

The consultation and technical assistance offered by The Center represents a full continuum of support to help agencies operate and thrive in a rapidly evolving environment. Our work is grounded in a solution-focused and tailored approach and produces actionable recommendations to help organizations maximize impact in their communities.

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The Center actively creates and promotes trainings that are

  • Empowering

  • Equitable and Accessible

  • Evidence-Based

  • Forward-Thinking

  • Solution-Focused

  • Collaborative

Conference

The Texas Center hosts the annual Texas Child Care Administrator's Conference (TCCAC). TCCAC is the largest conference in Texas that connects over 1000 child welfare professionals working in adoption, foster care, residential care, prevention services, trafficking programs, and so much more with the latest information and training on effectively delivering quality care to the children, youth, and families.

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Education and Research

Education and rigorous research provide a firm foundation for sound policymaking and effective implementation of high-quality services for Texas foster care children. The Center draws from the latest state and national child welfare trends, as well as evidenced-based practices in providing services to children and families affected by abuse and neglect. The Center's work includes the development and dissemination of this information to direct-care organizations and public and private partners.

Our Values

Providing children and families with the best possible care and services means being proactive in learning, making informed decisions, and striving to be better today than we were yesterday.

The Texas Center is committed to embedding organizational excellence into our continuum of care, responding to emerging trends proactively, and educating on advanced social work practices to better serve children and families throughout Texas.

Board of Directors

Term 2022-2023

Jenifer Jarriel, Chair

President and CEO, DePelchin Children's Center

Houston, Texas

Courtney Banatoski

President and CEO, Cumberland Presbyterian Children's Home

Denton, Texas

Dr. Linda Garcia

Senior Vice President of EMPOWER, Texas Family Initiative (TFI)

Aledo, Texas

Dr. Valerie Jackson

CEO, Monarch Family Services

Houston, Texas

DeJuana Jernigan

President and CEO, Arms Wide Adoption Services

Houston, Texas

Ted Keyser

Executive Director, Selfless Love Foundation

Juniper, Florida

Paula Tucker

CEO, Boysville, Inc.

Converse, Texas

Support the Center

Your donation will support the work of serving at-risk children, youth, families across Texas

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