Strengthening positive permanency across Texas through the development and expansion of Heart Gallery programs.
The Texas Center for Child and Family Studies (the Center) is partnering with the Center for Societal Impact (CSI) and The Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing (TXICFW) at the University of Texas Austin Steve Hick’s School of Social Work in the statewide expansion of Heart Gallery programs across the state.
The Heart Galleries of Texas project is focused on strengthening Heart Gallery programs as tools for positive permanency in communities by developing strong and thriving local Heart Galleries that serve communities across Texas to increase the number of children and youth in positive and permanent placements. The project received funding in the 88th Legislative Session to expand the Heart Gallery programs to all 11 DFPS regions in Texas. This allows the project to expand adoption efforts statewide to generate better outcomes for the hardest cases, finding homes for teens, sibling groups, and children with special healthcare needs.
The first stage of the project includes the release of a phased request for applications (RFA) that will identify a lead organization in each DFPS region of the state. The Center is seeking applications to develop and establish or expand and operate regional Heart Gallery programs in DFPS Regions 9,10 and 11. Selected organizations will receive 2-year grants through the Heart Galleries of Texas project.
The RFA for Region 9, 10, and 11 is due by September 1, 2023. Additional regions and information will be forthcoming and we will be sure to keep this page updated.
| DFPS Region | 2023 Anticipated RFA Release Date |
|---|---|
| 9, 10 and 11 | August 3 |
| 3, 6 and 7 | September 11 |
| 4 and 8 | October 9 |
| 1, 2 and 5 | October 23 |