Texas took a measured but important step in 2017 when lawmakers authorized the Treatment Foster Care (TFC) Program. TFC is a type of out-of-home placement provided by foster parents who receive specialized training to care for children and with intensive emotional or behavioral needs. The program is intended to maintain children with higher needs in family settings to reduce the need for, or to be a place for children exiting, residential treatment centers (RTCs) or psychiatric hospitals. Treatment foster care is a short-term placement meant to help stabilize children so they can be maintained in a less restrictive setting.
A new descriptive study shows that more than 80 percent of those who spent at least three months in TFC were able to go into a less restrictive placement. These preliminary findings support TFC as a promising placement option to maintain kids with complex needs in family-like settings.
Learn more about the results of our study in the TFC Research Brief.
TFC parents were asked to describe their experience in one word or phrase, and here’s what they said:
Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chair Lois Kolkhorst has filed SB 1896, which further expands TFC by reducing employment restrictions to allow more single parents to participate in TFC; expanding the eligible age for kids; and extending the length of time in TFC placement. These recommendations are supported by our study and we look forward to working with Sen. Kolkhorst and others to build on the success they laid out four years.