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Opinion

Texas won’t fix its foster care system by displacing immigrant kids

Gov. Greg Abbott’s order could force the relocation of more than 4,000 unaccompanied minors.

We’ve sadly grown accustomed to seeing immigrant children used as pawns in the political fights and culture wars over this country’s border crisis. But even the most jaded among us should be alarmed by Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to yank state licenses from facilities with federal contracts to temporarily house unaccompanied minors in Texas.

On Tuesday, Abbott instructed state regulators to deny or discontinue licenses for shelters that take care of children crossing the southern border without papers, giving facilities 90 days to “wind down.” The governor blamed the “unabated influx of individuals” on the federal government and said this influx threatened to “negatively impact” residential facilities that serve Texas children in foster care.

Abbott’s order did not explain what the impact is on state child care regulators and resources. The federal government pays for the housing and services provided to unaccompanied minors by 52 state-licensed facilities and child-placing agencies in Texas. The children remain at these facilities for days or weeks until they can be released to a sponsor, usually a relative in the U.S.

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The surge of unaccompanied minors is a separate problem from what ails the state’s foster care system, the target of a decade-old, class-action lawsuit in federal court.

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Texas has lost about 1,000 foster care beds since the fall. Experts have cited the COVID-19 pandemic, tighter enforcement from the federal lawsuit and more lucrative reimbursements from federal contracts as reasons providers are dropping off.

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Our colleagues Robert Garrett and Dianne Solís reported that it’s unclear how many facilities serve both foster children and unaccompanied minors. And we don’t know whether Abbott’s order will actually increase foster care capacity. A major provider of federal beds, San Antonio-based BCFS, told this newspaper that it was working to understand the impact of the governor’s order on its operations.

What is more apparent is that Abbott’s edict could displace more than 4,000 immigrant kids in licensed child care facilities in Texas.

A spokeswoman with U.S. Health and Human Services said the agency did not intend to close any facilities, though a court settlement requires the use of state-licensed shelters to house unaccompanied minors. However, there is an emergency provision that may allow kids to be housed in unlicensed sites for a limited amount of time. We await the agency’s legal conclusions about its options.

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Child advocates fear immigrant children could be forced to remain in unsuitable border holding facilities or in unlicensed emergency sites set up by the Biden administration to address the federal government’s own bed shortage. Some of these emergency sites have been plagued by problems, which prompted Abbott not too long ago to express concern for the children there.

If that concern is sincere, we urge the governor to rescind his order.

Are state child care regulators overwhelmed? Then ask the feds for help. And build on an omnibus foster care bill passed this legislative session to help expand capacity and support in parts of Texas. Fixing the state’s foster care system must be a legislative priority.

You won’t protect Texas kids by turning other children into bogeymen.