Dallas Foster Care Agency’s Contract Terminated for Multiple Child Safety Failures | Civil Society | #childsafety | #kids | #chldern | #parents | #schoolsafey

The State of Texas canceled a contract with a Dallas-area child welfare agency after months of evaluating the company’s child safety practices, following the deaths of two infants and hospitalization of another child.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) cited the child safety failures of EMPOWER in a petition filed March 16, 2026, maintaining that its “systemic failures” created “imminent danger to the children under conservatorship.”

EMPOWER operates in Texas foster care services Region 3E, an area which encompasses much of the eastern Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including Dallas, Collin, Navarro, and Rockwall counties. When it comes to foster care, Texas follows a community-based care model, which has shifted foster care’s managing authority from the state to private companies and nonprofit organizations.

The state has been informally making the transition from state-led care to privatized care since 2010, but 2017 marked the official revamp of the state program.

Cases cited by the DFPS in their March petition that led to EMPOWER’s gradual removal include one in which an infant died as a result of EMPOWER failing to “plan for newborn of abusive parents,” one in which another infant died due to “unassessed reunification leading to re-injury and death,” and one in which “medical mismanagement from staff turnover” caused a child to experience a lupus flare-up and hospitalization.

The petition also stated that after being subject to a quality improvement plan, EMPOWER still failed to “satisfactorily perform” under their contract. It continued that the company failed to provide adequate information to the DFPS regarding care, and in doing so was in violation of the Texas Family Code.

After the petition was filed, the company was placed into receivership; the DFPS took over management authority and operations because the court concluded that EMPOWER was not fit to fulfill its duties. 

The receivership was set to extend until mid-August. George Cannata, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott as director of the Office of Community-Based Care Transition in 2023, was now appointed as receiver for EMPOWER for an initial 90-day term period, “subject to extension upon further petition and Court approval.”

A motion to extend the receivership from the DFPS on July 17 stated that while Cannata had made progress in addressing the staffing, caseload, and quality assurance issues, additional time was needed to “implement and sustain corrective measures,” to reduce safety risks, and to complete a safe and orderly transition “to either a fully compliant EMPOWER or an alternative long-term arrangement.”

The request, which sought an extension for Cannata’s term until mid-October, was filed by the Office of the Attorney General.

However, less than a week later, DFPS Commissioner Audrey O’Neill decided on July 21 to terminate EMPOWER’s contract in a letter addressed to its parent organization, Texas Family Initiative.

O’Neill’s letter to TFI stated that termination of the contract with EMPOWER would be effective January 20, 2027: “Conditions within EMPOWER continue to present concerns for health, safety, and welfare of children in DFPS’ conservatorship. These failures contributed to critical breakdowns in case planning and decision-making, resulting in the deaths of two children. Additionally, medical mismanagement stemming from staff turnover caused a child to suffer a lupus flare up and hospitalization.”

It continues, “Failure to comply with these conditions and to adequately remedy them has undermined EMPOWER’s ability to maintain community confidence and to effectively carry out its contractual obligations as the Single Source Continuum Contractor for Region 3E.”

EMPOWER’s contract will be taken over by Our Community Our Kids and Texas Family Care Network.

EMPOWER told The Texan in a statement, “We are disappointed by the decision to end our management of foster care services in Dallas and surrounding counties. We are proud of our dedicated staff, providers and partners and the positive impact they have made in the lives of countless children and families.”

“We will work collaboratively with DFPS throughout this new transition to minimize disruption in services for children and families.”

A copy of O’Neill’s letter can be found below.