Child Protective Services criticized for lax employee screening
AUSTIN – Child Protective Services doesn’t regularly run criminal background checks on most of its employees, including at least 90 percent of workers who perform sensitive tasks with abused and neglected youngsters. Two key lawmakers, after learning of a CPS supervisor’s assault conviction and an indecent exposure charge against a caseworker, said Thursday that the agency’s current background checks aren’t sufficient. "The technology has reached the point where there is simply no excuse for people with serious crimes falling through the cracks of our background checks," said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound. Ms. Nelson, the Senate’s chief social services policy writer, said the state should run FBI fingerprint checks of all new employees who work directly with vulnerable Texans. Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, the House’s point man for human services programs, criticized CPS’ current policy of running Texas background checks on virtually all the people it hires – and then re-checking each year for only 250 of its more than 6,600 "direct care delivery" staff. Resources for
