Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters listens to testimony during a House Human Services Committee hearing at the Capitol on March 21, 2022. More than 100 children have died in the state's child welfare system since 2020, according to a DFPS report requested during the hearing., our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
The state cared for 45,870 children in 2021. The children who died last year represent about 0.08% of kids under the state’s care. Children in foster care are 42% more likely to die than children in the general population, according to a study by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania referenced in the DFPS report..
The report said two children with preexisting conditions have died from COVID-19 complications while in the state’s care; one in 2020 and one this year.