Improving the Quality of Services to Youth in Substitute Care

Since the passage of Senate Bill 6 in the 79th Legislative session, the
Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has undertaken several activities designed to improve the overall preparation of youth in foster care for the experience of adult living. To determine the needs of youth in foster care, DFPS has utilized a variety of avenues for gathering feedback from youth who have experienced the foster care system. In fiscal year 2006, DFPS conducted two surveys of youth in Texas foster care. The first survey, mandated by Senate Bill 6, was the first of an annual survey of randomly selected youth. The focus of the survey was to measure the views of youth in foster care on the services provided to them in preparation for adult living. The second survey is an optional youth exit survey that has been an ongoing effort to obtain feedback from youth upon discharge from care. This report discusses the methodology and results of each study, summarizes the overall results, and describes the ongoing efforts toward program improvement undertaken by Child Protective Services in response. These results are being shared with community partners, CPS.