Recent News

On November 29, 2025, the National Foster Youth Organization announced publication of Improving Outcomes for Young Adults and the Systems That Serve Them: A Playbook of Best Practices, a resource for youth advocates seeking to improve outcomes for youth aging out of foster care and transitioning to adult living. Support and resources for these youth from child welfare agencies, policymakers, and other advocates are critical to their success. The playbook focuses on the areas of education, community connections, employment, housing, stability, permanency, and health. It includes examples of best practices and policy recommendations for advocates. To view the publication, click here.

You don't want to miss this opportunity to learn about the Neurosequential Model --which was developed by Dr. Bruce Perry! This is not a single treatment model, but an approach that looks at trauma through the lens of neurobiology to assess the strengths and needs of children who have experienced trauma. The Model provides a child-specific, developmentally sensitive sequence of therapeutic, educational, relational, and enrichment activities that help children who have experienced trauma heal and thrive. Two video replays are available: the first on December 3 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. and the second on December 4 from 11:45-1:15 p.m. Click here for more information and to register.

Join TLC on Thursday, September 25, 2025, from 11:45 am to 1:15 pm for "TLC's 2025 Legislative Update and Implications" where we will be exploring the following questions: What passed? How could it affect your practice? What didn't pass but is likely to come up in future sessions? Please click here to view a flyer with more information. You can register for this webinar using the link on the flyer, or at this link. Be sure to register, even if you can't attend at that time. A recorded version of the webinar will be made available to all registrants. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, September 25!

The Texas Supreme Court Children's Commission is offering registration scholarships for attorneys to attend the Child Abuse and Neglect Workshop at the Advanced Family Law Conference in San Antonio on August 6, 2025. (The fee for judges is waived.) Additional in-person video replays will be available in Dallas on September 12, 2025, and in Houston on October 31, 2025. There will also be virtual webcast replays on September 12 and November 21, 2025. Up to 75 registration scholarships are available to attend the workshop on one of the dates mentioned. The deadline to apply for a scholarship is 11:59 pm on June 26, 2025. To access the application, click here. To see the conference brochure, click here. For further details about the scholarships, click here. For questions, please email CCScholarships@txcourts.gov.

The deadline to apply for one of 27 available spots in the upcoming Supreme Court Children's Commission's Fall 2025 Trial Skills Training on Contested Hearing Practices is 11:59 pm on Friday, May 2, 2025. This training consists of two half-days (virtual) on September 4 and 10, 2025, and two-and-a-half days (in-person) from September 16-18, 2025, in Round Rock, TX. To complete the application, click here.

Five organizations have joined forces to create an online referral portal for Texas families facing legal issues involving child welfare. Texas Legal Services Center, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Texas Advocacy Project, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and Disability Rights Texas partnered to establish Family Help Link, which will refer families to free services related to their legal issues and to free self-help resources. Families fill out one application at the link (www.texaslawhelp.org/familyhelplink), and the application is routed to appropriate organizations that can assist with issues such as child protection, foster youth rights, school and special education, government benefits, juvenile law, kinship caregiver support, and involvement with Child Protective Services.