Austin judge finds DFPS violated due process in newborn case
Fresh off last year’s voter approval of a parental rights amendment to the state’s constitution, three rulings last month signal how the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services faces more scrutiny when it comes to permanently removing children from harmful and abusive families, according to the Associated Press.
In two cases last month, the Texas Supreme Court pushed back on the agency’s assessment that a parent should lose their rights entirely, clearing the way for the children to be put up for adoption, the AP reported.
In a third June court case, which could change how future abuse and neglect determinations are made, an Austin judge found that DFPS violated the constitutional rights of Temecia and Rodney Jackson after their newborn girl was briefly taken from them in 2023 over a dispute with a pediatrician over managing the child’s jaundice condition.
The judge ruled the agency violated the couple’s due process rights by giving them no way to appeal its decision that it was “unable to determine” whether they abused their child, according to the AP.