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West Texas foster care system to change to community based care

Under the current foster care system, only 44% of foster kids from Midland actually stay in Midland. The other 56% are sent to other areas.

MIDLAND, Texas — During a town hall meeting at St. Ann's Youth Center in Midland Thursday, there were discussions about the West Texas foster care system's transition to community based care.

“So community based care is a performance based contract in which the state contracts with a local nonprofit on a series of performance measures," said Brandon Logan, executive director for One Accord for Kids. "So the state is no longer paying for efforts, they’re paying for outcomes. And those dollars are tied to the outcomes. The nonprofit is held accountable, and then CPS is just in the business of managing that contract.”

Logan said under the current foster care system, only 44% of foster kids from Midland actually get to stay in Midland. The other 56% are sent to other areas.

He also said that the current system lacks flexibility and local control, while the new CBC system has advantages like local governance, service providers that live in the community and better outcomes for kids.

Logan said at the end of the day these changes are for the kids first and foremost.

"So what we've seen in other regions that have implemented this, kids are not sleeping in offices and hotels," said Logan. "There are more siblings staying together in their foster homes. There are more children coming back to their home region and staying close to their home region. The number of kids that end up going back to their family is higher."

Logan said that by this time next year, foster care in our area should be using the CBC system.

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