child care

Gender-affirming treatment has been called into question after Texas leadership branded it "child abuse." One Austin family crossed state lines to get their son treated.

Lawyers representing families under investigation said they heard from the agency Thursday about continuing the investigations that had previously been halted by a statewide injunction.

President Biden signed the Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021 on Monday, outlawing the manufacture and sale of crib bumpers and certain inclined infant sleepers.

The clinic had stopped accepting new patients after increased political pressure.

The former child care investigations director said there are agency-wide communication issues that led to a breakdown in relaying key information, but two of his staff members are the ones who suffered the consequences.

It was also revealed at a special Texas Senate committee meeting that the Texas foster care worker who allegedly sold nude pictures of girls is also accused of dating a child trafficker.

It took him three years to come out to his mother as trans. Now, under a new directive from the governor, the state is investigating whether she pressured him to transition.

An attorney representing foster care children in a suit against Texas said Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw’s conclusion that there was no evidence of sexual abuse despite the investigation into the photos was “both surprising and extremely troubling.”

Although child care providers have mostly reopened, 8% have closed permanently since the start of the pandemic — and 57% of Texas counties still qualify as child care deserts.

Providers in Dallas say barriers to accessing after-school child care have gone up since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women left the workforce in droves after day cares and schools closed or went remote during the pandemic, exacerbating strains on affordable, accessible child care. But, a Houston-area program has empowered refugee and immigrant women to step up and fill the child care gap as entrepreneurs.

Children in Texas are facing higher rates of hunger and hardship during the pandemic than children in all but two other states.