Below is more information about the agency, including who leads it, how many staff the department employs and what the department does as a whole.
FAST FACTS
Budget: Estimated at $2.3 billion overall, with an $86 million IT budget, according to Industry Navigator.*
Leadership: Stephanie Muth is the commissioner of DFPS. Drew McGrath is the department’s chief information officer, according to DFPS' communications director, Patrick Crimmins.
Staff: According to DFPS’ website, the department has 9,397 active employees.
MORE ABOUT THE AGENCY:
In the mid-1970s, the first iteration of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) was created after Congress passed Title 20 of the Social Security Act. At the time, the agency was called the Texas Adult Protective Services.
In 1991, the 72nd state Legislature passed House Bill 7, creating the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to further define the agency’s role. Not long after that, the agency was renamed in 2003 to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Today, the agency works with communities to promote safe and healthy families and protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect and exploitation by providing services, referrals and prevention programs.
DFPS’ major programs include:
- Adult Protective Services, which protects the elderly and people with disabilities from abuse, neglect and exploitation through investigations and services.
- Child Protective Services, which protects children from abuse and neglect through services, foster care and adoption.
- Child Protective Investigations, which investigates reports of child abuse or neglect to determine if any child in the family has been abused or neglected.
- Prevention and Early Intervention, which manages community-based programs that prevent juvenile delinquency, child abuse and neglect.
- Statewide Intake, which oversees statewide reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation through its Texas Abuse Hotline (1-800-252-5400) and TxAbuseHotline.org.
Meanwhile, among the department’s goals, according to its 2021-2025 strategic plan, are:
- Establishing an ongoing method to identify processes, policies, information technology systems and project management practices that can be improved in order to produce more efficient and productive work.
- Identifying and evaluating the potential for innovative service delivery options.
- Improving client service delivery by exploring innovative provider contracting and procurement with simplified and consistent processes.
- Encouraging all director‐level staff to develop contacts with counterparts in other states to exchange best practices regarding IT, telework and facilities utilization.
*Industry Navigator is a product of e.Republic, which also produces Industry Insider — Texas.
