Lawyers representing children in federal foster care lawsuit to be accused of hiring lobbyists

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In response to a rebuke from lawmakers, lawyers representing Texas adopted children in the ongoing federal lawsuit against the state have suspended lobbying services in this legislative session.

Lawyers have hired five lobbyists to secure public funds to upgrade the Department of Family and Protection’s technology system and raise wages for family caregivers.

These lobbyists would have been paid a total of $20,000 per month for the entire legislative session from the money awarded by the court. Among the lobbyists hired was Albert Hawkins, a former executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission and the original defendant in the lawsuit.

But key lawmakers and the federal judge overseeing the case have refused to hire lobbyists.

State Senator Lois Colkhorst on Thursday expressed concern that lawyers in a federal lawsuit are hiring independent lobbyists. For this session, Kolkhorst is chairman of the Senate Committee and the Social Services Committee.

“This is a disturbing practice and one wonders what their role and intentions are in the future,” Colkhorst said in a written statement. “These revelations create the appearance of blurred lines between court monitors, a federal judge, and attorneys representing children in this case.”

State Rep. James Frank, chairman of the House Social Services Committee, has also questioned the federal lawsuit for years, stating that a significant amount of public funds covering legal fees could have been diverted to DFPS services. Frank told The Dallas Morning News that “extortion continues – now at a professional level.”

“The decision to suspend lobbying efforts was made after we learned of the reaction of Chairman Frank and Chairman Kolkhorst,” said Kelly Darby, a spokesperson for Paul Yetter, the lead attorney on the case. “Our goal – our only goal – has always been to support and help the state set up the system so that children are not harmed, but taken care of.”

Any funds already paid to lobbyists will be reimbursed by Yetter, she said.

Nearly a decade ago, U.S. District Judge Janice Graham Jack said that Texas foster children are leaving public custody even more devastated than before they entered. Jack ordered a long list of reforms: hire more social workers, stop putting children in unsafe conditions, monitor child abuse. She also appointed court monitors to monitor government compliance.

The lawsuit came with a hefty price tag. The DFPS and the Health and Human Services Commission have paid at least $41.3 million to court monitors since they were appointed in 2019. The DFPS employs seven non-attorney full-time employees with a combined annual salary in a federal lawsuit. Lawyers representing children also received nearly $6 million in legal fees.

Yetter said he and other lawyers representing the children in the case worked for free. The awarded legal fees were placed in a trust account for the children of the state. Yetter had previously suggested channeling trust funds to the new technology system, but said the state never responded.

“We were hoping to work with the government in the legislature to get the funding needed for a secure system,” Yetter said in a written statement. “There are important reforms coming up and all we hear from the state is: ‘We don’t have money.'”