Foster Care

State Settles With Johnson & Johnson Over Risperdal: $158 Million

A drug company accused of fraudulently promoting the antipsychotic Risperdal for use in Texas's Medicaid system has settled a state Attorney General's lawsuit for $158 million. The AG's office, one of several across the country to sue Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) for ... More >>

Down the Hatch

The Texas Attorney General's Office says a drugmaker lied in order to push an antipsychotic on foster children. So why are kids as young as three still taking the drug?

Cover Story: Foster Kids on Antipsychotics

​Here's a riddle: If the Texas Attorney General sues a drug manufacturer for allegedly lying about the safety and efficacy of one of its antipsychotics, why would the state agency that oversees the foster care system still allow that drug to be given to kids as young as three? Why would the s ... More >>

Broken Promises

Readers recount problems with DFPS

Broken System: Levels of Care

An Arlington-based company called Youth For Tomorrow labels kids but rarely comes into contact with them.

Broken System: The People Behind PPP

Some members of DFPS's Public-Private Partnership run facilities that have problems of their own.

Broken System

A lawsuit alleges that 12,000 kids trapped in foster care with little chance of getting out are being exposed to abuse and neglect, shuttled around the state and denied health services.

Foster Care in Texas: A Broken System, Without Much Hope for Improvement

​Thousands of Texas foster children are subject to "immeasurable and permanent harm and are deprived of the opportunity for a safe children," according to a class-action lawsuit filed by a New York-based advocacy group against Governor Rick Perry and state child welfare officials. Filed in Ma ... More >>

A French (Poodle) Street Wins the 3rd Annual Gingerbread Dog House Competition

Photos by GroovehouseSee more of the entries in the gingerbread dog house competition in our slideshow.​"I lived in Paris for two years; that's where I went to culinary school," explained pastry chef Rebecca Masson last night as she gestured to her entry in the 3rd annual Christmas Tail ginger ... More >>

Gourmet Prep Meals: Giving Prep a New Meaning

I made this salmon! (Sort of.)​There are plenty of nights that I feel up to cooking, but not nearly as many nights that I feel up to braving the grocery store's long, rush hour-style lines. And there are plenty of times I want to cook but don't want to go out and buy an entire pound of ground ... More >>

Meg Tilly: Gemma

The actress isn't kidding around with her novel about rape and torture

Bud, Not Buddy

Web exclusive!

Time's Up for Pit Bulls Rescued from Hurricane Ike

Child Protective Services: Problems, Reforms and More Problems

A quick fix may only have created more problems for CPS and the families it serves

Sweet Charity

For years Tom DeLay has used nonprofits to help himself. Now the heat is on.

Letters

Foster Pussycat

White Oleander is blond but ambitionless

Saving Nicholas

He was hurt by his mother, ripped away from the foster parents who loved him and put in an institution where he was abused. That's when Alice and Ellery Riha really decided to fight.

Abyss of the Ages

Kindertransport sends insights on historical suffering