Texas child welfare workers quitting over governor's order to investigate families with transgender kids

Nearly 1 in 10 investigators in Child Protective Services' Austin office have resigned since the controversial order.

By Sanford Nowlin on Fri, Apr 8, 2022 at 12:06 pm

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Facebook / Equality Texas

LGBTQ+ advocates speak out against bills targeting transgender children at a rally last spring at the Texas Capitol.

Nearly 1 in 10 investigators in Texas Child Protective Services' Austin office have resigned since Gov. Greg Abbott's directive that parents of kids receiving gender-affirming face abuse investigations, Courthouse News Service reports.

Randa Mulanax, a former investigations leader who resigned last month over Abbott's controversial order, told Courthouse News she personally knows six other Austin-area workers who have left. CPS employs just 70 people in the Austin area focused on child-abuse investigations.

Other workers who spoke to the news service placed the estimated number of departures even higher.

“We are severely understaffed,” Mulanax told Courthouse News, noting that was the case even before the recent rash of resignations.

Courthouse News requested data from the state regarding how many people have resigned since Abbott’s Feb. 22 letter, as well as details on the total number of transgender-related abuse cases CPS opened. At press time, officials hadn't provided the data.

Abbott's order is currently stalled in a legal battle, and it appears likely the Texas Supreme Court will weigh in on its legality. Even so, healthcare providers around the state have stopped providing gender-affirming therapy for minors as the case plays out.

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