By Corrie MacLaggan | Thursday, January 24, 2008, 01:16 PM

Fewer Texas foster children are sleeping in state offices, hotels and emergency shelters, Commissioner Carey Cockerell of the Department of Family and Protective Services told a House panel today.

That practice occurs when state workers cannot find an appropriate placement in a foster home or residential treatment center. State officials started tracking the practice in January 2007. That month, 32 children spent at least one night in an office or hotel; by May, the number had increased to 160 and the state was also relying on emergency shelters. In each location, the children were supervised by Child Protective Services workers.

It appears to be happening less often. In December, 10 children slept in an office, hotel or — more often — an emergency shelter. In January so far, 11 have.

“I think we’ve made great progress,” Cockerell said.

But he said the “unfortunate reality” is that there will always be some situations in which it will be difficult to immediately place children in foster care, such as when a child is removed from his or her family in the middle of the night.

“We’re just always going to have some emergency situations that arise,” he said.

Most of the children who have not been immediately placed in foster care have been difficult to place because they have serious emotional or physical needs, state officials have said.

State Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs is chairman of the House Committee on Human Services, which met today.

“No child sleeping in an office is an acceptable situation,” Rose said.

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Emphasis added by H4K Editor