By JEFF CARLTON
Associated Press
Updated 7:00AM on Sunday, March 4, 2007

DALLAS - In the violent moments that led to her death, 6-year-old Katherine Frances never stood a chance.

She suffered a fatal brain injury, police say, when the 14-year-old biological son of her suburban southern Dallas County foster parents repeatedly body slammed her.

Her death in DeSoto last year, linked by lawmakers to the recent deaths in foster homes of a 3-year-old girl in Arlington and a 1-year-old boy in Corsicana, has prompted a new round of foster care reform measures in the Legislature.

Two years after lawmakers overhauled and privatized the system, they are looking to redefine the rights of foster children and beef up the state Department of Family and Protective Services' management role. At least 13 children in foster care have died from abuse or neglect by foster caregivers since 2003, according to state figures.

"The oversight that should be taking place has broken down in our foster system," Sen. Jane Nelson said. "We have had some horrible, preventable tragedies."

Katherine died Dec. 5, after her foster brother slammed her to the ground several times, apparently upset that she had wet her bed, police said.

His mother, Joyce Burks, faces a charge of injury to a child. She did not seek medical attention for Katherine for at least four hours, instead washing a comforter and pillow the girl vomited on after suffering her injuries, police Capt. Ron Smith said.

The Department of Family and Protective Services has blamed private agency Therapeutic Family Life for mismanaging Katherine's foster care. In a Dec. 21 letter to Therapeutic, a state licensing supervisor wrote that the company's mistakes "directly contributed to ... a foster child dying at the hands of that 14 year old."

A Jan. 22 letter to Therapeutic notified the company that state investigators in other cases had also found inadequate criminal background checks and "little to no support or training for foster parents" who spoke limited English.

As a result of Katherine's death, lawmakers are calling for tougher state oversight and more rigorous background checks of foster families.

Under current law, placement agencies must examine criminal backgrounds, but they don't have to check whether police have visited a home on disturbance calls.

Rep. Helen Giddings said she is drafting a bill that would require foster parents to disclose police visits. It would also create a database by which state workers could track police visits to foster homes, Giddings said.

In addition to better background checks, Nelson's bill broadens the authority of police to remove children from homes in which there are drugs.

The current law allows police to turn children over to the state "no questions asked" when methamphetamine is involved, Nelson said. Her bill would add crack, cocaine and heroin to that list.

Another provision would require the state to make unannounced inspections of every foster home, Nelson said. Currently, state officials inspect about one-third of all foster homes each year.

A bill, sponsored by Sen. Carlos Uresti and Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, would create a foster children's bill of rights. That includes the right to an allowance, to attend religious services of the child's choosing and "to not be locked or otherwise confined in any room."

Critics, while welcoming the attention being paid to foster care reform, say the lawmakers' efforts are belated.

"The state tends to be reactive instead of proactive," said Roy Block, president of the Texas Foster Family Association. "They never give these items attention until there is an issue, and right now that's a child's death."

Block said the biggest problem facing the state is a lack of resources. Whereas private agencies typically aim to have fewer than 20 foster children assigned to a caseworker, state conservatorship caseworkers are overwhelmed with at least twice that many cases, he said.

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