CPS fires Texas employee after encouraging teen to try sex work for money
HOUSTON (Nexstar) — A Texas CPS worker in Houston was fired recently after encouraging a 14-year-old girl to try prostitution -- which she caught on video.
"The right man, he'd be broke f------ with me," a CPS worker in Houston was caught saying on the video to a teen in their custody.
The young girl in CPS custody was staying in a hotel, according to her mother, Keisha Bazley. During the teen's recording of the employee, you can hear her ask the worker for some food.
"Can you get me something to eat please?" the teen asked.
"...You know there ain't no food in there?" the employee responds.
Then, the CPS worker told her this:
"That's how my mama taught me... you want to be a ho, be a real ho...He'll feed you, and how much money you got in your pocket? Yeah, that's how you ho."
She appeared to be encouraging the girl to consider sex work.
"How could y'all let this happen to my daughter?" Bazley asked. "Do y'all not know what y'all did? To my family?"
Bazley is shocked because she said she asked cps to take temporarily take custody of her daughter to help with behavior issues— like running away.
"It shouldn't happen, especially by somebody that's supposed to protect them," Bazley said.
CPS said the employee was fired on August 10.
In written statements, a spokesperson for the Houston region said:
"The safety and appropriateness with which children in care must be treated is our paramount concern. Nothing less will be tolerated...Every employee who supervises youth awaiting placement undergoes training on safety, understanding trauma and reviews information on the specific needs of each child they are supervising.
Employees are required to complete two training courses before supervising youth as well as reviewing information on each child they are supervising prior to caring for them. The training is the same for all employees. I’m not aware of any staffing issues related to this incident."
It's not clear in this incident if someone was specifically ensuring employees follow protocol.
"Keisha tells me through her daughter, that she believes that the other kids in this hotel with her daughter were exposed the exact same type of solicitation," Mike Schneider, Bazley’s lawyer said.
Schneider feels there are systemic issues that are putting kids in unsafe situations.
"This like haunts me every day," Bazley said. "I don't want to see anything like this happens to no other kid.
DFPS is still in the thick of a federal investigation, accused of putting kids in unsafe circumstances—leading to their abuse, neglect, or even death in some cases
The Bazley family wants more accountability.