Movie-Ready Story Spotlights Texas Foster Care

A Tyler boy discovered when police evicted his parents from the industrial warehouse in which they were living will be reunited with his dog in foster care. The Chronicle seems to be with us on the movie idea, as we have camera-ready images of "the little boy and his brown-spotted dog scamper[ing] around outside the building" as police dealt with trash, rotting food, human waste, and piles of drug paraphranalia.
The kid, described as "a heck of a nice boy" by Smith County Constable Frank Creath, is currently awaiting a foster care placement while the dog is staying at an animal shelter until someone is found who can take both boy and dog.

While the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is doing their best for this boy, there are scores of children every year who don't have newspaper articles about them (or their pets), and need homes just as much. Harris County, according to DFPS' most recent avaliable data, had around four thousand children in foster care--and even more kids waiting to be placed. A foster parent can be anyone over 21 years of age (including single people or same-sex couples) who is willing to attend training. Though National Foster Care Month may have been in May, the kids are still out there and still need anyone lucky enough to be able to help.

For more information, here's a schedule of meetings for potential foster parents in Harris County.