A Houston mother of nine children is speaking out after a Child Protective Services (CPS) employee was caught on camera advising her 14-year-old daughter to become a prostitute.
Keisha Bazley’s teenage daughter had been running away from home and causing problems at school, so Bazley reached out to CPS for some help. The agency housed her daughter at a hotel in Harris County — one of many, according to Fox 26, where dozens of foster kids are currently living. But after hearing some questionable things from CPS staff, the daughter was clearly unhappy with the counsel she was receiving.
“My daughter told me that the worker had been telling her she should do these things, so she said she decided to video her,” Bazley said.
(Video: YouTube)
When the young girl asks the CPS employee for food, the worker tells her to become a prostitute.
“If you gonna be a ho, be a real ho,” the employee says.
Not only is the CPS worker encouraging the vulnerable teen to prostitute herself, says family law attorney Mike Schneider, she is “giving her an incentive to do so, and almost a threat of not having her needs being met, if she didn’t do what this woman very explicitly told her to do.”
Bazley responded by filing a formal complaint with the agency.
“If me, the parent, was to do something like this to my child, I would be bashed,” said Bazley. “I would be called a horrible parent. I would lose my kids.”
“This should not happen to girls in their care,” Bazley added. “It should not happen. It’s unacceptable.”
CPS Commissioner Jamie Masters agrees, and she traveled to Houston to apologize to Bazley and her daughter in person.
It was a first for Schneider, who worries that this may not be an isolated incident.
“I’ve never seen that happen before where the commissioner of CPS comes in from Austin, just to apologize about something horrible that’s been done to a child involved with CPS,” he said. “It’s bad enough if it’s just one bad rogue worker. It concerns me that it may be bigger than that, and they need to make sure it’s not just one person, and they’ve got to find a way to protect these kids.”
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Spokesperson Melissa Lanford assured Fox 26 that they are taking action.
“DFPS is aware of the video and has taken action,” she said in a statement to Fox 26. “The person in the video – who was employed as CPS support staff – was dismissed from her position August 10. The safety and appropriateness with which children in care must be treated is our paramount concern. Nothing less will be tolerated.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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