Louisiana Senate Bill 265

Senate Bill 265 can be seen here.

“A child welfare crisis in Louisiana resulting in scores of deaths has galvanized a bipartisan group of state lawmakers into considering the drastic step of dissolving the state’s Department of Children and Family Services.

Democratic Baton Rouge state Sen. Regina Barrow’s Senate Bill 265 would abolish the agency, though she and her colleagues conceded that outcome is unlikely. In the end, Barrow and the committee agreed to give DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris two weeks to craft a legislative plan for improvement.

An emotional Barrow said 12 Louisiana children have already died in 2026 after 53 died in 2025. At least three of those who died this year have been confirmed to be abuse victims, while at least 28 of those who died in 2025 were victims of abuse.

Barrow believes many of those deaths could have been prevented with a more effective agency that could respond to the cases before children are injured or killed.

“They have no voice,” Barrow said Tuesday night while presenting her bill to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “The only voice they have is our voice. What we are doing now is not working. (The agency) is structurally broken.”

Lawmakers pressed DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris on solutions to what they consider the agency’s failures to protect children.

“We have children dying now,” Democratic Alexandria Sen. Jay Luneau said. “I want something done. I’m ready to start over.”

Republican Gonzales state Rep. Kathy Edmonston weighed in as a guest in the Senate committee.

“We’ve got to think out of the box,” she said to Harris. “We’re killing our children.”

Harris, who was appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry in August 2025, admitted that “there are many things that need to be improved.”

But she also told Republican Shreveport Sen. Thomas Pressly and the panel that other states aren’t necessarily doing a better job than Louisiana.

“This is a bipartisan call to solve this issue,” Pressly said. “This is a call to action to do it right. The fact that you couldn’t tell us four of five things we can do really concerns me.”

Democratic Monroe Sen. Katrina Jackson criticized Harris for not offering any legislation to address the crisis.

Committee Chairman Patrick McMath, a Republican from Mandeville, said lawmakers shouldn’t have to “force” the agency to seek best practices to improve child safety, “but we’re at that point,” he said.”

‘We’re killing our children’: Louisiana lawmakers demand DCFS changes
[Shreveport Times 3/18/26 bye Greg Hilburn]

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