Strategic Guidance.
Stronger Outcomes.

Accountability without Disposability

I partner with families, attorneys, and organizations who are navigating systems that feel impossible to crack — child welfare, schools, behavioral health, and disability services — and I work with them to get better outcomes for kids and the people who care about them.

Chris Craft, LMSW

How I Can Help

Expert Services for Attorneys

Independent review, written analysis, and strategic support for attorneys handling child welfare, family law, special education, and disability rights cases.

Did the agency do everything legally required?

I review the full case record and provide a written analysis of whether the child welfare agency met its legal obligation to make "reasonable efforts" to keep the family together — a critical issue in cases where parental rights are at stake.

Case file review and written analysis

Scoped to attorney work product, for parent defense, juvenile defense, family law, and disability rights cases.

Mitigation and psychosocial background

For clients facing disposition or sentencing in juvenile or family court.

Special education litigation support

Including review of school records, evaluation of whether the district met its legal obligations, and expert support in state-level hearings and appeals.

What was the agency supposed to offer?

I identify gaps between what services the agency was required to provide and what was actually delivered.

Advocacy & Navigation for Families

Direct support for families dealing with schools, child protective services, behavioral health systems, disability programs, or housing — especially when you've hit a wall or don't know what you can ask for.

Your child's school isn't providing what they need.

I help families understand their rights, prepare for education planning meetings, and advocate for the services and supports their child is legally entitled to — including when a school is pushing for a disciplinary placement or removal from class.

Filing a formal complaint against a school district

When the district is failing a student or a whole group of students with disabilities — including through the Texas Education Agency.

Your child needs more help than outpatient therapy can provide.

But you don't know what options exist or how to get there. I help families understand the landscape of intensive mental health programs and navigate the process of accessing state-funded services designed to keep kids at home.

Navigating programs that fund support for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities

Including application, long waitlists, and fighting for the right amount of services once enrolled.

Your housing provider denied a disability-related accommodation request.

I help tenants understand their rights under the Fair Housing Act, draft requests and rebuttals, and prepare complaints if needed.

CPS involvement, foster care, or adoption licensing hurdles.

I help families understand the process, challenge decisions, and navigate the barriers that prevent qualified families from becoming licensed foster or adoptive parents.

Consultation for Organizations & Teams

Project-based consultation, training, and continuing education for advocacy organizations, legal aid groups, child welfare agencies, school districts, and nonprofits.

Case consultation and systemic review

For organizations whose staff are navigating complex child welfare, behavioral health, or special education matters.

Continuing legal education (CLE) and staff training

On reasonable efforts, special education rights, housing accommodations, and child welfare systems.

Policy and practice review

For agencies and nonprofits seeking to improve how they serve families involved in multiple systems at once.

Curriculum development

For training programs focused on child welfare, special education, trauma-informed practice, or disability rights.

Chris Craft, LMSW

I'm a licensed master social worker based in Austin, Texas. I work with families, attorneys, advocacy organizations, and child-serving agencies across the state on the cases and situations that are the hardest to navigate — the ones where the standard approaches haven't worked, the system has closed a door, or nobody seems to be able to explain what's actually happening and why.

My background spans child welfare and CPS, behavioral health and psychiatric crisis, special education, juvenile justice, disability services, and housing rights. I understand how these systems work from the inside — the rules they operate under, the gaps they leave, and the pressure points where a knowledgeable outside perspective can shift what's possible.

I've helped families fight to keep their children at home when the system was pushing toward removal. I've helped parents get their kids the school supports they were legally entitled to but weren't receiving. I've helped caregivers navigate the process of getting a teenager access to intensive mental health services without sending them away. I've helped individuals secure housing accommodations they were legally owed and assisted attorneys in building the case that the agency failed to meet its legal obligations before moving to terminate parental rights.

I came into this work because I believe that the families and kids most affected by these systems deserve the same quality of knowledgeable, strategic support that well-resourced people have always had access to. Accountability without disposability isn't just a tagline — it reflects the conviction that systems should be held accountable for how they treat people, and that no family, child, or caseworker should be written off as beyond help.

I'm currently pursuing my Licensed Clinical Social Work (LCSW) credential and practice statewide. Engagements typically begin with a brief call to understand your situation and confirm whether I can help.

For Public Child Welfare Workers: Free Case Consultation

You got into this work because you care. But some cases get stuck — and being stuck doesn't mean you've failed. It might mean a teenager who's been through too much isn't ready to trust, or a parent who genuinely loves their kids is drowning in barriers, or a placement isn't working and you're not sure what else is out there. You've tried. You just don't know what to try next.

That's what this is for. I offer free 20-minute consultations to public child welfare caseworkers who want to think through a hard case with someone who understands the system from multiple angles — as an outsider, as an ally, and as someone who still believes most people are trying. Bring the case that's been weighing on you. Let's see what we can find. No judgment. No agenda. Just a fresh set of eyes.

Note: please keep identifying client information confidential in any initial outreach. We'll discuss appropriate consultation boundaries on the call.

Let's Connect

Have a question, a case to discuss, or a project to scope? Engagements typically begin with a brief call to understand your situation and confirm whether I can help. Reach out however is easiest.

tophercraft.com
chris@tophercraft.com
Austin, Texas · Serving clients across Texas