About Rachel Leal-Hudson
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My very first CPS (Child Protective Services) case was when a father took his 2 year old girl and 6 month old baby boy into a CPS office in a rural town. He pleaded with the staff to leave his children because he did not know where their next meal was coming from. Through a series of tears, prayers and a huge leap of faith, a caseworker took the two children to her home so that her and her husband could care for the children, while the parents did their best to “get on their feet”. This caseworker and her husband had been married for a whole 6 months and did not have a whole lot either, but what they had, they freely and wholeheartedly gave. Over the course of the year, the parents attempted to address their addiction, work a little harder and create a home for their two children, but addiction is a cruel and merciless thing and it takes more than love to overcome its grip. That caseworker and her husband adopted the little girl and little boy and those newly weds became a family of four.
I was/am that little girl. My first CPS case was not a case that I was an attorney on. It is a case that became a family and a chance at life. That caseworker and her husband are “just” my mom and dad.
When I was 7 years old, about 3 years after my own adoption, my parents adopted again. On Christmas Eve, they brought home a 2 week old baby boy. They were head over heels in love with him. We all were.
When I was about 11 years old, my parents fostered 13 children over the course of 2 years. That does not include the many youth that they provided respite care for over the weekends. My parents wanted to adopt again so they opened their home to foster children while they waited for the right opportunity to adopt.
One day, my mom was in an adoption agency looking through books of children waiting to be adopted when she came across a picture of 4 boys. They were sitting in front of a Christmas Tree and at the bottom of their bio there was a sentence that said “ Bio Siblings are Available”. These 4 precious boys had 3 siblings that lived in another foster home that were available for adoption. My parents never wanted to separate a family so they took all 7 children into their hearts and home on the week of Thanksgiving in 1994. We went from a family of 3 children to 10 children in one day! Large sibling groups are considered “Hard to Place” adoptions because they are not the typical type of adoptions that people consider when they are pursuing adoption. The only label we cared about, was the label that made us a family.
A year after our family grew to 10 children, my parents adopted again and it was so considered a “Hard to Place” adoption because the boy that they adopted was 11 years old when he came to our family. His story is tragic, beautiful and redeeming, just like all of our stories are and it is really his story to tell but when he came into foster care it was because he was found in an unlocked car trying to find a place to stay, in the dead of winter. A little boy trying to find shelter from the cold and a place to sleep. A little boy that was not the typical age of children who are adopted. A little boy who could not have been more a part of our family when he came, if he had been born to us.
A year after his adoption my parents were called by the adoption agency about a sibling group of 3. There was a family willing to adopt the 2 girls and there was a family willing to adopt the 1 boy but they did not have a family who could take all 3. Would my parents consider 3 more? And so we went from a family of 11 children to 14 children.
Less than 2 years later, my parents received another call. They had another sibling group of 3 children and there was a family that would adopt the youngest 2 children but not the oldest one. Would they consider adopting all 3 together so that the siblings could be together? That adoption made me the oldest of 17 children.
While I was in grad school working on my Masters in Social Work, my parents adopted again. Much like my adoption, someone needed a home for their baby and over time it was clear that she was a part of our family and here to stay. And while I was in law school, my parents adopted their final little boy. He was considered medically fragile having been born at 22 weeks and needing the assistance of a feeding tube and oxygen, well into elementary school.
This last two adoptions, a girl and a boy, make me the oldest of 19 children. All adopted. All one family. When I was adopted, my parents gave us their last name, Leal. Leal is Spanish for Loyalty and really there could not be a more fitting name for our family. When I got married, I kept it and added my married name to it. It was given to me. I was chosen and being a Leal will always be a part of my journey.
When I was a little girl, I would tell anyone who asked, that I was going to be a lawyer. By the time I went to college I knew that I wanted to practice family law, specifically child welfare. After obtaining a Masters Degree in Social Work, I went to law school. Within a year of graduating from law school and passing the Texas State Bar, I worked as an Assistant County Attorney in Harris County, representing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and their child abuse division. I now have a solo practice focused on Child Welfare and practice in the fourth largest county in the United States and in some of the smallest counties in Texas. I am one of a handful attorneys that have represented CPS, parents and children in CPS care. I have met, learned from and been inspired by some of the best families, CPS workers, CASA volunteers, attorneys and judges in both urban and rural court settings. I have poured over baby autopsies, medical records, first day of school pictures, adoption day pictures, graduation pictures and so many of the memories in between.
Somewhere in all of this I met a wonderful man, married him and together, we have two boys. They have been wonderfully supportive of my career and campaign. While I am not certain that my boys completely grasp the concept that they have 12 uncles and 6 aunts, just from my side of the family (not counting their spouses) and that they are 2 of some 30+ grandchildren, they do understand that families look different and there is a profound beauty in that.
The 313h District Court of Harris county is a court that hears CPS and Juvenile cases. It is a court that I want to serve and continue my journey of adoption.
It would be a privilege to serve our most vulnerable children in our community. I know that I am not doing this alone and I appreciate your support, more than you can know.
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