DALLAS – An early morning fire “gutted” a school building at a Dallas church Thursday, according to fire officials.

What we know:

Dallas firefighters responded to the blaze at Iglesia El Sembrador in the Pleasant Grove neighborhood just after 4:30 a.m. Crews arrived to find the one-story brick building engulfed but were able to quickly bring the flames under control.

Fire officials said the structure was a total loss. Church members told FOX 4 the building served as a school for local children. 

No injuries were reported in the incident.

What we don’t know:

Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the blaze. It remains unclear if the building was occupied at the time the fire started.

In the two years since a nonprofit organization took over care of foster children in several North Texas counties, two infants have died and countless other children have been put in danger by the agency’s poor management, according to court documents.

On Wednesday, a Dallas County District Court judge agreed to appoint a third party to oversee the agency’s management for at least three months after repeated attempts by state officials to bring it in line failed.

The request for oversight was made by the state Department of Family and Protective Services in a court petition filed earlier this week. Lawyers for Empower – the nonprofit DFPS contracted to handle foster care in nine North Texas counties, including Dallas and Collin counties – agreed to the appointment during Wednesday’s brief court hearing.

Two lawyers representing Empower during Wednesday’s hearing declined to comment as they left the courtroom.

Judge Monica Purdy appointed George Cannata, a child welfare expert with nearly 30 years of experience, to serve as receiver and oversee Empower’s handling of cases. Among Cannata’s duties are to take whatever action is necessary to ensure the safety and welfare of the children in Empower’s care, and to manage, hire and fire staff as needed.

“Any intervention that will better ensure the safety of Dallas County children is a positive development,” said Kathleen LaValle, CEO of Dallas’ CASA, which consists of a trained group of volunteers appointed by judges to advocate for children in foster care.

“Dallas CASA will continue to stand in the gaps whenever possible to protect children and support families,” LaValle said. “But solving the serious workforce issues Empower has struggled with since the first day it assumed responsibility for case management is not easy. In the meantime, while Empwer’s workforce hopefully becomes more stable and experienced, intensified review of its case managers’ performance by the receiver and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services may help identify critical issues before a child is hurt.”

Empower was awarded the contract to manage foster care in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Kaufman, Hunt, Rockwell, Ellis, Navarro and Fannin counties in February 2023 and took control in March 2024. The state retained oversight under the contract, but turned over most responsibilities for the children over to Empower, including finding homes for them and supervising their cases.

In the past two years, the organization has had 17 quality improvement plans put in place for a variety of perceived missteps, including late reporting, unsafe transport of children and contract breaches, according to the petition for oversight filed by the attorney general’s office. Over the last year, two corrective action plans were created for caseload failures, late court reports, undocumented visits, and two judicial contempt findings totaling $1,000, the document said.

“DFPS has determined that Empower presents an imminent danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the children under the conservatorship.” the court filing said. “Empower has struggled to maintain proper caseloads for its case workers, endured turnover of case workers, has not been able to provide appropriate services to children in the conservatorship of DFPS, and failed to follow DFPS policy.”

The two infant deaths noted in the document occurred in November 2024 and March 2026.

The first case began in October 2023 after a 2-month-old boy was removed from his parents’ care after he was found to have multiple fractures in different stages of healing. When the child’s mother became pregnant again, Empower failed to create a plan for the new baby’s arrival, according to DFPS. The child was born Nov. 1, 2024 and died from non-accidental trauma Nov. 24, 2024.

The second death involved a baby that was 2 months old when Empower got involved. The infant and its 2-year-old sibling were removed from their parents’ home in May 2025 and placed in foster care after the baby suffered non-accidental injuries.

In December, Empower allowed the children to return home, despite having only seen the parents twice during the several months the children were in foster care. The agency failed to ensure the parents got the services they needed, didn’t properly assess the safety of the children’s return, and only saw the siblings once a month during announced visits once they were back home, the document said. Less than three months after the return, the infant suffered more intentional injuries and died a few weeks later.

The judge’s order stated that Empower continues to fail to perform satisfactorily despite the quality improvement plans, corrective actions and other remedial measures put in place by the state, and poses imminent danger to the children under its care. The order is set to expire in 90 days unless DFPS requests an extension.

A Dallas law firm did something good that it hopes will bring meaningful change to kids as they move past the teenage years and into adulthood.

The BT Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the law firm Barnes & Thornburg, gave $50,000 grants to each of five organizations where it has a presence.

Irving-based Project XVI was one of the recipients.

Radio personality Lady Jade founded the nonprofit more than a decade ago. It focuses on education, exposure to career possibilities and mental health wellbeing to give kids essential life skills and nurture their personal growth and resilience.

Project XVI will use the $50,000 grant to deliver mental health counseling and monthly life-skills workshops to students facing poverty and trauma.

Lady Jade says she named her nonprofit Project XVI because that number is a sweet spot in the transition from childhood to adulthood.

BT Foundation says it’s committed to ensuring that Barnes & Thornburg is a good citizen to the communities in which we live, work and serve by supporting non-profit organizations in these communities that help ensure access to resources and opportunities for all.