Critical cuts at DCF
A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 23, 2003

It would be hard to imagine a worse time for the hefty layoffs
recently ordered at the Department of Children and Families. A year
after
Florida earned national scorn for losing Miami's Rilya Wilson,
hundreds of foster children are still missing; some are dying,
including
three South Florida toddlers, within weeks of each other, following
mistakes by DCF; and caseloads and backlogs remain
dangerously high. DCF Secretary Jerry Regier can downplay their
significance all he likes, but the personnel cuts are bound to make
it that much harder for the struggling agency to get back on track -
and children to get back to safety.

Regier announced last week the elimination of 163 positions, 85 of
them currently filled. While front-line caseworkers are to be
spared, the cuts will affect managers and office personnel, many of
whom support the workers making life-or-death decisions. Regier
says he is mostly "identifying efficiencies and reducing overhead,"
but even his spokesman admits that the cuts will be felt. Ten of the
positions will come from the Sun Coast Region, which covers the Tampa
Bay area.

The personnel cuts, mandated in part by lawmakers, are an alarming
epilogue to a disappointing legislative session. Lawmakers
gave DCF some extra money for child safety, but an amount far less
than what even Regier and Gov. Jeb Bush had said was
needed.

"It appears that promises made during the campaign season are promises
broken when budgets are passed. Florida's reputation
as a dangerous place to be a child at-risk is not helped with these
cuts to management," said Jack Levine, president of the
Tallahassee-based Voices for Florida's Children.

Florida's children will not be helped by Regier's attempt to gloss
over the cuts or the system failures they stand to exacerbate.
Florida still has 340 missing foster children, mostly teen runaways
and toddlers snatched by parents, despite the greater search
efforts since the disclosure of Rilya's disappearance in April 2002.
While Regier has made headway in reducing the huge backlogs
and caseloads, caseworkers are still overworked and inadequately
supervised, as evidenced by their continuing - and deadly -
mistakes. Even as DCF turns over more duties to local agencies under
privatization, state supervisors are needed to monitor
contracts and quality.

One of Regier's early strengths was his willingness to be straight
with Bush and lawmakers about DCF's critical needs. This is no
time to be whitewashing the truth. The cuts are moving Florida in the
wrong direction. The agency needs more supervisors of
front-line workers, not fewer.
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/23/Op...s_at_DCF.shtml