If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Florida--Lawmakers urge hearings on DCF: recent scandals at the state'slong-troubled child welfare agency, including the recent rape of a Miamifoster girl.
Lawmakers urge hearings on DCF
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER http://www.theolympian.com/national/story/190732.html Democratic leaders in the Florida Legislature asked top lawmakers Thursday to convene a series of oversight hearings into recent scandals at the state's long-troubled child welfare agency, including the recent rape of a Miami foster girl. In letters Thursday to House Speaker Marco Rubio of West Miami and Senate President Ken Pruitt of Port St. Lucie, minority leaders in both chambers called for the creation of a select committee to investigate a series of recent tragedies involving children under the care of the Department of Children & Families. In his letter to Rubio, House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach cited two recent stories in The Miami Herald. One detailed the plight of 15-year-old Stephanie Dorismond, who was beaten to death by a 36-year-old man with whom she was living shortly after a DCF abuse investigator pronounced her safe. The second story, published last week, reported that a Miami foster child had been raped in her foster home. Police have charged the boyfriend of the girl's foster mother. The assault took place months after a DCF investigator had found ''some'' evidence the man had molested another girl in the same home months earlier. `AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY' ''The allegations in The Herald and in a Channel 4 [WFOR-CBS 4] news story in Miami suggest that this was an entirely avoidable tragedy that resulted from serious lapses by both DCF and Our Kids,'' DCF's privately run foster care agency, Gelber wrote. ``As we go into leaner budget years, our members ought to pay special attention to budget cuts that might have disastrous effects on Florida's important, but often tattered, child safety net.'' In a separate letter to Pruitt, Sen. Nan H. Rich, a Sunrise Democrat, said lawmakers need to look at the entire child-welfare system. ''I know that some will say that the agencies are doing their own investigations,'' Rich said. ``That is all well and good; but when children die or are raped in the custody of the state, we the Legislature have our own responsibility to figure out how to make the system better and and how to make children safer.'' Rich and Gelber also mentioned the case of Courtney Clark, a Pinellas County toddler who was missing for four months from a state-approved caregiver's house before police found her in a Portage, Wis., home with her birth mom. Another child in the Wisconsin home had been tortured, and his mother was buried in the back yard. DCF administrators have repeatedly acknowledged that both they and the private agencies with which they contract made serious errors. Spokeswomen for Rubio and Pruitt said the leaders received the letters but will have no immediate response. Rubio is vacationing with his family. Pruitt has taken the request under review, said his spokeswoman, Kathy Mears. A DCF spokesman said the agency would cooperate fully with any investigation by state lawmakers. DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth ''has made it very clear the state's child welfare system is in need of serious repair. That's why he has established [a] task force on child protection that begins its work in Tampa'' today, said Tallahassee spokesman Al Zimmerman. ''That's also why, if lawmakers choose to convene oversight hearings, we will certainly welcome their assistance in trying to -- once and for all -- fix our child welfare system,'' Zimmerman added. MEETING TODAY The 13-member Task Force on Child Protection, appointed by Butterworth, will meet at 10 a.m. today on the Tampa campus of the Stetson University Law School. It will hold hearings on recent lapses, and make recommendations for legislative action -- including measures for paying for reforms of programs that may be costly, Zimmerman said. Said Fran Allegra, who heads Our Kids: ``Tragedies like this are completely unacceptable. . . . Our Kids looks forward to having an opportunity to discuss any systemic failures in an open and transparent manner. We will use lessons learned to continue to improve the system of care so that kids are safe.'' Miami Herald staff writer Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report. CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA WIRETAPPING PROGRAM.... CPS Does not protect children... It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even killed at the hands of Child Protective Services. every parent should read this .pdf from connecticut dcf watch... http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US These numbers come from The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN) Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS *Perpetrators of Maltreatment* Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59 Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13 Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241 Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12 Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5 CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON... BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION... |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Arizona: Lawmakers consider opening CPS hearings... | fx | Foster Parents | 0 | August 3rd 07 06:23 PM |
Dems request special foster care committee:Saying that a recent rape of an 8-year-old child in Dade County foster care and the disappearance of a Pinellas County foster care child were “preventable,”.... | fx | Spanking | 0 | August 3rd 07 05:43 AM |
Dems request special foster care committee:Saying that a recent rape of an 8-year-old child in Dade County foster care and the disappearance of a Pinellas County foster care child were “preventable,”.... | fx | Foster Parents | 0 | August 3rd 07 05:43 AM |
Tension marks child welfare hearing Lawmakers chide officials over audit | wexwimpy | Foster Parents | 0 | January 20th 06 06:29 PM |
FC & adop. scandals spur Congressional hearings continued | Fern5827 | Spanking | 0 | November 18th 03 07:19 PM |