DCF hopes to fix foster-care woes in PBC

Another CPS failure to be 'fixed' by giving millions more to their
private FC cronies.

Seems CPS has found the magic fix -- enriching their cronies seems to
have become default 'fix' for CPS.

Party on at CPS high. lol.

If they stopped seizing non victim kids from safe homes, their problem
of being 'inudated' would be solved. Then they could send 60% of these
fat CPS freeloaders home -- close 60% of foster 'care' -- and begin to
protect abused children. And, at a GREAT SAVINGS to taxpayers.


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DCF hopes to fix foster-care woes in PBC
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By Kathleen Chapman

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, June 08, 2007

UPDATED: 5:30 p.m. June 08, 2007

The Department of Children and Families will spend $1.7 million and
convene a statewide team of experts to help fix a gaping deficit at Palm
Beach County's foster care agency.

The county has been inundated with children separated from their
parents, and the private foster care agency, Child and Family
Connections, does not have enough money in its state contract to care
for them all. DCF believes the deficit could reach $3 million by July,
according to documents released today.


"We feel like it's important right now to put a lot of energy and a lot
of resources into Palm Beach County," DCF spokesman Al Zimmerman said
today. "There are things that need to be fixed there, and we are hoping
this committee will help us do this as quickly as possible."

Unlike Florida's school districts, foster care agencies do not get more
money if the number of children they serve goes up. The $1.7 million
will come from a state emergency account set up to bail out private
foster care agencies when they have unexpected costs.

Child and Family Connections took over foster care responsibilities
under state contract more than three years ago. At that time, there were
1883 children in state care, the lowest number in years. By the end of
April 2007, the number had ballooned to 2175, according to a Child and
Family Connections count.

Palm Beach County foster homes are full, and young children and babies
are being cared for by shift workers in costly shelters far from their
homes and everyone they know. Workers are quitting, positions aren't
filled, and average caseloads have increased to 35 from about 20 since
the county's foster care system was first privatized.

The high number of children coming into care has forced cuts of
positions like family support workers, who help take the children to
appointments for medical care and therapy, putting even more strain on
caseworkers.

DCF has also questioned the private agency's ability to manage its
money. Until March, DCF wrote in a recent report, the agency had no way
to gauge how its daily decisions about services for children affected
the bottom line.

Child and Family Connections Executive Director John McCarthy said that
simply isn't true. Since at least the start of the year, he said, he has
had a very accurate picture of the agency's finances. Every day, he
said, he has a report on where every single child is staying, and how
much that care is costing.

"It's not that we don't know, it's that we don't have a choice,"
McCarthy said.

The state's oversight committee will work to reduce the deficit and find
ways to keep families together whenever possible. Committee member Alan
Abramowitz said it is scary for children to be taken from their homes:
"The trauma that happens when you remove a child can never be taken back."

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