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...