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Child-welfare agency disputes DCF criticisms
Child-welfare agency disputes DCF criticisms
OCALA -- Kids Central, the area's chief child-welfare group, says it can prove the state is using inaccurate information in its criticism of the organization. The state Department of Children & Families has said that under Kids Central's watch the rate of children in the five-county district who were re-abused while receiving child-welfare services rose to 13.5 percent during the first quarter of 2004-05 fiscal year -- the highest in the state for that quarter. The district is made up of Lake, Marion, Sumter, Hernando and Citrus counties. Kids Central officials said they recently completed a review of the files of 206 Hernando County children identified as having been re-abused and found that 157 of them, or 76 percent, did not have findings of re-abuse. "The review revealed, however, that there appears to have been data entry errors by the department's child protective investigation staff when entering the abuse incident date," reads a letter that Kids Central Chief Executive Officer Janice Johnson sent to DCF district administrator Don Thomas late Wednesday. "If this trend holds true throughout the remainder of the counties, then it is possible that the performance in this area has actually improved since transition to Kids Central, and this agency may actually be one of the top performers in the state," she wrote. DCF had given Kids Central 48 hours to 45 days to make a variety of performance improvements -- a request Kids Central leaders said was unreasonable. In a spreadsheet that accompanied the letter, Johnson said Kids Central could comply with 26 of the requests by the deadlines set by DCF. She said 11 other deadlines, however, could not be met. Among those are requirements to finalize 38 adoptions by Feb. 28 and to license a total of 300 foster homes by March 18. Kids Central is reviewing other recommended improvements. Failure to meet the deadlines could result in Kids Central losing its $84 million contract with the state. Thomas has said he would look into Kids Central's concerns before making any final decisions about its contract. But he said Thursday that the state may consider making some changes, including hiring a new provider to handle foster-care recruitment and adoption. If that happens, Thomas said, the cost could be deducted from Kids Central's contract. He said DCF would make an assessment after March 18. Kids Central's board of directors is scheduled to meet in a conference call today. Windy Hill Middle principal dies CLERMONT -- Hal Cuddy, the principal of Windy Hill Middle School, has died after a lengthy illness. The Winter Garden resident joined the Lake County school district more than 20 years ago. Cuddy, 58, first taught physical education before becoming the head football coach at Mount Dora High, where he worked for a decade. He later served as dean at Tavares High and Groveland Middle schools before joining Clermont Middle School, where he was promoted to assistant principal. Cuddy led Windy Hill Middle as junior administrator the day the Clermont school opened, then became its principal in 2001. He died Tuesday night. Students were informed Wednesday, with letters sent home to parents that afternoon. Man dies when car leaves road, flips OCALA NATIONAL FOREST -- A 35-year-old Umatilla man died late Wednesday in the Ocala National Forest when he lost control of his car and it rolled off the highway. Patrick Benedict was southbound on County Road 455 about three miles north of the Alexander Springs Recreation Area, just south of Astor. He lost control of his 1997 Mercury Sable on a curve, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The car rolled off the east side of the road and flipped 21/2 times, the FHP said. Benedict, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene of the 9:10 p. m. accident, the FHP said. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...ck=3&cset=true Defend your civil liberties! Get information at http://www.aclu.org, become a member at http://www.aclu.org/join and get active at http://www.aclu.org/action. |
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