Florida, Foster care inquiry sought: Andrea Moore said "It's clearFlorida children are not being protected in our child protection system,"

Foster care inquiry sought

Two lawmakers request House-Senate investigation after recent failures.

By MELANIE AVE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 3, 2007

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/03/St...nquiry_s.shtml


Two state Democratic lawmakers asked for a legislative review of
Florida's public-private child welfare system Thursday, on the heels of
several high-profile debacles involving dead, raped and missing children
under the state's care.

Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach wants to form a joint committee to
"investigate neglect and abuse of children in Florida's foster care system."

Sen. Nan Rich of Weston made a similar request in a letter to Senate
President Ken Pruitt, seeking a review not only of abuses, but also of
the entire system.

"We're putting a lot of money into the system," Rich said. "We need to
make sure the system works."

Both lawmakers referred to the recent rape of an 8-year-old Miami foster
girl and the 2-year-old former Pinellas County girl who disappeared for
nine months. Another girl, 18-month-old Kenia Valencia of Bradenton,
suffocated under a stove one month after being reunited with her mother.

Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida Department of Children and Families
Secretary Bob Butterworth both said they are amenable to an
investigation by the House and Senate.

"It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me," Crist said. "We need to do
everything we can to do a better job of aiding children.

"It's a challenging area obviously when trying to stand in the shoes of
a family. It's hard for government to achieve that," he said.

The requests come just as Butterworth's newly created task force on
child protection holds its initial meeting today in Tampa.

Butterworth, a Democrat appointed by Crist, assembled the 13-member
group of judicial, social service and government officials after
numerous errors were made in the much-delayed search for 2-year-old
Courtney Clark. She was found safe in June, but it took a caseworker
four months to report her missing to law enforcement.

The group's goal is to scrutinize the missteps among several agencies
involved in Courtney's case and to make recommendations for improvements.

Butterworth said the legislative request sounds similar to what the
committee will be doing.

"The whole idea, I believe, is basically to look at whether or not our
partners are doing what they should do and also whether we are doing
what we should do in oversight, because we're ultimately responsible,"
Butterworth said Thursday. "We cannot contract away responsibility."

Gelber directed his letter asking for an investigative committee to
House Speaker Marco Rubio. A spokeswoman for Rubio said he was
unavailable to comment Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Pruitt said he had not yet seen Rich's letter.

Lawmaker input is needed to help clarify the murky relationship between
DCF and its subcontractors, the private agencies responsible for foster
children in the state's 67 counties, said Andrea Moore, director of the
advocacy group Florida's Children First.

"It's clear Florida children are not being protected in our child
protection system," she said.

Times staff writers Adam Smith and Steve Bousquet contributed to this
report. Melanie Ave can be reached at 727 893-8813 or





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...