FLORIDA News

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/orl-florida-missing-slain-florida-children,0,231518.photogallery

It is truly sad how many children we have lost in Florida.

Published Friday, February 12, 2010


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The state's child abuse hot line got a worried call in May 2008, alleging that a baby's father had passed out snorting cocaine and the boy was chewing on a cable wire.
Jarkevis Allen's father admitted smoking marijuana, but denied other drug abuse and refused tests. The father rejected an offer for drug treatment and the case was closed within the required 60 days. Five months later, 1-year-old Jarkevis was dead. The medical examiner said he had severe liver lacerations indicative of abuse and ruled the death a homicide. His father is awaiting trial on second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges.
Child advocates say the Department of Children and Families is spending $208 million a year to keep troubled families like the Allens together by offering them prevention services, but isn't tracking whether the program works and the state's representatives sometimes don't check back with the family until it's too late.
The program is supposed to help families where the problems don't rise to the level of putting the children in foster care, like severe physical abuse or neglect, but their long-term welfare could be at stake. DCF accepted a federal waiver in 2007 allowing unprecedented flexibility in funding abuse prevention services, which include parenting classes, substance abuse and mental health treatment and even emergency cash assistance.
But the agency isn't routinely following up in cases where they could legally remove a child, but instead are working with the family. There's also little tracking for high-risk cases where they can't legally remove a child. Critics say the lack of follow-up makes it difficult to determine if the assistance is helping and the situation hasn't gotten worse unless another report of abuse or neglect is made. Uncooperative parents aren't flagged, so investigators of future problems don't have that information.
Some DCF contractors say they're overwhelmed with families who don't follow through with crucial services, yet they have no way of getting those families back into the system unless another report of abuse or neglect is made.
DCF contractors also disagree about what should happen to families at that point.
Uncooperative families signal a child that's in danger and should be removed, says Gordon Johnson, president and CEO of Neighbor to Family, which works with DCF contractors to provide services to families in Daytona Beach and around the country.
"It's not happening (statewide)," said Johnson, a former head of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. "If we're providing services and they're not complying then the kids are in danger. It seems cut and dry to me."
There's often a fine line between calls that are labeled prevention or investigated as abuse. A study in Broward County showed nearly 50 percent of abuse hot line calls that were referred for prevention services should have been investigated as abuse.
Services and follow-up vary regionally, said Carole Shauffer, executive director of the Youth Law Center, who is on a DCF committee examining the issue. Some organizations contracted by DCF to run the program in their region merely send a letter to families offering services, while others make home visits and offer gift cards to entice families to participate.
Andrea Moore, a Broward attorney and child advocate, says there should be a more diligent effort to link at risk families with diversion services.
"So far there hasn't been because not every family has services," Moore said.
There's also confusion about who is responsible for getting uncooperative families into the next tier of help — local contractors or child protective investigators.
A main goal of the program is to lower the number of Florida children in foster care. Since the waiver, the state has more than 10,000 fewer children in foster care, dropping from 29,255 to 18,583. The length of stay for children who end up in foster care is also shorter. The agency says it hopes to reduce the number of children in care by 50 percent in the next few years.
But the proportion of children entering foster care whose families have received prevention services is no different from those who weren't given services. Of the children who received prevention services, about 20 percent were put in foster care after DCF worked with the family at home after the waiver started in 2007-2008. That compares to 19 percent of children DCF the year before the waiver was granted, according to a University of South Florida study.
The lack of change could be because with fewer children in foster care, DCF is working in homes with families who may have higher risk factors. In the past, those children would have been removed immediately, said Mary Armstrong, a USF child and family studies assistant professor who is studying the waiver.
But child advocates aren't convinced.
"If (the family is) not engaging or everybody keeps coming back (into the system) then we might as well not waste our time with that service," said Cynthia Schuler, CEO of Kids Central Inc., a DCF contractor that provides services in central Florida. She spoke during a committee conference call.
DCF says a committee is looking at ways to improve diversion services. A new policy doesn't allow a case to be closed until an investigator can verify a family is actively pursuing whatever services they were refereed.
Last month, abuse hot line counselors began entering a family's information and what services they may need into a statewide database, allowing the agency to formally track whether families follow through with the services and if the services reduce abuse.
DCF is also retraining hot line workers on which families should be offered services and which qualify for abuse.
"We all agree that we've got to improve access and we need to follow up, said Alan Abramowitz, DCF's director of family safety. "I think we get better and better in tracking cases and being able to offer services."

http://m.naplesnews.com/news/2010/feb/12/dcf-formally-track-prevention-efforts-florida/

This clip illustrates something that has ALWAYS bothered me about Ron and Misty. They BOTH did the Susan Smith thing...the looking down, not making eye contact...it's the same exact posture...



I was also watching Misty's NLP's and she is lying.

To help streamline foster care caseworkers' workloads and validate
their field work, Florida is giving them mobile computing devices that
immediately upload crucial data in real time.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) recently procured and
distributed smartphones and laptops equipped with built-in cameras and a
software program that was developed in-house by the DCF. The solution,
Remote Data Capture, allows the state's more than 2,300 caseworkers to
take digital images -- stamped with the date, time and GPS-marked
location -- and immediately upload the information to the state's child
welfare data system.
Florida appears to be the first in the nation that's enabling foster
care caseworkers to digitally record their visits, according to Ramin
Kouzehkanani, the DCF's CIO.
"Our goal is for the caseworker to spend more time with the child and
less time doing paperwork," DCF Secretary George H. Sheldon said in a
press release. "Caseworkers with mobile computing devices have more time
to give children the attention and services they need to have a sense
of normalcy and safety in their lives."
"Florida is the only state in which caseworkers can upload in real
time information from their site visit directly into the DCF database
from the field," the release said. "GPS-stamped photos taken onsite add
an additional layer of integrity by ensuring every child is visited and
their condition accurately documented."
That extra layer also ensures due diligence is performed by the
caseworkers, as some have missed visits and made inaccurate visit
recordings. This issue came to light eight years ago, when a 4-year-old
girl in foster care went missing for more than a year before officials
realized she'd disappeared. Her DCF caseworker hadn't made the mandated
monthly visits to the girl's home, though she filed reports and told
judges the girl was fine, according to Orlando's WESH.com. The missing
girl -- Rilya Wilson -- has yet to be found and is presumed dead.
In the wake of that tragedy, lessons have been learned, said DCF
Chief Child Advocate Jim Kallinger. And while the state's foster care
caseworkers aren't mandated to use the mobile devices to digitally
record their visits, Kouzehkanani is hoping it becomes a best practice.
"The caseworkers love this. They have said to us this has really been
a timesaver for them," he said.
The technology is also tamperproof and adaptable, making it
compatible on various smartphones, cameras and laptops, according to the
state. And in the event of a stolen or lost mobile computing device,
the information stored on them is securely encrypted and can't be
accessed by an unauthorized user.
"This technology adds an extra layer of verification and efficiency
in being able to enter the data at the site instead of doing it back at
the office," Kallinger said. "They basically have a mobile office."

Florida's governor has signed a bill eliminating all time limits for
filing criminal or civil action alleging sexual abuse of children.
Gov. Charlie Crist signed the bill (HB 525) on Tuesday. It lifts
statutes of limitations for pursuing criminal or civil sexual abuse
cases in which victims are younger than 16 at the time of the abuse.
The civil portion was opposed by the Florida Catholic Conference,
which contends it would create great uncertainty for any organization.
The Roman Catholic Church has faced numerous lawsuits alleging sexual
abuse by priests.
Florida law previously had various time limits in place for pursuing
criminal and civil actions, depending on the age of the child.

The Somer Thompson foundation is
pushing for a new bill that could soon be in the hands of state
lawmakers.Somer's law, which is under final review by the
foundation, would require sex offenders and predators to live outside
Somer's safety zones -- or a one-mile radius from any school.The
petition also includes a change to the Amber Alert system, requiring an
Amber Alert status be issued within 30 minutes of a possible kidnapping.Jarred
Harrell, the man accused of killing the 7-year-old Orange Park girl, is
still in jail.He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday on
some of the 58 felony charges he is currently facing.Investigators
said Harrell kidnapped Somer on her way home from school in October.
Her body was found days later in a Georgia landfill.

A Flagler Beach fifth grader placed second in the U. S.
Department of Justice's 2010 National Missing Children's Day Poster
Contest.
Out of 43 entries from Florida students, Old Kings Elementary
School student Thomas DeLeon's placed second nationally for
his poster, "Bring Our Missing Children Home."
The national contest promotes awareness of missing and exploited
children issues, each state's missing persons agency selecting a winner
to represent their state.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says 46,965 children were
reported missing in the state in 2009. Florida's Missing Endangered
Persons Information Clearinghouse, housed at FDLE, provided direct
assistance in the recovery of 108 of them. Florida will hold its
official statewide commemoration of missing children on Sept. 13 at the
state Capitol, recognizing the efforts of Florida's police, citizens,
and individuals in the search and recovery of missing children.
To sign up to receive free Amber Alerts and Missing Child Alerts via
e-mail or cell phone text message, log onto www.missingchildrenalert.com.
To learn more about the Amber Plan and Florida's Missing Endangered
Persons Information Clearinghouse, visit www.fdle.state.fl.us.

A few months after a 10-year-old child was placed with eight other
children in a Tampa foster home overseen by a single mom, a 13-year-old
boy sneaked into his room and raped him in 2005.
But Hillsborough Kids Inc., a state contractor that placed the boy,
says it's not liable because it subcontracted with another agency which
directly cared for the boy. They contend the state Department of
Children and Families is ultimately responsible for overseeing its
providers, according to court documents.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of the boy has dragged on for three years
and is the crux of an ongoing argument between DCF and the contractors
it hires to place and monitor foster children: Who should be financially
responsible when one of the children is harmed?
That question has major repercussions for both taxpayers and the
children. If it's the state, the contractors would be off the hook and a
victimized foster child would be limited by law to receiving $200,000
in damages from the state unless the Legislature approves a higher
amount. If it's the contractors, an injured child could receive whatever
damages a court awards up to a $3 million per incident and it would be
paid by the contractor and its insurance company.
Child advocates say DCF and its contractors are trying to dodge
responsibility and are wasting taxpayer money as discussions drag on. In
the end, they say, it leaves abused children with little legal or
financial recourse. The state spent more than $740 million this year on
foster care, employing 21 contractors to oversee between 9,000 and
10,000 foster children.
"It's sad and a complete waste of resources when we see each blame
the other or duck behind technical defenses while the innocent foster
child is suffering and waiting to get help,'' said Howard Talenfeld, a
child advocate and Broward County attorney.
DCF says it's spent millions in legal fees on cases it wasn't
responsible for, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, private contractors argue they should have immunity from
large judgments just like the state does, despite a statute and
contracts that say otherwise. Additionally, providers say they couldn't
afford rising insurance premiums and legal fees brought by an increase
in lawsuits
Florida became the first state to fully privatize its child welfare
programs in 2005, inking multimillion dollar contracts with providers
that DCF says includes the cost of caring for children and enough for
insurance if a foster child is harmed.
The Legislature privatized they system after some high-profile cases
where government workers lied about visiting foster homes, resulting in
the death or disappearance of some children. Backers said privatization
would keep children safer and the Legislature removed a cap on how much
money abused children could receive by pushing the responsibility onto
private insurers.
But providers say that's unfair and DCF Secretary George Sheldon told
the AP he supports giving them sovereign immunity, which could limit
judgments, fearing a multimillion dollar verdict could break them. He
suggested increasing the cap on the insurance contractors are required
to carry and barring judgments over that amount. Any change to the
statute would require legislative action. Providers have shopped an
amendment to various legislators in the past few years, but little has
come of it.
Critics say the state has been lax in enforcing the statute, which
defines the relationship as an outsourcing of state jobs, and shouldn't
pay to defend cases where providers are at fault.
The providers "want to be able to take all this money from taxpayers
and they don't want to be accountable. It's absurd,'' said attorney
Karen Gievers, who is representing the 10-year-old boy who was raped.
She is also suing the organization for negligence in the case of a
foster child, saying its workers ignored signs he was sexually abused
while bouncing between more than 43 foster care placements in roughly 14
years.
Providers should have immunity against large judgments in cases where
they subcontract with other providers, because they are acting on
behalf of the state, just as DCF does when it contracts with them, said
Ed Savitz, general counsel for Hillsborough Kids. The state is paying
Hillsborough Kids nearly $200 million for a three-year contract to
oversee about 2,500 kids.
Attorney Richard Filson says he's encountered the same argument in
nearly every case he's filed against DCF providers, including a lawsuit
against the Sarasota YMCA, claiming it placed a baby with a foster
parent who shook the child to death and another alleging a foster parent
burned a child's chest with an iron.
DCF says it's still named in lawsuits even though local providers
were caring for the child.
"DCF didn't tell them how to behave, we don't micromanage how they
behave but we get sued nevertheless,'' said DCF's general counsel Jerry
Curington.
The agency says it has paid millions of taxpayer dollars to settle
cases where its contractors were at fault, according to a February
letter sent by DCF's general counsel to a contractor. The agency said it
has no system to determine exactly how many millions it has paid out
and says it recoups fees from the providers on rare occasion.
Our Kids, which contracts with DCF to care for kids in Miami-Dade and
Monroe Counties, has seen an increase in the number of lawsuits since
the partnership, CEO Fran Allegra said.
The organization had one lawsuit in 2006, another in 2007 and two
lawsuits in both 2008 and 2009. Defending them is costing providers
statewide millions a year in premiums, she said. Our Kids pays $250,000 a
year in premiums. It receives nearly $500 million from the state for a
five-year contract to serve about 3,300 kids.
For two years, Allegra says the organization has been paying legal
fees in a case where it had no interaction with the child.
Fifteen-year-old Stephanie Dorismond was found dead in a motel room
in 2007. Authorities say a 36-year-old man crushed her skull with a
toilet lid.
The girl was removed from her mother's care after abuse allegations,
placed with an uncle she claimed sexually abused her and then placed
back with her mother. Allegra says her agency was asked to find housing
for the girl and located a spot at a sexual abuse treatment center, but
was later told she was being placed back in her mother's care.
DCF investigated the family several times and an agency report
concluded it should have asked a juvenile judge to oversee the family
and order services and supervision.
DCF says the agency will always pay when liable, but it often takes
lengthy legal proceedings to determine whether DCF or the provider is at
fault.
DCF asked providers to add the agency's name to existing insurance
policies, but they balked at the request, saying it gives the department
the ability to settle cases without regards for their position and
jeopardized their future.
A handful of agencies are refusing to sign the new contract requiring
the addition, despite lengthy negotiations.

ORLANDO, Fla -- A free text-messaging
service brings emergency alerts to the palm of your hands.The
Orange County Emergency Management Department encouraged residents to
sign up for OC Alert, a free service
that delivers important text messages to cell phones.The service
is customizable, giving users the option of selecting alerts for severe
weather, evacuations, road closures and Amber Alerts, according to
Orange County Emergency Operations Director Preston Cook."The
beauty of the system is that its free to our residents as long as they
don't have a charge from their service provider for text messages," said
Cook.A similar text messaging program is also available in
Volusia County.Brevard County does not have a free texting
service but offers text-message alerts through a radio-controlled system
if users purchase a radio, according to a spokesman for the county's
EOC.For information on Brevard County's program, click
here or call the Brevard County emergency management office at
321-637-6670.

Well, it's been more than a year since the suicide death of
7-year-old Gabriel Myers, and what have we learned? What do we know now
to prevent this sort of tragedy from ever happening again? Lest we
forget, on April 16, 2009, little Gabriel hung himself with a shower
hose in the bathroom of his foster home in Margate,
Florida. Gabriel had been the victim of sexual abuse and neglect, which resulted
in him being placed in Florida's foster care system. While in foster
care, he was regularly "medicated" with multiple psychotropic drugs to
deal with his escalating behavioral problems, which were in and of
themselves predictable if anyone was paying attention.In August
2009, the Gabriel Myers Work Group, appointed by DCF Secretary George
Sheldon, issued its first report, confirming what most children's
advocates had known and decried for years, that the state routinely used
mind altering psychotropic drugs, most not tested or approved by the
FDA for pediatric use, to control and manage unruly foster kids rather
than treat their underlying problems. While it was good for some light
to finally be shed on that abhorrent practice, it only exposed half of
the problem.That is until last Friday, when the Gabriel Myers
Work Group issued its second report, confirming another longtime
complaint of children's advocates. The task force found that the state
failed to provide adequate treatment to little Gabriel for the sexual
abuse he had suffered and failed to prevent him from acting out sexually
against other children, something it is common for child victims of
sexual abuse to do. Sadly, little Gabriel was not alone as all
too often the child welfare/foster care system fails to provide child
victims of physical and sexual abuse with adequate treatment, if any at
all. If they did, not only might the victim children recover as fully as
possible to become productive members of society, and other children be
spared the same victimization, but in Gabriel's case, he very likely
would still be alive.The question for us now is what is the state
of Florida going to do about it? Now that the task force has confirmed
what many of us have long complained about and we know what went wrong,
what will DCF do to change its practices so that we don't have
catastrophic failures like this in the future? Kudos to Secretary
Sheldon for appointing the Work Group, and kudos to the Work Group for
exposing the real problems that led little Gabriel to take his own life
at just 7 years old. Darts to lawmakers for not following and
implementing the Work Group's recommendations, and for not passing the
proposed Florida Children's Legal Representation Act endorsed by the
Florida Bar. Sadly, the Florida
Legislature has not yet learned the lessons from Gabriel's death,
which means this tragedy will surely repeat itself. Unacceptable!
Florida's foster children deserve better, and as Floridians we should be
demanding better of our elected and public officials. One child lost is
one too many.

Written by: Brian J. Cabrey; Vice president of Florida's
Children First, a statewide child advocacy group.

People who care for children, the elderly and disabled in Florida
will undergo stricter background screening requirements under a new law
that takes effect Aug. 1.Caregivers will have to pass a
nationwide background check before they can begin working under the law,
which was passed unanimously by the Legislature and signed by Gov.
Charlie Crist last week. It applies to employees of day care
centers, assisted living facilities, home health care agencies, and
others working with children and vulnerable adults.The law came
after a Sun Sentinel series exposed flaws and gaps in Florida's
screening system.A six-month investigation by the newspaper found
that convicted felons and career criminals with records for rape, child
abuse and murder had been hired as caregivers. Outdated laws allowed
employees to start working before a background check was made, and
people with criminal histories could still work by obtaining an
exemption stating they were rehabilitated.The state had granted
exemptions to more than 8,700 people with criminal records, including
registered sex offenders and convicted murderers. Twenty percent were
re-arrested, some within days after being deemed rehabilitated and not a
danger to children or vulnerable adults, the Sun Sentinel found.The
new law requires top state officials to approve any exemption and bars
sex offenders and career criminals from ever working as caregivers.George
Sheldon, secretary of the Florida Department of Children &
Families, called the new law a significant step toward protecting
vulnerable residents."The media attention really helped add a
sense of urgency," he said. "One of the biggest things the [Sun
Sentinel] series identified was the numbers of people who were allowed
to work pending the background screening. Particularly with today's
technological advances, there's no rational basis to continue that."

Yidareus has been in foster care most of his life. Twice,
he was selected by a family to be adopted. Twice, the adoption fell
through. He's 13, old enough to understand his story, young
enough to wish for more.


So when it was time for Yidareus to take the portrait that may
lead to his adoption, he smiled broadly, confidently, wishfully.
``I really just want to have a place to go and stay,'' he says softly,
moments after viewing his photograph as part of The Children's Trust
Miami Heart Gallery. ``I have been in foster care since I was four years
old. I just want a home.'' His is the collective wish of of
those pictured in the Miami Heart Gallery, an ambitious project to use
the energy and magnetism of photography as a way to place Miami-Dade
foster care children into adoptive homes. On a rainy Friday
afternoon, a downtown historical museum was transformed into an exhibit
of possibilities, 43 inspired portraits, each capturing the beautiful
spirit of children who need unconditional love. ``These are our
most vulnerable children, the ones that traditionally are the hardest
to place because they are older or part of a sibling group, or have a
physical or developmental disability,'' says Emily Cardenas, senior
communications manager for The Children's Trust, which spearheads the
initiative. ``We want people to come in, connect with the pictures and
decide to adopt.'' The exhibit, shot by about three dozen
photographers committed to capturing expressions and moments, travels to
public spaces -- museums, libraries, performing art centers --
throughout Miami-Dade for a year to reach as many potential parents as
possible. Last year, the show was installed at The Freedom
Tower, Dadeland Mall and the Joseph Caleb Center. And the 2008 gallery
is a permanent exhibit in the Miami International Airport. The
power of photography and an elegant setting works: Of the 123 children
showcased since the Heart Gallery launched three years ago, 56 have been
adopted or are in the process, which can take up to one year.
``When I took the pictures, I wanted to capture theirs eyes because they
tell you so much about a child,'' said celebrity photographer Johnny
Nuñez, whose portfolio includes portraits of Nelson Mandela and Jennifer
Lopez. ``I wanted to capture the innocence.'' Nuñez, who grew
up in New York, was a foster care child was adopted by a Puerto Rican
family. ``I understand where these kids are. They are hopeful
and scared. They want a family, they want someone to love them and give
them a home,'' he said. Roger and Deborah Riquelme did just
that. The Kendall couple saw Aundre, then 10, in the first Heart
Gallery. They were drawn to his portrait but were told he was already
matched with another family. That adoption fell through and Aundre's
picture was exhibited again in 2009. ``As soon as I saw him, I
called the agency,'' said Deborah Riquelme, a nursing instructor at the
University of Miami. The adoption was finalized in March. ``He is a good kid,'' she said. ``This was a good decision.''
Other parents found their children on the gallery's website, which
features the children's portraits and biographies. ``We had a
couple that wanted to adopt for a while. They just hadn't found a match
where they lived in Alabama so they started searching Heart Galleries
online,'' Cardenas said. ``They saw a brother and sister online and knew
they were the one.'' The couple saw the photographs of Tajah,
7, and her brother, Cameron, 8, hugging on the grounds of Vizcaya Museum
and Gardens, one of the 43 portraits featured in the 2009 gallery. By
the fall, the children were traveling to Alabama to stay with the couple
and by Christmas were on a plane headed to their new home.
Based on a national model, the Miami Heart Gallery is one of 125 in 48
states. The first gallery opened nine years ago in Sante Fe as a way for
a state child welfare agency to generate interest in adoptions.
In 2007, the Heart Gallery of Broward County launched with the
portraits of 73 children. The gallery showcased 98 children in 2009 --
39 have been adopted or placed in a home as part of the adoption
process. The 2010 gallery includes 88 children and is at the Northwest
Regional Library in Coral Springs throughout the month. In July, it
travels to the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie.
This year's Miami exhibit features children ages 1 to 17 and eight
sibling groups. Jessand, 12, wants to be firefighter. Darrell,
17, plans on becoming a journalist. There's a future lawyer in
Quisqueya, 14. Kassandra, 13, has a pet Chihuahua named Tinkerbell.
Amethyst, 15, loves romance novels. All are without permanent
homes. For information about adopting a foster child, call
The Children's Trust Helpline at 211 or visit www.miamiheartgallery.org