Study: DCF Underperforming Florida’s Foster Children

The federal agency has given the Florida Department of Children and Families has 90 days to devise a plan to improve care for foster children.

The Department of Health and Human Services found DCF under performing in critical areas during an analysis of 80 cases from April 1 to September 30.

The Tampa Bay Times reports the study found in more than half of the cases, child welfare agencies removed children from homes without providing appropriate services and were lax in follow up safety plans.

The study found DCF needs improvement in 11 of 14 categories.

The agency has scheduled a conference on Tuesday to come up with ways to reform the system.

Agency spokeswoman Jessica Sims says DCF takes “these findings very seriously” and will work aggressively to improve.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/230769-study-dcf-underperforming-floridas-foster-children

Within Reach Of Adoption, Toddler Dies While In Foster Care

TAMPA — After about five months in foster care, and just weeks away from a new home with adoptive parents in North Carolina, little Aedyn Agminalis was rushed to the emergency room.

The 17-month-old boy arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital for Children unresponsive and with signs of head injuries, according to information given to his adoption agency by a social worker. He suffered cardiac arrest, bleeding on the brain and acute respiratory failure.
The small boy was hooked up to a life-support system but doctors could find no brain activity, according to Artha Healton, Aedyn's biological mother. The youngster died Dec. 11 after doctors turned off the machine.
His death is now the subject of a criminal investigation by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The Florida Department of Children and Families has assigned a critical incident team to look into the death because the boy died on the state's watch.
"The loss of this child is absolutely devastating and we're grieving with all those who loved him," DCF Secretary Mike Carroll told the Tampa Bay Times in an email.
Officials would not comment on the investigation. Aedyn was living in a foster home licensed by the service, A Door of Hope. His case was handled by Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services. Both organizations are subcontractors of Eckerd Kids, a non-profit contracted to run the county's child welfare system.
"We will be doing everything we can to support the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office investigation," said Adrienne Drew, a spokeswoman for Eckerd.
Aedyn's death has raised questions about whether the child could have been moved out of foster care and adopted sooner.

His biological parents signed papers consenting to the adoption on Nov. 18. Had all gone as planned, the boy likely would have spent Christmas with his new parents: Colleen Kochanek and her wife, Stephanie Norris.
They have been together for 17 years and married in 2006. Kochanek works as an attorney and consultant. Norris is a civil engineer. They own a home in North Carolina and are the parents of Riley, a 4-year-old girl they adopted at birth.
They wanted to move ahead as quickly as possible with a placement court hearing that would allow them to take Aedyn home. They paid extra to have FBI checks expedited.
But Eckerd case managers would not schedule the hearing because they were waiting for a report that proved the adoptive parents were not listed on a state child abuse registry.
That was a check that the couple already passed when they adopted Riley and passed again in 2015 when they decided to look for another child to adopt. But because more than a year had elapsed, they were required to repeat it.
"If they have everything else why couldn't we go forward pending receipt of that document?" Kochanek said. "This is so soul-crushing to us; he could have been in our care."
When the report finally arrived Dec. 5, Eckerd requested the court hearing, but because of Christmas it was not scheduled to take place until Jan. 10.
Jeanne Tate, an attorney representing Tampa adoption agency Heart of Adoptions, planned to ask that the hearing be moved up so Aedyn could be in his new home for Christmas. Learning that he died in foster care left her feeling sick in the stomach.
"These kind of cases definitely should be treated with more expediency; these children need to get out of foster care at the earliest possible time frame," Tate said.
Aedyn was taken into foster care in August after a child protective investigator visited his home because of a report made to the state's child abuse hotline.
Aedyn did not like wearing a diaper and would frequently take if off, said Healton, his mother. The investigator found feces on the floor and was also concerned that a hookah pipe and other dangerous objects lay within reach of the boy, Healton said.
She said the child was in no danger and that she planned to steam-clean the carpet that night.
"They made me out to be a horrible, neglectful parent when I was doing my absolute best," Healton said.
Aedyn's nutrition was another concern for the investigator. The parents could not get the child to eat solid food. They tried to compensate by adding baby food into his formula, Healton said.
The investigator told them they must have the home cleaned by the next day. According to Healton, she asked if the child could be taken into foster care that day, in part because she thought the child would get professional help adapting to solid food.
Healton and her husband, Brynn Agminalis, had already been talking about putting the child up for adoption. The couple, who moved to Florida from Kentucky in May, both work as freelance artists. Healton, 27, designs fantasy characters for websites. Agminalis, 23, works in web design and computer repair.
Healton said they were both "free spirits" and felt tied down by parenthood.
"We didn't feel like we were ready for children," Healton said. "We were struggling and stressed so badly that it was affecting our health."
Because of confidentiality laws, DCF would not comment on how Aedyn ended up in state custody.
Healton got a phone call about 1 a.m. on Dec. 8. Aedyn had been taken to the hospital. She and her husband rushed to him.
The foster mother, who they do not know, was there, too.
"She didn't speak to me or hold eye contact."
The foster mother had told officials Aedyn experienced a seizure-like activity and fell over, according to Healton.
Doctors told Healton and her husband there was evidence of bleeding in Aedyn's brain. On Dec. 9 at 9 a.m., the doctors confirmed that their child was brain dead, Healton said.
"I was unable to hold him because he was hooked up to the life support. I was able to hold his hand and touch him and tell him goodbye even though he couldn't hear me."
Contact Christopher O'Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @codonnell_Times

http://www.tampabay.com/news/within-reach-of-adoption-toddler-dies-while-in-foster-care/2306646

Seven-month-old Tampa girl dies while in state care

Miracle Collins was taken into care in February when her mother was arrested in her east Tampa home after a report of domestic violence, a Tampa Police Department report states.

The child was placed with a friend of her mother's by Florida Department of Children and Families contractor Eckerd Kids.

But Tampa Fire Rescue was called to the child's temporary home Tuesday after the 10-year-old woke to find the baby unresponsive. Paramedics tried to revive the infant but were unsuccessful.

DCF has assigned a critical incident team to investigate the death, a step mandated by state law whenever a child dies while under the state's watch.

Officials from Eckerd declined to comment on specifics of the case while the investigation is ongoing.

"Losing a baby to co-sleeping is heartbreaking," said Terri Durdeller, an Eckerd spokeswoman. "An unsafe sleep environment is one of the leading causes of preventable child deaths across the country, and Eckerd Kids has always made it a priority to educate families and children in our care on how to avoid this tragedy."

Miracle's mother, Rolanda Angelique Cusseaux, 35, was arrested Feb. 15 by Tampa police officers in the 2000 block of 25th Avenue E on a domestic battery charge.

She had been fighting with her boyfriend, Mederick Collins, identified as Miracle's father in the report.

Police handcuffed and arrested Cusseaux after she shoved Collins in their presence. An investigation of Collins' actions was referred to the State Attorney's Office.

Police officers called DCF because Miracle, who was then just two months old, was in the apartment.

The report states she was given to Cusseaux's friend, Tarshemia Martin, to care for until Cusseaux was released. It is unclear whether Miracle was transferred to another caregiver before her death.

In their report, officers described conditions in Cusseaux's apartment as deplorable.

"The floors were covered in stains and what appeared to be food and other things," the report states. "I noticed roaches throughout the front room and kitchen area. The kitchen was filthy and unkempt."

A woman who answered the door of Cusseaux's apartment Friday burst into tears when a Times reporter identified himself. She said she did not want to talk.

Children in the care of the state are routinely placed with non-relatives as an alternative to foster parents and residential centers. Over the past 12 months, 446 non-relatives have provided care for children in Hillsborough County, according to Eckerd Kids. Of those, 370 provided care for at least 90 days.

One-third of those caregivers did not seek financial assistance that the state makes available.
DCF officials said when non-relatives are given care of children, an on-site check is made of the home to make sure it is clean and safe. Background checks are conducted to look for a history of criminal, delinquency and abuse or neglect. That is followed by fingerprinting of all adults in the house.
A case manager or other services provider should have face-to-face contact with the child at least once a week, officials said.
In addition, the Rilya Wilson Act, named after a Miami 4-year-old whom the DCF lost track of for two years, requires that children in care be enrolled in daily early education or child-care programs.

The DCF investigation will determine if those rules were followed in Miracle's case.

The placing of children with non-relatives has pros and cons, said Robin Rosenberg, deputy director of Florida's Children First, a statewide advocacy organization focused on children's rights.

For older children, it can mean staying with adults they know and trust.

But many of the caregivers need help applying for financial support and Medicaid, she said.

"It can be a wonderful thing or it can have bad results if they're not adequately supported to take care of the child," Rosenberg said. "Sometimes it imposes on really well-intended people but doesn't give them adequate support."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/seven-month-old-tampa-girl-dies-while-in-state-care/2286534

Ex Deputy Gets House Arrest For Falsely Reporting Abuse

SANFORD — A former Seminole County Sheriff's deputy convicted of falsely reporting that a romantic rival was dating a sex offender who was abusing a child was sentenced Wednesday to house arrest.
Valencia LaRue, 42, has been in the Seminole County jail since she was convicted April 13.
Jurors concluded that she had anonymously called a Florida Department of Children and Families hotline, saying that the new boyfriend of her lover's estranged wife had sexually abused a 6-year-old girl.
The child had not been abused, and, in fact, the romantic rival had no boyfriend, investigators found.

Valencia LaRue, former Seminole County deputy, was convicted of making a false child abuse claim to DCF's hotline

On the day of the phone call, May 14, 2014, LaRue was no longer a deputy. She had resigned the day before but was about to be fired after 20 years in law enforcement.
An internal affairs investigation found that she and another deputy, Joseph Fetchick, had an affair while they were both still married to other people.
They were accused of leaving their assignments to have sex while on duty at least three times. Although they admitted to the extramarital affair, the two denied that allegation.
Fetchick was fired. He and LaRue currently live together. She now operates a beauty salon.
Phone records obtained during the investigation showed that the two exchanged more than 6,000 text messages in a 10-week period, many of them sexually explicit.
The phone call happened about a month later. In it, LaRue said that Fetchick's wife had a boyfriend who was abusing the couple's 6-year-old daughter. LaRue also said that Fetchick's wife and boyfriend had sex in front of the child.
The Sheriff's Office traced the call to LaRue's cellphone.
At Wednesday's hearing Fetchick's ex-wife, Michelle Fetchick, told Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson, "The past three years have been nothing short of absolute turmoil."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-former-deputy-false-child-abuse-report-20160525-story.html

Boy Sues ChildNet, Says Foster Parent Abused Him

A child who was allegedly sexually abused by a foster parent has filed a lawsuit against welfare providers Kids in Distress Inc. and ChildNet Inc. because the agencies did not conduct proper background checks on the parent before issuing a foster parenting license.

According to the lawsuit, the child — identified only as R.S. — claims 56-year-old John Michael McGuigan of Broward County sexually abused him while the child was under his care. But the lawsuit says there were multiple glaring red flags the agencies failed to see when McGuigan applied to become a Florida foster parent in 2008.
The child-care providers failed in their background check of McGuigan, who had failed to disclose that he had been investigated for showing a minor a pornographic photo and asking that minor to perform sex acts, according to the lawsuit. McGuigan also failed to disclose that he had been arrested for cocaine possession. Moreover, McGuigan was also involved in a ten-year relationship that ended with his partner committing suicide.
Even more disturbing is that one 7-year-old foster child under McGuigan's care, Gabriel Myers, committed suicide by hanging himself in 2009. Although Myers was found dead in another foster family's home, the lawsuit says the suicide happened only days after Myers was removed from McGuigan's care following the boy's erratic behavior, which hinted at "inappropriate parenting" by McGuigan, according to the lawsuit.

Myers' death did force some changes by the Florida Department of Children and Families, including how agencies monitor drugs taken by foster children. Myers had been on two powerful psychiatric drugs at the time of his death.
But the lawsuit against the agencies points out that R.S. was placed in McGuigan's home only a year after Myers' death. R.S., who had never been abused before, was removed from McGuigan's home after DCF received a report alleging abuse by McGuigan.
"On or about December 12, 2011, DCF received a report through the Florida Abuse Hotline alleging that R.S. disclosed that he had been sexually abused by McGuigan while under his care, and this report was closed with indicators of sexual abuse," the lawsuit says. "R.S. was groomed and sexually assaulted by McGuigan, which resulted in R.S. being emotionally harmed and becoming sexually reactive."
It was after this report that investigators learned McGuigan had falsified information on his foster parenting application. Investigators also discovered that McGuigan had himself been sexually abused as a child by his father.
McGuigan was forced to resign from his position as CEO of the Broward House HIV service center following sexual abuse allegations from alleged former victims.

In 2000, McGuigan was investigated by Delray Beach Police for lewd and lascivious acts after a teenager claimed he had shown him a pornographic picture and asked him to perform sex acts. The lawsuit also points out an incident where a man from Boston accused McGuigan of molesting him when he was a child. McGuigan was not charged in either case.
The lawsuit says that both Kids in Distress and ChildNet allowed "an alleged child molester and person of poor moral character" to care for R.S. by not thoroughly checking McGuigan's background and by not conducting a fingerprinting and local criminal records check.
R.S., who is represented Fort Lauderdale attorney Howard Talenfeld, is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $15,000.
Requests for comment from DCF by New Times were not immediately returned.

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/boy-sues-childnet-says-foster-parent-abused-him-6970745

Child massacre the last straw, advocacy group says: State agency can't protect kids

Posted: October 12, 2014 - 11:38am

By Margie Menzel

TALLAHASSEE | An advocacy group is calling for the Florida Department of Children and Families to relinquish its oversight of child-protective services to local law enforcement or other agencies following last month’s mass murder-suicide involving six children in Gilchrist County.

Roy Miller

Roy Miller, spokesman for the Children’s Lobby, said the murders amounted to the last straw in the department’s response to a series of child deaths going back many years.
“Why is DCF continuing to do the direct oversight of child-welfare services when they have a three-decade history of not doing it well?” he asked. “We need a new model.”
Miller’s group was responding to a department report on Don Spirit, the Gilchrist County man who murdered his daughter and six grandchildren before committing suicide on Sept. 18.
Citing media reports, the group said the Department of Children and Families was warned last year that “Spirit, a convicted felon with a history of discharging a gun that resulted in the death of a child, should have no contact with his grandchildren. More damning, some of the grandchildren themselves, as recently as last year, told DCF workers they feared their grandfather. Yet, they were living with him at the time of their horrific deaths and the household composition was known to DCF.”
The department concluded that the rampage could not have been foreseen, calling the tragedy “an extreme outlier” — but Miller strongly disagrees.

“Clearly what we are doing isn’t working,” he said.
According to the department, the family had been involved in 18 child-protective investigations since 2006, with Spirit involved in six of the investigations and alleged to be the perpetrator in three. Investigators confirmed that Spirit had physically abused his then-pregnant daughter, Sarah, who became one of his murder victims and was the mother of the six dead children.
The Children’s Lobby said DCF did not enforce its own safety plans or take action after a verified report that Spirit physically injured one of his granddaughters in 2013.
The murders in the small community of Bell drew national attention and scrutiny about DCF’s prior involvement with the family. Both the department and the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office had visited the family’s home as recently as Sept. 2, but the preliminary report said a case note showed that the children were not “in imminent danger of illness or injury from abuse, neglect or abandonment.”
For nearly two years, Children and Families has been under fire for the most recent round of child deaths on its watch. Lawmakers responded with a sweeping reform measure and increased funding during the 2014 legislative session.

Although the department has been putting the reforms into place, the murders in Bell have brought a new hail of condemnation.
The Department of Children and Families released a preliminary report last week, saying it would increase staff training and take up other reforms in the wake of the murders. DCF did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about Miller’s calls for change.
“While DCF issues one more report stating they will use this tragedy to do better, six murdered children who relied on DCF to protect them don’t get a do-over,” Miller said. “This report is not at all different from any number of previous DCF reports about children the state failed to protect.”
Now, Miller said, the Children’s Lobby will join forces with others critics of Florida’s child-welfare system who believe DCF should transfer the oversight of its protective services to local law enforcement agencies or other community partners, such as local governments, who can do the job better.
Currently, six Florida sheriffs’ offices oversee child-protection services in their counties — Broward, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Seminole — rather than the Department of Children and Families having the responsibility.
Many children’s advocates believe the sheriffs do a better job.
“DCF cannot and should not perform protective investigations,” said Cindy Lederman, a dependency court judge in Miami-Dade County. “DCF has consistently proven itself incapable of conducting comprehensive investigations. We need trained law enforcement officers to take over.”
But some sheriffs have been wary of the responsibility, if only due to the cost.
http://mayportmirror.jacksonville.com/news/florida/2014-10-12/story/child-massacre-last-straw-advocacy-group-says-state-agency-cant

FDLE: Child welfare worker falsified home visit records for Rachel Fryer's children

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla —A child welfare worker who was responsible for checking on Rachel Fryer's children lied in his home visit reports, Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said Friday.

Fryer is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Tariji Gordon, and burying her in a shallow grave on Feb. 11.

Jonathan Irizarry, 27, of Altamonte Springs, was a case manager for the Children's Home Society of Central Florida, and was assigned to supervise Fryer's three children.
FDLE officials said Irizarry wrote that the children were free from bruises, but investigators said they found a photo on Fryer's phone that showed Tariji with a bruised and swollen eye and one arm in a sling.
Video: New video from Rachel Fryer hearing shows DCF's role in case
A postmortem examination on Tariji also showed multiple healing injuries including cuts, bruises, cigarette burns and bite marks, officials said.
"These charges should serve to remind those responsible for protecting our children of how important that duty is," said State Attorney Phil Archer, who will prosecute the case.
Irizarry was charged with two counts of falsifying an official record that contributes to the great bodily harm or death of an individual in the care and custody of a state agency.
Because great bodily harm resulted from the alleged falsification of home visit records, Irizarry could face 15 years in prison on each of two counts charged.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is the agency responsible for checking on children's welfare. DCF contracted Children's Home Society of Central Florida, who contracted Irizarry.

 http://www.wesh.com/news/fdle-dcf-contractor-falsified-home-visit-records-for-rachel-fryers-children/27683922#ixzz3BAnzHyFT

Concerned Mom Not Notified When DCF Takes Her Children From School

Kelli Stegeman

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CREATED Apr. 25, 2013 LEE COUNTY, Fla. - A Lee County mom gets a phone call that sends her into a panic.

She's telling Four in Your Corner, that the Florida Department of Children and Families pulled her kids out of school Thursday without telling her.

She wants to know why she wasn't given a heads up.

This mom didn't want to go on camera out of embarrassment and the stigma that comes along with a DCF investigation.  She tells FOX 4 a local DCF worker said the mom should have known they were taking her kids out of school Thursday. When we reached out to the Tampa headquarters however, they said that's not the case. 

"What if something happened and I didn't know where they were," the concerned Lee County mom said. "Here I am thinking they are in school safe and they're not."

She assumed her kids would be picked up from school at the end of the day and instead, they were picked up by the Florida Department of Children and Families. 

"I was concerned for my kids," she said.

The mom found out through a phone call from her son. 

"He was supposed to be in school at this point?" reporter Kelli Stegeman asked. "Yes," she replied. "He called me and I'm like what's going on? He said 'I'm with this woman."

That woman with DCF allegedly took the two kids away from school to interview them about what this mom calls a problem within her extended family.

"He put her on the phone and she was like 'You weren't notified?' No, I wasn't notified," she said. "She's saying 'Well, its normally our policy to let you know that we're picking them up to go interview them. You should have been notified.' I mean at this point I'm freaking out."

Stegeman called the Tampa headquarters of DCF to find out if it was their policy to 

notify parents before taking kids. A spokeswoman told her it is not their policy. Notifying parents could hinder an investigation. The spokesperson couldn't talk about this specific instance.

"Whether or not I have anything to say against it or not," this Lee County mother said. "I think I should still be notified so I know where my kids are."

The DCF spokesperson says the woman's first step should be to call headquarters and talk to the operations manager so they can help her through any potential issues. 

That's exactly what this mom plans to do. As for her family, she tells me the kids are back home and that the case should soon be dropped. 

"You think you have more rights with your kids and you don't," she said. "They can just go in and take your kids without your permission or notifying you. That's just beyond me."

FOX 4 also spoke with the Lee County Schools spokeswoman. She says me anytime DCF comes to a school with a court order, there's nothing the school can do. 

We'll continue to follow this story and this woman's quest for answers and keep you posted.

http://www.jrn.com/fox4now/news/204787961.html 

Foster Care Children, Now Grown, Tell Their Stories

The Calizaire sisters lived with countless families, and say they were abused by some of their foster care parents

Sophia and Princess Calizaire were introduced to foster care when they were seen wandering the streets looking for their mother, who had left them alone in a South Florida motel.

“We heard this big bang at the door,” said Sophia Calizaire. “We were trying to figure out who it was.”

It was the Florida Department of Children and Families coming to take them away, and they became foster care files that night, when they were just four and seven years old.

Sophia

The Calizaire sisters lived with countless families and were moved from one school to another. They say they were abused while staying with some of those foster care parents.

“She took a belt, she started beating me with the belt, picked up a hanger, she started beating me with the hanger, picked up a heel and started beating me with the heel,” said Sophia.

Her sister, Princess, was outside the room and could hear everything.  “I couldn’t do anything about it,” Princess said, with tears coming down her face.

The Calizaire sisters remember one foster care parent making them sleep in a dog house and eat dog food. They say some foster care parents wouldn’t feed them, would keep locks on the refrigerator and would sometimes starve them as a form of punishment.

“She told me to eat in front of my sister while she watched and my sister is hungry. I took out the chewed up piece of chicken from my mouth and gave it to her,” said Sophia, who said she was caught by her foster care mother. “She filled up the bathroom sink and she took my head and started drowning me. She kept drowning me until she felt she was ready to stop.”

Princess says the abuse not only came from the parents. “I stayed in a foster home down south where this boy used to try to rape me every night before I would go to sleep,” she said. “I used to be scared to go to sleep at night. I ran away from there.”

Mez Pierre, now 24, had a similar experience in foster care when he was a little boy. He says he was sexually abused by one of the teen foster kids staying in the same home.

“I was a little kid, they knew they could take advantage of me and I couldn’t fight back,” said Pierre. “But I did tell, I did tell someone and she didn’t do anything, she didn’t do anything.”

In 2005, DCF completed privatizing foster care. They contracted with 20 lead agencies throughout the state to oversee the care and needs of children in foster care.

Our Kids manages Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, while Child Net handles Broward County. The abuse endured by Pierre and the Calizaire sisters happened before the agencies took over, but they still say the system is far from perfect.

Some child advocate attorneys say the current privatized system does not work because lead agencies like Our Kids sub-contracted other organizations to monitor foster care children.

“So you have multiple corporations and agencies who supposedly are in charge and responsible for the lives of the children but tragically these children, real human beings, fall through the cracks in the system,” said attorney Howard Talenfeld.

DCF disagrees and says when it was a statewide agency it became quite unmanageable.

“Out of the one or two cases that you hear which are horrible cases and we need to learn from, there are thousands of children and families that DCF and Our Kids helps on a yearly and daily basis,” said DCF’s southern regional director, Esther Jacobo, who added that DCF is taking steps to improve the system.

Esther Jacobo

Jacobo said case managers have to see a child in care every 30 days and must have private conversations with that child so they feel comfortable opening up. She says there is an electronic monitoring system in place for case workers, which snaps a picture of the child with a time, date and location.

“It’s kind of like a GPS and statewide Tallahassee monitors that so you know what is happening in terms of the child visit,” Jacobo said.

Currently, there are just fewer than 20,000 children in foster care statewide, according to DCF. During a two-month span between August and October, there were 127 verified abuse cases across the state, 17 of them in the South Florida area.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Foster-Care-System-Through-The-Eyes-of-The-Ones-Who-Lived-It-140874593.html

STOP Florida Department Of Children And Families

STOP Florida Department Of Children And Families Circuit 20 Corruption

March 6, 2013

Department of Children and Families News Letter 

Social Workers Help Children, Families, Vulnerable Adults in Need

There are several Social workers who really care and take their cases very personal and not just a job or paycheck. Those are few that are deserving of recognition, here in the 20th circuit.

Since 2005, I have been a court watcher at the Lee County Justice Center, I have seen success stories, However, I have seen more Horror in Family and Dependency courts.

In my experience with the Florida Child Protection System, I can assure you what I have seem and heard is beyond disbelief. I know every one of the Fl Status 39 and stay up to date on all revisions, which I find that the Sub-Contracting Agencies are NOT complying with at all.

I and my fellow court watchers across this state , find this Extremely Disturbing.

 

 

As a voice for the last 8 years, I have made my position very well known. So known, that my door was knocked on too many times with false allegations with the hope that one day, Something would stick.

Having the knowledge I do, Your case workers were unable to prove or pursue.

In 2010, They finally found something to suck us into the system of corruption. With NO Allegations or Association, My grand-daughters estranged mother, who had abandoned her in 2004 and lost her rights to 1 child in New Jersey (2010) , Gave birth while having a drug addiction, which was passed to another new innocent child. Now, we have a legitimate case with this mother..

Because my son and her were never married and there was NO legal court order of custody, We became victims to the system. My son had to jumped threw hoops of fire for 2 1/2 years before his portion of the case was closed.

The mother and other father, did not attend court hearings amd were non-compliant with their case plans

      The one thing I have found to be a benefit from being a victim and a court watcher, Is I know all the players. I have done my research, I have watched them closely, I listen to them intensely and I can see the money trail that hold families hostage.

The system is Black and White, There should be No shades of Grey for either the Court or the case management. The Status are defined as such to be followed, Not to be interpreted by anyone differently.

 

 

Here in the 20th , I can say honestly that only 1 Supervisor and her staff at DCF , Follow the laws, Genuinely, in the best interest of the children and help to the fullest degree, Above and Beyond, To help the children or families reunite.

The Courts, Family Court does not reaffirm Standing orders from Dependency Court, Dependency Court holds NO weight in Family court at all. The entire Family Court system is for profit. Regardless of any standing order, You must BUY your child to have legal custody. The entire Family court system is not in the best interest of the family or the children...

 

 

In closing, I have some very strong advice. The 20th Should be investigated and NOW.. Rumors are that several seasoned DCF employees are leaving . Those in charge, have Never done their job to know their job. You are about to see the this circuit implode. Working lunches at the bar are not meant to be.. Lucifer Services supervisors and case managers should not be entertained by DCF Operations.

The click of drunks, Should NOT be openly seen and heard during court recess.

Professionalism is Non-existent, when the public can hear them cursing and bad mouthing fellow workers. One of which was referred too as a fucking cunt for knowing how to do her own job and the job of that OPA . Making sexual remarks about male staff members is very inappropriate to say the least and offensive..

  

(Not to jeopardize the job of the seasoned well known person, she was speaking of, I will keep that to myself unless needed in the future.)

I will be watching and listening in the coming weeks, The interest of what will be happening is too hard to resist and I sincerely Hope, You take my advise. Remember the Black Eye the media will have in store, as they feed off failure. And, The BEST INTEREST of the families..  

Marian B. Scirrotto

Founder : And Justice 4 all

"Committed to Change"

"If you can read this, thank a teacher-and, since it's in English, thank a soldier !!"
And they did NOT take my advise,However,They DID go back for my grand-daughter !

Florida DCF Secretary David Wilkins Cover Up Again?

10 News Investigators:

State wants to take kids of mom who blasts

DCF for allowing her kids dangerous psychotropic drugs

TAMPA, Fla. -- It is a story that might make you angry. The Florida Department of Children and Families is trying to muzzle a mother who is speaking out about the state giving her children dangerous psychotropic drugs without telling her as required by law.
Karen Shaw says the department is still trying to cover up what it's done. Last week, 10 News explained how her two children had been removed because of a domestic violence incident and, while in DCF custody, prescribed psychotropic drugs without her knowledge.
Shaw says somebody is doing bad things. She adds, "I don't know if it is one person or a whole bunch of people, but they are doing bad things."
On Monday, Shaw received notification DCF was moving to terminate her parental rights. In court Tuesday afternoon, among the reasons the state says it is doing so is because Shaw participated in a 10 News story.
Shaw says,"I was panicked as I went into the courtroom today  because the thought of losing my children...I can't even describe that. But the issue of psychotropic medication will not keep me from speaking out in court."
Despite the paperwork filed in court Tuesday, DCF Secretary David Wilkins denies the fact that Shaw speaking out has anything to do with the department's decision. While in Tampa, 10 News reporter Mike Deeson said to Wilkins, "We did a story last week about psychotropic drugs that the agency did not like and one of the mothers who complained has now received a letter to terminate her parent rights. Is this an agency of retribution or one of child welfare?"
Wilkins replied, "Of course it is not an agency of retribution. There is a set of processes and procedures of how all child welfare cases are dealt with."
But Judge Manuel Lopez said at Tuesday's hearing the DCF procedure to terminate Shaw's parental rights "sounds pretty drastic."

Judge Manuel Lopez

Lopez added, "I don't understand the timing of this. Why now?" Deeson said to Wilkins, "So, it's not suspect that she complained to us and a TPR [Termination of Parental Rights] was issued?"
Again, Wilkins replied,"In child welfare, it is a complicated  situation because you are dealing with a situation where there are allegations of abuse and neglect."
However, as Judge Lopez noted, there are no allegations of child abuse. He noted this case is about domestic violence and the father of the children no longer lives in the house.
Lopez added that Shaw seems like a woman who loves her children. When the department countered that she seems emotional, Lopez again came to Shaw's defense, saying, "The flip side is that she might be upset that her children have been with someone else for almost two years."
Judge Lopez not only questioned the state's motives, but also said the department's plan might not go along with his plan.
Shaw says, "He said if I do what he said to do I should not have any problems and my children should be returned to me."
But the DCF will continue to try to terminate the parental rights of a mother who has never physically abused her kids, but instead spoke out about what she said was abuse by the state.
DCF has asked 10 News to keep Senior Investigative Reporter Mike Deeson from being allowed to do any more stories on the agency. The station rejected that request.

Reporter Mike Deeson

Meanwhile, DCF says Shaw's children never received psychotropic drugs, despite the fact 10 News has obtained the prescription the doctor wrote, the forms he filled out saying he was going to prescribe the drugs, and the form showing the case worker lied in the paperwork that allowed the doctor to prescribe the drugs.

Must go to this link and watch the news cast. You will not be surprised from our corrupt government.

http://www.wtsp.com/investigators/article/238625/34/DCF-tries-to-muzzle-mom-who-spoke-out-about-psychotropic-drugs

I Was Wrongfully Accused By Florida Department of Children and Families

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/florida-department-of-child-and-families-dcf-power-abuse/

Misrepresentation "How DCF Stole my daughter"

• Target: All of us who believe that Justice is not reserved solely for the powerful

     I am writing to you with a heavy heart concerning my case against DCF and all the witnesses of DCF involved.  I was never able to conceive until 1997 when my only precious daughter, born prematurely, survived and entered my life.  Our life together, although fantastic, was not easy due to her various medical conditions; but she was/is the joy of my life!
     I was wrongfully accused by DCF and through a number of professional relationships that the opposing parties had, my daughter was taken from me or "Legally Kidnapped" by DCF.  The transcripts of my case were denied to be reviewed by the Supreme Court and also all of the concrete information regarding the cohesion and malicious intent of the opposing parties were never disclosed. 
     There is undeniable evidence that I was/am a good and competent mother.  Never less: DCF spun a web of so many lies and misrepresentations of the facts through their cohesive witnesses and the 'guardian at litem' that my child was forcefully taken from my life.
     My beautiful daughter is my entire life and I have been screaming from every hilltop for her return.  I wrote a letter to Gov.Bush and also Gov. Crist and they told me they understood and that I must keep fighting for Justice.  I have spoken to other families that have been torn apart and devastated by DCF.  Many of the mothers in my situation have stated that DCF's malicious abuse of power and privilege caused their lives to be torn apart. 
     I have contacted countless professionals seeking council and now am looking into filing a Federal Lawsuit against DCF and their blatant disregard for my family's Civil Rights.  Please, please, please, don't turn a blind eye to the "Legal Kidnapping" that many women, mostly of whom do not have the financial means to fight in Court, have endured. 
    Please put yourself in my place for a moment:  can you feel the pain, all of the tears, the sleeplessness, the constant fear that her life may be in danger.  No one... and I mean no child and mother need never be subjected to this torment due to our position social-economic status that lacks the power and money to fight back!
     Due to (The Dept. of Children and Families) blatant abuse of power and the flagrant disregard for my daughter's Civil Rights: she is suffering physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish.
          In a case with similar immediate circumstances: today, Thursday, May, 22nd, 2008, the Texas Court of appeals found that their state's Child Protective Services Department unlawfully removed hundreds of children without proper evidence.  "Essentially this decision from the Third Court of Appeals said that Child Protective Services had absolutely no evidence that would justify them going in there and removing these children from this household," said Cynthia Martinez, who represents 48 of the mothers whose children were removed.  This is exactly the kind of "hear-say" evidence that allowed my child to be unlawfully removed in the first place and I should be granted the same outcome due to the unopposed healthy and happy physical and mental status of my child at the time of her "abduction".
     It will be a travesty if the Florida Department of Appeals does not give my child the same standard of proof required by the Texas Dept. of Appeals in their judgment that their was a clear "lack of evidence" which is required if the Dept. of Children's Affairs wants to remove a child from their mother.

     THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS!!!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/florida-department-of-child-and-families-dcf-power-abuse/

Innocence Lost: Florida Lawsuit Alleges DCF Sent Girl To Abusive Setting

Children should know they’re beautiful and loved. They should feel safe, welcome and comfortable surrounded by family and friends.

Yet one girl felt none of these. At 7, she was placed by the Florida Department of Children and Families into an overcrowded foster home, shared a bed with another foster child, and ultimately was sexually molested by the foster parent. She lost more than her innocence. She lost her trust in others and a chance at a normal future.

Now 12, her adoptive mother is trying to help the girl regain her trust – and a normal life. A lawsuit filed against the Florida DCF and YMCA seeks to ensure normalcy for the girl – and future state wards.

Recall DCF

In the St. Petersburg Times story of February 27, 2010, “Lawsuit Alleges DCF and YMCA Sent Girl into Sexually Abusive Situation,” it was reported that the first time the Florida woman took her adoptive daughter to the dentist, an assistant asked if the girl had been sexually assaulted.
“She just asked that because of how she reacted toward him,” the girl’s mother said.
The abuse, which occurred when the girl was 7 years old and in foster care, could have been prevented and should have been recognized sooner, according to a suit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court that accuses the Department of Children and Families and the Sarasota YMCA of negligence and oversight failures — allegations that the DCF flatly denies.


Attorney Howard Talenfeld says the girl should have never been in the Oldsmar home of Brian and Antonia Starmer, who are also named in the suit.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bRaGgndXt3QJ:floridachildadvocate.com/innocence-lost-florida-lawsuit-alleges-dcf-sent-girl-to-abusive-setting+dcf+florida+lawsuit&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Florida Department Of Children And Families 2 More Outstanding Employees

2 DCF employees and third woman charged with stealing $20,000 from Palm Beach dementia patient

Alexis White

PALM BEACH — Two women employed by the state to protect a vulnerable elderly woman instead preyed on her, stealing about $20,000 from her bank accounts while she was hospitalized for dementia, police said Wednesday.
Both women were adult protective investigators with the Florida Department of Children and Families. One went so far as to wait in 85-year-old Jane Janssen's Cocoanut Row apartment and pose as Janssen if the banks called to verify transactions, according to arrest affidavits made public Wednesday.
After investigating, Palm Beach Police Detective Nicholas Caristo arrested Mindi Marie Berry, 33, her DCF supervisor, Greta Laverne Lambert, 41, and a third woman, an employee of an escort service who told police she was hired to cash stolen checks.
Police on Wednesday were getting a warrant to arrest a fourth woman in the alleged scheme, which came to light after Janssen's son, Christopher Janssen, complained last month. That woman wasn't affiliated with DCF, police said. Berry and Lambert were fired in November after DCF learned of the police investigation, an agency spokesman said.
Adult protective investigators are responsible for looking out for some of Palm Beach County's most vulnerable residents, grown men and women who, for reasons of illness or developmental disability, couldn't take care of themselves. Investigators typically handle complaints of abuse or neglect but also often probe claims of financial exploitation.
"That's exactly what we would be called out to investigate," DCF spokesman Mark Riordan said of the allegations against Berry and Lambert. "It makes the crimes that they've been accused of particularly heinous."
DCF officials last month began reviewing each case Berry and Lambert worked on, a process that nearly is complete, Riordan said.
Berry had been working for DCF for less than a year when she was assigned to Janssen, Riordan said. Police said Berry noticed checks and bank letters scattered around Janssen's apartment and stole them at Lambert's and others' urging.
Described in police records as the scheme's "mastermind," Lambert worked for DCF for several years and had risen to the rank of supervisor.
Berry was taken into custody in November, soon after Christopher Janssen's complaint. After a month-long investigation, Caristo arrested Lambert and Alexis White, 19.
The women face charges of organizing a scheme to defraud, grand theft from an elderly person, credit card fraud and identity theft. Their attorneys couldn't be reached for comment.
A fourth woman remained on the loose Wednesday, police said.

                                                                                                                                                           

Staff writer Eliot Kleinberg contributed to this story.                                                      
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/22-dcf-employees-and-third-woman-charged-with-155647.html?cxntcid=breaking_news 

 

                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                              

This may sound like a crazy case of fiction, but I am afraid that this is happening to families all over the United States.
This occurred in PALM BEACH Florida  but if you look at other city's such as Jacksonville, Florida or Chattanooga ,Tennessee or even your home town you will find horror stories everywhere and not just one or two but hundreds. It is time to stand up to our state governments and tell them our children are not a commodity, parents have rights, and we as Americans have Constitutional Rights. Ignorance is no excuse.

Two More Children Abused In The System In Florida

March 30, 2011

Lawsuit Alleges Foster Children Abuse
Canadian Couple Suing Family Support Services of North Florida
POSTED: Tuesday, March 29, 2011
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Canadian couple said the details about their adoptive children’s care before they became their legal guardians are horrific.
The couple is suing Family Support Services of North Florida, alleging the adoption agency never told him the real background of the two Jacksonville children.
The adoptive parents said their two children were physically, sexually and mentally abused while in foster care.
“Yeah, I am angry. I am very angry,” Andrew Dolan, the children’s adoptive father, said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “I’m angry, disappointed.”
Video: Lawsuit Filed Over Abuse
According to the lawsuit, the siblings, who are now 8 and 6, were shuttled from one foster home to another, five in all.
During that time, they suffered disturbing abuse ranging from being yelled at or beaten, being denied food and being forced to commit sex acts with adults or one another, the couple said their adopted children told them.
Dolan said that if he had it to do again, he and his wife would have never adopted the two children from Jacksonville and taken them to live in Canada.
“My wife and I have saved these children’s life, as far as I am concerned,” Dolan said. “We’ve taken them out of a system that did nothing for them and treated them terribly.”
“The years since have been hell,” the Dolans’ attorney, Brian Cabrey, said of how the adoptive parents feel. “The things that have been disclosed, the things they learned what their children have been through while in foster care in the state of Florida is nothing short of nauseating. They are egregious. They are among the worst allegations I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot.”
The family said they will never give the children back, but they believe the state should pay more for the children’s medical and psychiatric care. The parents already receive $900 a month from the state, but they said the bills are much more, and that’s why they are suing.
“(Family Support Services) saw us coming and dropped this bombshell on us and did not tell us anything about it,” Dolan said. “And not until we got (the children) back to Canada, then months later the bombshell started to blow up, and this is what we are left with.”
Jim Adams, the head of Family Support Services of North Florida, said in a phone interview that he can’t believe the allegations and what happened to the children.
“Whoever covered it up should be prosecuted and should be held civilly liable,” Adams said. “Ultimately, I am responsible for every employee who works for me. If one of our employees covered up anything, it’s just as vengeful as the attorney engaged in this case.”
Family Support Services is investigating, along with the Florida Department of Children and Families.
“It boggles my mind that the children were taken away from their birth mother for neglect, put into a foster care system that then exposed them to physical, mental and sexual abuse over a number of years,” Dolan said. “You have to wonder if they would not be better outside the system.”
The Department of Children and Families said the allegations are a concern if they are true. DCF said the family has not been cooperative and only made the claims when seeking more money.
DCF said it has notified the abuse hotline, the state attorney’s office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office about the accusations.
DCF did say other children in the foster home had been interviewed and there were no reports of abuse with them.
The suit was filed on Tuesday. No court date has been set. The family’s attorney says the agency is the only one named in the suit but others might be added at a later date.
Copyright 2011 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




https://protectingourchildrenfrombeingsold.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/two-more-children-abused-in-the-system-in-florida/

Robin Jensen can you help me trace the money?

Dulce you are Always in our  prayers 

 

I miss you Dulce

I love you Dulce

 

Our hearts are broken without you 

 

 

 

So this seems to me to be an incentive to remove children. If a child is placed into a foster home additional money is provided. DCF gets paid to provide services, but it has also become quite evident it takes a great amount of time to get these helpful services. The more time it takes to complete the required tasks (that DCF demands as conditions of return) then the longer children are kept away from their parents. Guess who makes money on this?

I wonder if it is not people like Robin Jensen Sarasota  Florida Department Of Children And Families, Lisa Voigt, a DCF supervisor in Venice Florida, Alexis Nevling, Safe Children Coalition Arcadia FL, Kelly A. Razzano  Executive Administrative Assistant Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office Tallahassee, Florida,  Brena Slater, Department of Children and Families, Operations Manager and many more?