Lee County DCF Subcontractor Jailed For Destroying Records

FORT MYERS -
A former Department of Children and Family Services subcontractor went to jail this week for tampering with public records related to case work.

Denny Kern

Denny Kern was arrested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Wednesday and charged with a a 3rd-degree felony.
NBC2 is looking into his arrest and has learned from DCF that Kern was hired by Lutheran Services in April 2013.
Lutheran Services subcontracts case management work through the Children's Network of Southwest Florida, which is funded by DCF.
The FDLE says that between March 5 and May 11, 2015, "on one or more occasions," Kern altered or destroyed public records.
Here's why that matters: The DCF investigates families and children who may be at risk and generates reports based on what it learns. The information can be used in court proceedings that could affect the custody of a child.

In a statement, DCF calls the falsification of records unacceptable.
Kern was fired by Lutheran Services in May 2015. A DCF spokesperson said 100% of his cases were then reviewed by Lutheran Services.
The Florida Office of Inspector General is also investigating the alleged crimes committed by Kern.
A DCF spokesperson said the inspector general is in the process of finalizing its report.
Kern was released from jail on Thursday.

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/33741188/lee-county-dcf-subcontractor-jailed-for-destroying-records

Foster Carer Blames Department of Children And Families For Teenagers’ Predicament

TWO children who were removed from the care of their foster mother over a “minor incident” are now living on the streets, using drugs and committing property crimes.

The foster carer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the NT News that in the space of two years the two teenage girls she had cared for for 13 years had gone “completely off the rails”.
“(The older girl) has been in 15 different placements, has been in Don Dale, she abuses drugs and alcohol and has a 25-year-old boyfriend ... nobody even knows where she is,” the woman said.
“They (the Department of Children and Families) have destroyed a child who was successfully becoming a young adult and now she rings me and is begging for my forgiveness and asks me ‘why can’t I just come home?’ and I can’t let her because the other children I have at home will be influenced by her.
“She is not safe and I can’t do a damn thing about it.”
The woman said the “shattering” experience almost made her give up her 15-year career of being a volunteer foster parent.
“You didn’t keep my kids safe when you took them,” she said.
“I kept them out of this situation and you’ve allowed them to be sexually abused, allowed them to be drinking and allowed them to be homeless.”
The veteran foster carer said trouble arose during a stressful period when she was trying to merge families together – seven kids in total.
She asked the department to provide a cleaner to help her cope and allow more time to be spent with the kids but it refused.

Following the incident, the woman told DCF about it and subsequently two of the children were removed from her care.
“Instead of the department talking through what happened with us and dealing with it as a family, the flow-through consequence from what they did means they’re in no man’s land now,” she said.
The only the reason the woman kept fostering the other children was because she said “when I take on a kid, I take them on for life”.
“I believe I’ve gone through this because I have the ­capacity to help the department help these kids better than what they are doing now,” she said.
Children’s Commissioner Colleen Gwynne would not comment on the specific case but reiterated comments made earlier this week that supporting foster carers was ­paramount to reduce the NT’s reliance on residential care facilities.

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/national/foster-carer-blames-department-of-children-and-families-for-teenagers-predicament/news-story/98cb2d059a4590d213f8d7f90ad0eae3