Florida CPS News Archive

Florida Keys voters split on genetically modified mosquito trial

by Andrew Joseph

A proposal to release genetically altered mosquitoes into the Florida Keys hit a stumbling block, with voters expressing ambivalence about the plan.

Residents split on the possibility of a trial, with one ballot initiative open only to residents of Key Haven, where the trial would take place, failing, and another initiative open to all residents of surrounding Monroe County being approved.

statnews.com

November 9, 2016

Number of Children in Foster Care Spikes

by Margie Menzel

The number of Florida children in the state's foster-care system has reached its highest level since 2008 - driven by both a spike in the number of kids being removed from their homes and a drop in the number being discharged.

In the last 24 months, the number of children in what's known as out-of-home care has reached 22,004 statewide, up from 17,591 in 2013. These and other trends are included in a report developed by the Department of Children and Families for a recent meeting of the state's privatized community-based care organizations, which oversee foster care and adoption services.

theledger.com

July 2, 2015

Broward Child Sues Child Welfare Providers, Foster Parent After Alleged Sexual Assault

A South Florida child is suing two child welfare providers he says failed to protect him from being sexually abused.

The attorneys for the child say a man with a history of child molestation allegations is a former foster parent accused of sexually abusing a foster child in his care a few years ago.

nbcmiami.com

May 5, 2015

Hybrid homeschool puts focus on the family

by Kyle Coppa-Cross

A new hybrid school - combining aspects of homeschooling and traditional schooling and faith-based learning - is winning over parents.

Qualified teachers write lesson plans and teach classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The students are instructed at home by a parent Mondays and Wednesdays using the same lesson plans. Fridays are usually an extracurricular class, like sign language, physical education or the arts.

floridatoday.com

April 15, 2015

State child welfare agency hires investigator forced to resign amid sex and bribery allegations

by Matt Dixon

When Florida's Department of Children and Families hired Karlos Barnes to handle child abuse investigations in 2013, the agency thought it was getting an experienced investigator.

What the child welfare agency didn't know: it hired an investigator to help children in southeast Florida who was forced to resign his old job under a cloud of accusations, including sex and bribery, according to a review of hundreds of pages of state records by the Scripps-Tribune Capital Bureau. The agency overseeing alcohol and tobacco investigations wanted to keep its inquiry into the allegations "quiet," state records show, and apparently didn't follow procedures.

naplesnews.com

November 23, 2014

Another mom arrested for sending her kid to the park

by Mary Elizabeth Williams

Why are parents being punished for giving children independence?

"I'm totally dumbfounded by this whole situation," says Nicole Gainey. She's not the only one. The Port St. Lucie, Florida, mom was arrested on Saturday for letting her 7-year-old son, Dominic, walk alone - in the daytime, with a cellphone - a half-mile to a local park. "I honestly didn't think I was doing anything wrong," she says. "I was letting him go play." During his approximately 10-minute walk, the boy passed by a public pool, where a patron asked him where his mother was and other questions. As he told a local news station, "I got scared and ran off to the park, and that's when they called the cops." Police picked up the boy at the park, brought him home and arrested his mother for felony child neglect.

salon.com

July 30, 2014

Why Every Foster Kid Should Have an 'Electronic Backpack'

by J.B. Wogan

Ventura County, Calif., is home to roughly a thousand children who end up in the tough and disruptive world of foster care. These adolescents live transient existences, sometimes changing homes two or even three times in a year.

But officials in Ventura County have an idea that might help: Give every foster kid an "electronic backpack." The county announced in June that it will phase in a digital repository of health, education and juvenile probation records for foster youth that will be stored and accessed from one centralized location. While policymakers have sought for years to improve electronic medical records for the general population, the issue is particularly relevant for children in foster care, who tend to suffer disproportionate rates of physical ailments, such as asthma, dental decay and malnutrition.

govtech.com

June 25, 2014

District says it handled student sex case properly

Shortly after the Columbia County School District launched an investigation on whether staff members failed to report sexual abuse involving a student at Pinemount Elementary.

In response to our request, the School District began investigating and concluded that Niblack Elementary staff appropriately handled the two incidents in the 2012 to 2013 school year where a male student allegedly touched a female student through her clothes. The male student was suspended both times and the incidents were referred to law enforcement for investigation, but the Department of Children and Families says it was never notified.

firstcoastnews.com

June 4, 2014

Five Years After Foster Care Child's Suicide, Findings Could Resurface

by Margie Menzel

The suicide of 7-year-old Gabriel Myers in foster care shocked the child-welfare system in 2009. It led to a series of recommendations about Florida's use of psychotropic medications on foster kids and how to protect already-traumatized children.

Gabriel was taking two psychotropic medications when he died, and a Department of Children and Families investigation found that neither his parents nor a judge had approved them, nor was the medication he took reflected in his case files. Then-DCF Secretary George Sheldon appointed two work groups in 2009 and 2010 to study and make recommendations about the use of psychotropic medications on foster children and about child-on-child sexual abuse.

northescambia.com

February 9, 2014

Martin County Library System offers wealth of resources, savings to homeschool families

by Alicen Kikkert

STUART - Though the Turull family lives in Port St. Lucie, the Martin County Library System (MCLS) has been their go-to place for books and research for the past 18 months.

Reasons to homeschool vary based on the needs of the family. For the Turulls, the idea of one-on-one learning and letting their children explore, in greater depth, subjects that interest them was very appealing. They visit the library four to six times a month for homeschool purposes and find that it is a great way to break up the week and do some learning outside of the house.

tcpalm.com

August 19, 2013

Judge wants DCF to transfer child-protective investigations

by Margie Menzel

In the wake of a fifth child death in little more than two months, a circuit judge Tuesday called for the Florida Department of Children and Families to stop doing child-welfare investigations and transfer that responsibility elsewhere.

"They need to get out of the child-protection investigation business," Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said of the department. Whether law-enforcement agencies or local community-based care organizations conduct the investigations doesn't matter, Lederman said. "Anybody but DCF." Part of the problem, Lederman said, was that DCF had been unable to establish the need for intervention when it was warranted.

tallahassee.com

August 14, 2013

Florida Department of Children and Families Announces Thorough Review of Child Deaths

by Diana Gonzalez

There have been 12 verified deaths due to abuse or neglect in 2013, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

The agency says in order to do the most thorough review possible it will be looking into far more than just the verified cases to identify ways to prevent future tragedies. Two-year-old Jayden Villegas Morales of Homestead is the latest child death where the family has a history with DCF.

nbcmiami.com

July 26, 2013

Courts and State Agencies Collaborate against Parents

by Annette M. Hall

Community partnership taunted as benefiting abused and neglected children in Alachua, Levy and Gilchrist Counties, Florida, aimed at defeating parents in a collaborated effort.

Kidjacked

September 8, 2023