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House committee OK’s bill to drug test temporary family aid seekers

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A bill that would require drug testing for adults of families previously convicted of drug offenses who are applying for temporary family assistance from the state of Florida passed a House committee Monday. Sponsored by Rep. Chris Latvala, the bill – HB 1117 — would mandate the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to give drug screenings to applicants of temporary assistance for needy families, or TANF, who have felony convictions or histories of drug-related offenses, and arrests, within 10…

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‘Foster Shock’ documentary takes Florida’s privatized child welfare system to task

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A documentary film about Florida’s privatized child welfare and fostering programs — made by a Guardian ad Litem and filmmaker from Palm Beach — casts a draconian look at what happens to children when they are taken from abusive situations at home and become dependents of the state, at taxpayer expense, often to their peril. “Foster Shock,” which is currently being screened around the state at community viewings and nationally film festivals, was directed and produced by Mari Frankel, who…

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Teacher fell asleep during school, leaving toddlers unsupervised

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Five minutes could’ve been enough time for a deadly mistake to happen, a parent was reported saying after it was revealed one of the teachers at her toddler’s daycare class in Hobe Sound, Florida, had fallen asleep during class – in the class – as a second teacher was gone in a bathroom, leaving the children unsupervised. It may be have only been a few minutes, but it was enough time for 2-year-olds to find trouble, according to Rachel Nee,…

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Florida couple face ‘shocking’ 700+ counts of abuse against fostered, adopted children

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A couple living in southwest Florida have been charged in Alabama with 727 counts of sexual crimes and physical abuses against their 11 adopted and foster children, law enforcement officials in both states told FloridaPolitics.com Friday. Police in both states are calling it the most shocking case they’ve ever seen. “I’ve been working sex crimes involving kids for 12 years and this is by far the worst I’ve had so far,” Detective Keith Johnson, of the Florence Police Department in…

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Family complains about noisy, alleged drug-dealing neighbors; gets DCF-style investigation by Sheriff’s office

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A mother and father have had enough of their neighbors’ drug-dealing, late-night romps that devolve from friendly partying into “screaming matches,” court records in a lawsuit filed in early March indicate. Jose and Lisa Alecia, with their two children, are homeowners in the Gibsonton neighborhood, located in Hillsborough County outside of Tampa, are seeking $75,000 for damages caused by three neighbors renting a townhome next door in violation of community background screenings. Around two years ago, Yaritza Heredia, Victor Vincente…

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Range of DCF oversight issues, bills to be debated by Florida lawmakers this Session

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As legislators in Tallahassee prepare themselves to convene their 60-day Session Tuesday, expect an assortment of proposed bills to be hashed out over the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Hot-button subjects with bipartisan support in the Senate and House include improvements in mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, working toward identifying and reducing human trafficking, better child protection and a funding shift from the federal level, according to several officials who spoke with FloridaPolitics.com ahead of Session. The…

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Child Abuse Death Review Committee to examine fatality emergency calls

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A total of 931 combined child deaths were reported in Florida in both 2015 and 2016, according to the state’s Child Abuse Death Review Committee (CADR), which met in Tampa Friday to discuss the issue. Broken down, 474 of those reviewable fatalities were in 2015, with another 457 reviewable notifications made in 2016. More than 200 of those are still open cases — 29 from 2015 and 175 from 2016, per graphs compiled in documents by the committee and released…

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