State: Input on DCF panel gets scrutiny

TALLAHASSEE -- To find out what's wrong with Florida's Department of Children and Families, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed a four-person "Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Protection" this month to investigate.

But first, his staff relied on the advice of Kathleen Kearney, head of the agency the panel is investigating.

In e-mails to the governor's staff the day before the panel was announced, Kearney suggested who should head the panel and what it should investigate, according to copies of the e-mails reviewed by the St. Petersburg Times.

In one e-mail, written to Bush's chief of staff on May 5, Kearney wrote: "I also suggest that Dave Lawrence 'chair' this panel."

The next day Bush announced creation of the four-member panel, saying in a news release, "I am asking that Dave Lawrence chair this panel." David Lawrence Jr. is a former Miami Herald publisher who has become a respected child advocate.

The e-mails also show that Kearney and Bush's staff discussed other people the governor was considering. Along with Lawrence, Bush named three others:

Carol Licko, a lawyer and former general counsel to Bush.

Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, president of Barry University.

Sara Herald, a group chief administrative officer for Union Planters Bank, who served on Bush's gubernatorial transition team.

Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida, questioned the process, saying, "If we're going to have kind of an impartial investigation, then I would think that the agency head shouldn't be involved in the selection of the people doing the investigation and setting the agenda."

But spokeswomen for the governor and Kearney said it only made sense for Bush to ask his social services chief for advice.

"Obviously she knows the system. It would be a little odd if we didn't ask the secretary of an agency," said Katie Muniz, spokeswoman for Bush.

She said the governor's office asked Kearney for panel suggestions, but Bush himself made the ultimate decisions about who would be chosen and who would serve as the chairman. She said Kearney did not come up with the names of the members, but could not say who did.

Muniz said it was a "courtesy" to ask Kearney to provide "some ideas where she knew the system failed."

"Overall, it was totally the governor's idea because the governor said, 'I want a panel created to look at safety, accountability and oversight,' " Muniz said.

DCF spokeswoman LaNedra Carroll agreed. "When asked, she did suggest some areas that might be of interest. That in no way taints the process," she said.

Carroll said Bush "had the ability to take her guidance or not."

Lawrence, chairman of the child protection panel, said he was not aware that Kearney had recommended him for the position. He still feels that the panel is independent.

"We have asked lots of tough questions of the department, including today," Lawrence said Friday after leading a public meeting in Miami about the department. "It was a tough and testy session at points today. The department could not have been pleased about some of what was said."

The Riyla Wilson case became national news after April 29, when Miami police appealed to the public to locate the little girl. It quickly dominated Gov. Bush's agenda. He met with Kearney in early May, and his staff began considering a panel to investigate the agency that oversees Florida's most vulnerable children.

Kearney was closely involved in the discussions.

On the morning of Friday, May 3, Bush e-mailed Kearney this reassurance: "Kate, stay compassionate and strong. Don't be embattled. It becomes self fulfilling. Get some rest."

Two days later, Bush's chief of staff Kathleen Shanahan e-mailed Kearney at 11:20 a.m. Shanahan forwarded a copy of the e-mail to three other Bush administration officials. She discussed a panel that would be "sort of a look from outsiders, with credibility in that market, to speak to DCF processes used in how to reform, correct or stay the same. . . ."

The Shanahan e-mail mentions "names we discussed on Friday," including Lawrence and Licko. It also contains apparent references to Herald and O'Laughlin, and one person who was not selected.

Shanahan's e-mail also says to Kearney, "Let me know when you are available to chat re: what this group would do."

Kearney responded 2 1/2 hours later: "have been calling your cell and office numbers. Do not want to e-mail."

But Kearney did write an e-mail back to Shanahan late that afternoon, saying, "Here are the names for the Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Protection." She listed Licko, O'Laughlin and Lawrence.

She also wrote that "the panel should be charged with the task of reporting to the governor and the secretary on the following issues within 14 days."

The issues she mentioned, paraphrased, were:

Are children safe while supervised by DCF in the Miami area?

Does DCF exercise appropriate monitoring and oversight?

How strong is the management and personnel system in DCF's Miami-area district?

She also wrote, "This is an aggressive agenda for a 14-day turn-around, but these issues are critical."

The next day, Bush's office issued a news release saying, "This is an aggressive schedule for the panel's work, but the critical importance of the task -- protecting our vulnerable children -- demands urgent action."

Bush's staff also suggested another name: that of Martha Barnett, a prominent Tallahassee lobbyist and a former president of the American Bar Association. She was not named to the panel.

Child advocate Jack Levine, president of the Center for Florida's Children, said, "All four members appointed by the governor to that blue-ribbon committee are in their own right extremely qualified to do the job they were appointed to do."

Because of that, he said, "I'm not feeling that there is the smell of inappropriateness here. . . . This is a panel with open ears, that's what my feeling is."

-- Times staff writer Mike Brassfield contributed to this report.

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