DCF chief: 'I'm here to stay'

The new secretary answers his critics and vows to find missing children and run an open agency.

By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 22, 2002

TALLAHASSEE -- Jerry Regier spent his first full day Wednesday learning about the child welfare agency he was hired to fix, and seemed eager to dispel Democratic notions that the controversy swirling around his appointment would force an early exit.

"I'm here to stay," a smiling Regier said as he walked out of Department of Children and Families headquarters after a series of briefings. "I plan to stay. I believe I'm qualified for the job. I believe that I can make an impact . . . and I'm excited about the challenge."

Gov. Jeb Bush last week hired Regier, 57, a former Oklahoma human services secretary, in part because of his experience in crisis management. But his appointment caused a crisis of its own because of Regier's past ties to a group that published a 1989 essay criticizing the idea of women working outside the home and advocated spanking of children that caused "superficial bruises or welts."

Regier renounced those views and said he cut all ties with the group in 1990.

Regier does not officially start work for two more weeks. But he said his biggest priority as DCF secretary would be to locate several hundred children under state supervision.

"The governor's certainly concerned about that, and I'm concerned about that," Regier said.

At Bush's urging, Regier and James "Tim" Moore, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, plan to work jointly to find those children. Most are classified as runaways; some have been unaccounted for by DCF for years. Regier also met with Moore at FDLE headquarters to plan the effort, which will be announced in Miami on Friday and is patterned after "Operation Safe," a program to track down sex offenders.

Regier said he would evaluate DCF policies on the release of information. Too often, he said, agencies like DCF "hide behind confidentiality laws" to avoid discussing internal problems.

In stark contrast to his predecessor, Kathleen Kearney, who resigned last week, Regier promised to run "an open agency" and make himself available to reporters regularly.

Regier calmly fielded questions for about 15 minutes, including a query about why his name is still listed on the Web site of the Coalition on Revival, a California group that published the controversial paper, years after severing the relationship.

"I don't know what their problem is," Regier said.

The newest high-profile member of the Bush administration, who made a brief run for the Republican nomination for governor of Oklahoma this year, calls himself a strong pro-family conservative.

An adviser to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Regier founded the Family Research Council in 1984 and headed an Oklahoma program to reduce the state's high divorce rate.

Florida Democrats have said Regier's "fundamentalist views" raise questions about his credibility, but Regier said no one at DCF was concerned about that.

"Not one theological question came up," he said.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright