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Questions waiting as DCF leader takes over
©Associated Press
September 4, 2002
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush's choice to head Florida's child welfare agency showed up for work Tuesday with more questions than answers.
Jerry Regier, who was appointed last month as secretary of the state's troubled Department of Children and Families, started his new $150,000-a-year job looking for more money and more workers to get the agency's tasks done.
The biggest challenge may be finding enough investigators and caseworkers to cut the number of foster care kids who cannot be accounted for. "One of my big questions today is about the 700 vacancies," Regier said. "Is it because we can't recruit or is it other reasons?"
Regier, 57, who was nominated by Bush last month, said he has spent most of a week preparing for the agency's budget request for next year and looking for ways to fill the department's many vacancies.
"Normally an agency this size would certainly run some vacancies," he said. "In and of themselves, it's not a concern, but the number does kind of raise a flag for me."
Regier, who still needs Senate confirmation to become the permanent secretary, has consistently said his first main goal is to ensure that front-line workers have the tools to do their job.
Regier served as the Oklahoma cabinet secretary for social services for five years.
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