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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 9, 2002
Here's a little election-year pop quiz: Which gubernatorial candidate said the following about Florida's child-welfare system?
"When our state can't account for the safety of abused children, it's no wonder that people lose faith in their government. We should all be outraged and demanding changes.
"It's not fair to lay the fault at the feet of caseworkers and investigators from the Department of Children and Families. Caseloads and turnover are high (and) the current system often makes their jobs unbearable.
"[S]trong homes is not the place to start cutting corners or trying to save money."
Bill McBride, you say? Janet Reno? Daryl Jones? None of the above. Those words come straight from candidate Jeb Bush, circa 1998. Long before his Democratic challengers put out their plans to reform DCF, Bush had one of his own. It was called We Can Do Better, and it was a good one -- in some ways even better than anything produced since.
In all the crises and controversy of late, Bush is repeatedly accused of not caring about children. Sit with the governor for a moment, and watch his eyes when the topic turns to child protection. Only the most partisan or cynical critic would say he lacks concern. The problem is not that Bush doesn't have a heart. It's that he didn't stick to his plan.
His plan wisely trumpeted Healthy Families Florida, the program that prevents abuse by visiting at-risk mothers, and Bush, as governor, has been vocal in support. But under Bush's watch, the program has received less than half of the money Candidate Bush called for -- and is currently funded to meet less than a third of the need.
The plan called for programs, such as "family conferencing," to help rebuild abusive families and avoid having to remove children. Gov. Bush has certainly pushed for needed monies for investigations and foster-care -- but not for the family-preservation programs Candidate Bush so warmly embraced.
The plan recognized the terrible burdens on child-abuse caseworkers and pledged more state support. Four years later, caseloads and stress have risen while salaries have lagged -- and Gov. Bush has come close to the scapegoating Candidate Bush rejected.
The plan saw community-based care as an "option" that should be made available to Florida's communities, knowing that a "cookie-cutter approach" to the devolution of child-welfare could harm kids. But community-based care is now a mandate, not an option, and Gov. Bush has been too eager to turn the job over to communities not especially eagerto have it.
It goes too far to blame Jeb Bush, as many election-year critics have done, for not "fixing" DCF. No governor in Florida's history has been able to pull off that miracle. But it is fair to ask, four years later, why Bush deviated from the one plan that might have made a real difference.