DCF chief defends shifting of duties

Giving child welfare duties to communities will solve problems by "creating a partnership," Jerry Regier says.

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

TAMPA -- Shifting more responsibility for child welfare to local communities doesn't mean the state is "dumping and running," Department of Children and Families Secretary Jerry Regier said Thursday.

"We're not trying to move a problem," Regier told about 700 child welfare workers and advocates at a state-sponsored conference. "We're trying to fix a problem. And we're trying to fix the problem by creating a partnership."

Later the DCF released a list of 434 children in the state system who are considered missing. The vast majority are runaways or were abducted by a parent, according to the DCF. Also on the list are children classified as endangered, such as Rilya Wilson.

The Miami girl, who would now be 6, disappeared more than two years ago while in foster care. DCF caseworkers did not realize she was missing because they did not make required visits to her home for more than a year. Her case revealed disarray in the state's child welfare system and led to the resignation of Regier's predecessor, Kathleen Kearney.

Among Regier's plans to correct the agency's problems are speeding up privatization of child welfare services and transferring abuse investigations to sheriff's offices.

Democrats and some child advocates say Regier's plan passes off responsibility without providing money for improvement.

Regier fought that perception Thursday, saying the new approach means more will be expected of both the state and DCF's community partners. The goal is to reduce caseloads for DCF workers by getting community agencies involved early, he said.

"It's an opportunity for each community to take new ownership and utilize its own resources -- including state funding -- in defining how child abuse will be fought in its own neighborhood."

Regier, said the new approach can reduce foster care in the state by 25 percent.

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