DCF reviews Keys child's placement

TALLAHASSEE - The Department of Children and Families is reviewing the case of a foster child who was taken from the family that planned to adopt her and placed with an uncle the agency previously determined was an unfit caregiver.

Carmen and Armando Alvarez of Key Largo have cared for the baby since shortly after she was born suffering the effects of drug addiction. But Monday, the couple turned the child over to DCF workers who have placed her with an uncle in Volusia County. The uncle, who was arrested in 1998 and later acquitted of battery on a child and delivering alcohol to a minor, had been determined to be an unfit caregiver before the child was placed with the Alvarez family.

It was not clear why the department reversed its decision. Department Secretary Jerry Regier ordered a review Wednesday and expects a recommendation on the child's placement in about a week.

The department places an emphasis on finding relatives to care for children, which probably contributed to the decision to place the girl with her uncle. But that doesn't mean it was the correct decision, Regier said.

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