The DCF contracts with a private agency to oversee the last two counties it controlled.
By Associated Press
Published April 17, 2005
MIAMI - Florida will be the first state in the nation to fully privatize its child welfare programs, after agreeing with a company that will take over those responsibilities in the two remaining counties that a government agency oversees.
The $75 million contract was signed Friday with Our Kids of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, which will handle all foster care, adoption and child welfare licensing operations.
"The entire state will now benefit from qualified experts that are equipped to know and meet the needs of their communities," Department of Children and Families Secretary Lucy Hadi said.
The effort has been a cornerstone of Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to improve the state's troubled child protection system and it has generated its share of controversy.
The Miami-Dade and Monroe contract is the 23rd community-based care agreement between the state and a privately run agency.
The contract had been under negotiation for about two years, because it varies considerably from other contracts between the state and the so-called community-based care agencies, or private foster care providers
Only Hillsborough Kids in Tampa is expected to serve nearly as many children as Miami's group; about 5,000 children are under state care in Miami-Dade and Monroe.
If the number of children in care rises by more than 3 percent, the state agreed to pay Our Kids more money, officials said.
The 22 other private child welfare contracts in the state contain no provision allowing the agencies to receive more funding if their caseloads unexpectedly rise. One agency, Family Continuity in Pinellas County, claimed its highly publicized failure last year was attributed, in part, to higher-than-anticipated caseloads.
"The board made it very clear to DCF that we will not redirect services from existing kids in order to take on new kids," said Hank Adorno, a Miami attorney and chairman of the Our Kids board of directors.
The DCF has been rocked by a series of high-profile child-abuse incidents, including the disappearance of 5-year-old Rilya Wilson. The Miami girl was placed in the care of a woman with a lengthy criminal record. Her disappearance went unnoticed until April 2002 because caseworkers did not make required checks on her.
A caregiver has been charged with murder, but Rilya's body hasn't been found.
