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Child advocates alarmed by revisions in DCF report

MIAMI - Advocates for abused and neglected children say they are concerned that key passages were removed from a child welfare consultant's report on a sharp decline in the number of Miami families that receive state services.

The sections were edited from a draft report by consultant Norma Harris before the final version was officially released last week by the Department of Children & Families. The Miami Herald obtained the earlier draft Monday under Florida's public records law.

In one deleted section, the draft said that some child abuse investigators were reluctant to remove children from their homes because of an "informal policy" requiring permission from a high-ranking supervisor to do so.

The final report also did not contain information in the earlier draft about specific cases that had been the subject of multiple calls to the DCF abuse hot line. Concerns have been raised by child advocates that investigators often close cases by doing little more than handing out brochures for services.

"I'm absolutely shocked that the department would remove pertinent parts from a report that responds directly to our inquiry and pass it off as an original report," said Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman, Miami's chief juvenile judge who leads the Community Based Care Alliance that requested the report.

"I'm even more concerned than before for the safety of the children in this community," she said.

Chuck Hood, the DCF's Miami District administrator, said the 34-page report was reviewed for accuracy before it was released and in some cases researchers were asked to re-examine their findings.

Hood said the DCF was disappointed that the consultants did not look outside the agency to explain the decline in services to children. One child advocate, Renee Michelle Harris of the Institute for Authentic Social Work, said Hood deserved credit for slowing the number of children taken into foster care.

[Last modified June 15, 2005, 00:42:08]