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Foster care case shows need to open shelter

It is not realistic to expect that the state Department of Children and Families can always protect all the children it is responsible for overseeing. There are too many kids and not enough caseworkers.

But handing off the responsibility for in-the-trenches casework to private agencies, as dictated by the state a few years ago, has made achieving that goal even more unachievable.

That's why it is more important than ever for DCF to monitor its community-based contractors - in this region it is Kids Central Inc. - to ensure that youngsters who have been taken out of harm's way are not placed at risk again.

Sadly, the agency appears to have fallen short in another case, this one in involving a foster care home in Brooksville.

As reported by staff writer Chandra Broadwater in Sunday's Times, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office has charged 30-year-old Kejerald C. "K.J." Jackson with several counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and exhibition.

A 17-year-old interviewed by the Times, whose name is being withheld because of the nature of the alleged crime, says Jackson touched him inappropriately while he was living in Jackson's mobile home. After the boy complained to his social worker, the Sheriff's Office interviewed others who stayed with Jackson; a 13-year-old and two 17-year-old boys say Jackson performed sexual acts on them, too.

And Jackson's alleged violation of the youngsters went beyond the physical. He also is accused of stealing personal information from at least one of the boys in order to obtain credit.

The investigation is continuing, but it could take some time because records show 104 teenagers - all boys - were placed in Jackson's home during the three years since he was licensed to be a foster parent.

It is not surprising that the boy interviewed by the Times hardly ever spent time at Jackson's, choosing instead to stay with friends and co-workers from a pizza shop. It is troublesome, however, that caseworkers were not aware of the boy's absence or that Jackson was collecting a check for a service he was not providing.

It also is fair to ask why caseworkers were not more wary about Jackson, who is single, accepting only teenage boys into his home, especially considering he had been investigated twice before for alleged abuse.

One obvious answer to that question is a severe shortage of foster homes that will accept teenage boys, especially for a short period of time. And, other than the New Beginnings Youth Shelter in Brooksville, there is no congregate facility in which to place them in Hernando County. If that facility is at capacity, which it often is, the youngsters are sent to Ocala.

As the Hernando County Commission molds its budget for the next two years, it should explore the possibility of dedicating more money to opening another shelter. Applying for federal and state grants, as well as seeking partnerships with other counties and private sector sponsorships in DCF's five-county District 13 territory, could ease the burden on local taxpayers.

Addressing that need is important, but it cannot supplant the need for DCF, Kids Central and other private agencies to do a better job of selecting foster care providers and monitoring the young people for whom the state is ultimately responsible.

[Last modified January 25, 2007, 06:45:21]