Jacob Ogles
State Rep. Spencer Roach doesn’t want kids bouncing around the child welfare system longer than can be helped.
The North Fort Myers Republican has filed a bill (HB 421) aiming to ensure children removed from their parents by the Department of Children and Families get placed with family or into a permanent home within 12 months.
“A year is a long time in the life of a child,” Roach said.
The new lawmaker’s legislation is his first filed since being elected in November. He replaced Republican Matt Caldwell, who unsuccessfully ran for Agriculture Commissioner last year, in House District 79.
The bill’s passage would fulfill a campaign promise but also address a problem near to his heart.
Roach in his personal time has volunteered as a guardian ad litem, an advocate for children in disputes between families and the state. The job requires monthly visits and communication with courts over the children’s best interests.
For the past 18 months, he has served as a guardian for two children in Florida’s 2oth Judicial Circuit. That’s shown him up close the effect delays in the system have on children.
His experiences led Roach to seek a spot on the low-profile Children, Families and Seniors Subcommittee in the House.
Roach said the top priority of his bill will be putting pressure on guardians to meet their responsibilities in a timely fashion. “It puts parents on notice,” he said.
And the priority for the state, whenever possible, should be putting children back in their original homes, Roach said.
But in cases where that can’t happen, such as a parent’s incarceration or continued abuses, the state needs to move quickly to get children in a long-term foster home or adopted by a new family.
“Sometimes children are languishing in the system for well over a year — maybe as long as three years,” he said. “They can go to close to a dozen homes or more in that time.”
But in addition to accountability for parents, the bill also puts requirements on judges and court officials. Right now, judges have discretion to delay various legal actions, but the bill would require a break of no more than 60 days between status hearings.
The bill also requires plain language updates and every effort to engage parents, many of whom may navigate the system slowly simply because they get intimidated by the bureaucracy.
4 comments
Mz Info
January 29, 2019 at 11:03 am
It comes from a good place, but it worries me. What if the state places children in adoptive homes after a year, when the parents needed a little bit more time to get their act together? Would this close any legal option for a parent to regain custody of their children after 1 year? Will a judicial proceeding be able to override this to buy parents more time to win their rights back should they not be fully prepared to take their children back?
Point is, if a parent has done something severe enough for their child to be taken from the home, it will likely take more than a year to recover and gain stability. I mean, it’s simply not easy to quit drugs, or become mentally stable. It’s not an overnight thing. But is that a reason to lose rights to your own children, permanently?
I think legislators should back this up with more clear guidelines and investigate WHY children are being taken from their homes – sometimes very hastily – by the state. Nowhere else in the world are parents threatened by losing their kids to the system as the US is. And DFC of all our state agencies has the MOST holes in it!
It’s a double edged sword.
Connie Going
January 29, 2019 at 11:34 am
It is so true that child languish in Foster Care. As the Adoptive mom to two boys ,one son whom I adopted at age 12 ( He was a “returned” adoptive child with over 47 placements) and my other son whom I adopted at age 17 ( he was born into foster care and was never made free for adoption until he was 7 and then experienced over 40 homes ) I am passionate about changing the child welfare system. I also worked from the inside of the system through HRS, DCF and THREE privatized lead agencies until leaving in frustration 4 years ago. Managing the amount of time children are in the system is unique to every situation. Federally all children must have permemency ( reunification, adoption or Perm. Guardianship ) in 24 months. There should be a review at 6 months and a permanency staffing and hearing at 12 months. If strong social work is done from the on set of the case occurs ( referrals, support and services) then a clear case can be established for reunification or termination. Problems are this doesn’t always happen and services can be hard to find for parents who struggle with deeper issues.Therefore the case lags, case managers leave ( Huge issues with turnover )and children languish and more trauma occurs. We must have oversight from UNINVESTED parties with no fiscal compensation in this. Talk to the families: Foster, Adoptive, Relative and those who were reunited successfully. Even better talk to kids… like my son’s who have survived this broken system and the pervasive trauma it caused them. Listen, Learn and stay focused on CHANGE .
Mz Info
January 31, 2019 at 12:33 pm
Hi Connie,
That is tragic. I agree with you…. No kid should have to go through what you are describing. It’s not fair. And its not fair to the parents who get their kids ripped away from them for years on end b/c they have to go through shitty bureaucracy to finally see how they have made changes.Parents who are trying should not have to wait so long to get their kid back. And Kids who have been in the foster system for too long SHOULD be placed! One year may be too soon to take away rights permanently from parents — but the kids certainly shouldn’t have to wait 7.
I can see why you left – I work next to a DFC state agency and the people seem to HATE their jobs! DFC Is broken!!!!! It needs to be fixed. There is just so many sides to this that sucks. I think we need to get better representation for families overall, that includes parents who have made mistakes but have exemplified due diligence early in the process to make necessary changes!
God bless you and your kids.
Guillermo "Guille"
February 4, 2019 at 7:34 am
Dear MZ,
Rep. Roach’s action comes from his experience with a disconnected system that constantly find excuses, for the parents and case manages, while the children keep suffering from the inactions.
Yes, we need more services for the parents that are willing to make a changes to their lives and are ready to take responsibility for their mistakes. We also need more involvement from individuals like you, to become active advocates volunteers for the children and/or the parents to make a difference.
As well as to demand from our politicians additional funding for our programs.
Rep. Roach Bill, is definitely a step in the right direction!
Don’t be an outsider, get involved…
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