Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Florence SnyderFebruary 16, 2015

It’s not every day that a divorce lawyer reports her own client to the state’s child abuse hotline. But that’s what John Jonchuck’s lawyer did on January 7, when Jonchuck showed up at the firm’s office dressed in pajamas and toting his five-year-old daughter Phoebe, along with a Bible which he incorrectly believed to be written in Swedish. Jonchuck’s lawyer told the Hotline that […]

Associated PressFebruary 9, 2015

Just 12 hours before police say a man threw his 5-year-old daughter to her death off a Tampa Bay bridge last month, his own attorney called Florida’s child abuse hotline, warning that his client was suffering from mental delusions. But the hotline operator didn’t refer the call to investigators because she didn’t think the child […]

Associated PressDecember 9, 2014

The man appointed to lead Florida’s social services agency has a track record of mobilizing resources to better protect children. In 2012, after nearly a dozen Tampa area children had died while their cases were being investigated by child welfare officials, Mike Carroll combed through data and noticed familiar patterns: substance abuse, domestic violence and […]

Associated PressDecember 9, 2014

The man appointed to lead Florida’s social services agency has a track record of mobilizing resources to better protect children. In 2012, after nearly a dozen Tampa area children had died while their cases were being investigated by child welfare officials, Mike Carroll combed through data and noticed familiar patterns: substance abuse, domestic violence and […]

Guest AuthorMay 3, 2014

If an agency is under fire for failing to live up to its statutory responsibility, it can respond in one of two ways. It can take immediate steps to fix the problem and swing the doors wide to public oversight to make sure it won’t happen again. Or it can do what the Florida Department […]

Tag: DCF

Florence Snyder: DCF's Orwellian response to child thrown from bridge

Hotline ignored calls on girl thrown over bridge by dad

Mike Carroll says DCF safety net can’t fail children

Mike Carroll says DCF safety net can't fail children

Doug Clifton: DCF makes it harder to check up on its performance