Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaNovember 3, 2017

Rebecca Kapusta, general counsel for the Department of Children and Families (DCF), will next serve as the agency’s new Assistant Secretary for Operations, a DCF spokesman said Friday. Kapusta, who’s been with the agency for more than a decade, replaces Vicki Abrams. She’s retiring after 30-plus years with the department and “a nearly 35-year career dedicated […]

Staff ReportsNovember 2, 2017

Florida Gov. Rick Scott didn’t roll out his entire proposed budget Thursday at AP Day, yet he floated a proposal that likely will meet no objection. The governor proposed $200 million for families who adopt children from foster care. This money will continue post-adoption services for more than 37,000 children. Adoptions have gone up since Scott […]

Danny McAuliffeOctober 25, 2017

The Department of Children and Families is requesting more than $250 million from the Legislature for fiscal year 2018-19. Kimberly McMurray, chief financial officer of the department, laid out a list of specific initiatives Wednesday to the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee. DCF’s funding requests were organized into four goals: — Expand and better coordinate […]

Jim RosicaOctober 19, 2017

The company that publishes the Tampa Bay Times is asking a Tallahassee court to order the release of records on “abuse, neglect or exploitation of vulnerable adults by providers of home health care services” from the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF). The petition, agreed to by the department, was filed this week by Times Publishing Co. and […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 14, 2017

After eight South Florida nursing home residents died when Hurricane Irma knocked out their power, Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday directed the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to block the facility from receiving Medicaid payments. Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said investigators believe the deaths at Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills were heat-related, adding […]

Jim RosicaJuly 12, 2017

Can Melinda Miguel, formerly Gov. Rick Scott‘s inspector general, do consulting work involving a nonprofit doing business with the state’s child-welfare agency if she worked on a whistleblower’s report against that same concern? Yes, according to a staff recommendation of the Florida Commission on Ethics released Wednesday. The commission is scheduled to consider the opinion at its […]

Staff ReportsMay 23, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott agreed the state needs to pay the remainder of a $5 million settlement to a boy found doused in chemicals while his twin decomposed in the back of their father’s pesticide truck. Scott signed the claims bill (SB 18) to pay Victor Barahona $3.75 million in an abuse case that took the […]

Florence SnyderApril 21, 2017

In the wake of two suicides of teenage foster children in their “care,” the “leadership team” of Miami’s “community-based care” agency took their marbles and accrued benefits and went home. Judging from their whiny, self-involved letters of resignation, the agency’s name — Our Kids — refers to the six-figure people running the place, and not […]

Erin ClarkApril 17, 2017

For the community-based care providers that perform the lion’s share of child welfare services in Florida, the proposed 2017 budget is a disappointment. A press release that accompanied the Jan. 31 release of Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s “Fighting for Florida’s future” budget proposal touts “a record $632 million to provide core services to children who […]

Les NeuhausMarch 28, 2017

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Naika Venant’s mother vehemently refutes narratives by the state agency in a March 13 report, including suggestion she ‘allegedly’ commented on Facebook Live thread taunting daughter while watching and did nothing; lawyer says agencies ‘abysmally failed’ Naika. *** Naika Venant was a girl whose personality had turned from that of a bright and gifted child […]

Tag: Department of Children and Families
Image via AP.

Personnel note: Rebecca Kapusta made ass’t secretary at DCF

Rick Scott proposes $200M for adoption of foster kids

DCF requests funding, lists priorities

Tampa Bay Times seeks court order for DCF investigations

Rick Scott takes action against nursing home where eight died

Ethics panel could approve ex-Rick Scott official’s consulting work

Rick Scott signs claims bill for abuse survivor Victor Barahona

Florence Snyder: Why children die, Part 4 — Clues in the resignation letters

Florida child welfare providers do more with less, but how much less?

Did Florida DCF create media frenzy after foster child’s suicide to distract from agency errors?