Florida grand jury faults child welfare agency over preventable deaths in north-central region

A grand jury in Marion County found that Florida’s Department of Children and Families is in crisis and failing badly in its responsibility to protect vulnerable people, according to a report published by the Orlando Sentinel.

The findings covered cases in Lake, Marion, Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties and described seven heartbreaking episodes in which the agency had been called to investigate but took little or no action. Six of those cases ended in death.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, one case involved a Central Florida foster family that was allowed to adopt eight children in 2020 even though it had already been investigated 18 times by DCF. Over the next six years, the agency opened 37 more investigations and documented allegations of physical and sexual abuse, but the children were not permanently removed until early this year, when the father was arrested on alleged sexual offenses involving the oldest child.

In another case, a toddler died from skull and spinal injuries, and his mother, who had a 17-year history with DCF, was charged with his murder, the newspaper reported.

The grand jury also pointed to a dozen cases in which law enforcement accused DCF or case-management workers of falsifying records. It added that six agency employees invited to participate either declined or did not respond.

State Sen. Don Gaetz said the report’s 34 recommendations will be folded into legislation for the 2027 session. DCF said it takes the findings seriously and said some of the recommended reforms are already in place, though it did not specify which ones.

Sources

• Florida Politics

About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.