For more than 15 years since the privatization of child welfare in Florida, the Florida Department of Children and Families has contracted with lead agencies like ChildNet and Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe Inc. to operate the system of care that has all too frequently relied upon substandard, dangerous group home placements, and sometimes even placements in motels, hotels, shelters or offices.
Foster or adoptive parent recruiting through lead agencies is weak, care is mediocre—and there’s little incentive to improve their own standards. The lead agencies have known that many group homes and shelters are havens of physical and sexual abuse, do not provide individualized care and treatment and all too frequently cause lifelong harm to foster children.
