A state Senate committee agrees that more and better trained caseworkers is one of the keys to fixing persistent child welfare problems at Florida's Department of Children and Families. The panel has passed a group of bills with a package of solutions for a very troubled system.
The Senate's Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee swiftly approved a package of bills that were partly inspired by the Miami Herald's reporting last summer on the number of children who had died of abuse and neglect.
Hollywood Democrat Eleanor Sobel is the committee chairman.
"We've identified several problems in our committee's works and we've identified several solutions", said Sobel.
The biggest of the panel's three bills requires at least 80% of newly hired investigators to hold social work degrees. Current staff would be exempt, but they could return to school for social work degrees under a tuition subsidy program in the bill.
Other provisions included a state web site with information about child abuse deaths, a team of rapid responders to analyze child deaths, and the creation of an academic institute on child protection issues. It would comprise the social work schools at Florida's state universities.
We are proud of this document that will save lives of many many children in the state of Florida
But the bill still had a long way to go.Senate leaders agree the changes are needed, and Governor Scott has recommended $47 million in new funding for additional investigators. But Senate President Don Gaetz is not yet clear how much money the Legislature is inclined to approve.