GRG of Brevard
June 2014 GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN OF BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA INC.
ISSUE # 156
SAVE THE DATE – JUNE 6TH The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) will be meeting with us on the above date. The DCF's Staff attending will be Bill A'uito, Director of Circuit 18, Stephanie Weis, Family Safety and Community Services Director with Circuit 18, Chuck Puckett, Program Administrator for Central Brevard's Abused Children's Investigation Division, Katie Guemple, Program Administrator for South Brevard's Abused Children's Investigation Division and several others. This meeting is to discuss DCF's new Child Protection Transformation Project. The new project has implemented a new procedure when children are removed from a dysfunctional home the children are put into joint custody with the grandparents and the parents. This procedure gives the parents 3-6 months to correct the reason the children were removed. GRG of Brevard feels that caregivers cannot effectively provide safe and stable homes to these abused children when encumbered by joint custody.
If you have been involved with this new procedure or have concerns please plan to attend to make your concerns known.
YOU NEED TO KNOW Brevard Family Partnership has made a major case management transition from Devereux and the Children’s Home Society to IMPOWER effective July 1, 2014. Brevard Family Partnership, who subcontracts to DCF to provide Case Management for children who have been placed through the Dependency Court, has awarded IMPOWER a four-year case management contract valued up to $4.5 million annually. Through a competitive process, IMPOWER was awarded the right to negotiate and operate all case management services in Brevard County. The initial contract term begins July 1, 2014 and runs through June 30, 2018. Amanda Dawson is managing the transition. Lisa Summers Peyton, LMFT, Chief Operating Officer will assist in the transition.
The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) has a new interim secretary, Mike Carroll, managing director of DCF’s Suncoast Region in the southwestern part of the state has been appointed the eighth secretary or interim secretary at the beleaguered agency since 1999. Carroll follows Ester Jacobo, who was appointed by Governor Scott as interim secretary in July after David Wilkins resigned in the wake of a series of child deaths from abuse and neglect. Those deaths are still very much on lawmakers minds, and Carroll’s appointment came as the legislature is close to passing a proposal (SB 1999 and HB 7169) aimed at fixing the state’s longtroubled child welfare system. The Florida Senate has passed a sweeping bill seeking to overhaul the child welfare system by hiring new investigators & emphasizing child safety above family reunification. The bill passed 37-0.
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