More Bad News on DCF Children Deaths

Gov. Rick Scott has praised the work of DCF child welfare chief David Wilkins.

Commenting on the latest death, Scott told reporters: "You would hate for anything to happen to any child ... Any time anything like this happens, you take it very seriously and the expectation is you go back and make sure it doesn't happen again. I think Secretary Wilkins is doing a very good job. He's very committed to doing the right thing. He's very committed to making sure that every child is taken care of, and he'll do the right thing in looking into this."

Wilkins was doing so good of a job he as forced to resign. Scott offered his praise to Wilkins after four children died in the DCF child welfare program. Scott has a unique view of what constitutes doing a good job.

We now learn of the brutal death of a two-year old boy at the hands of his father Jayden Villegas-Morales. How did Villegas-Morales ever past the home inspection is a mystery.

Though DCF had declared Villegas’ home study to be “positive,” it included a handful of facts that some children’s advocates call troubling: Villegas was unemployed, living in a one-bedroom home with eight other children, had been repeatedly accused of domestic violence and had admitted to child-welfare authorities that he had “an anger issue.” Investigators also documented alleged marijuana use in front of the children, the presence of cockroaches in the home and instances where children were hemmed up in dirty diapers.

After this tragedy, Judge Hanzman has ordered hearings before caregivers can place a child. The legal system no longer trusts the DCF.

Rick Scott's Poor Handling of Department of Children & Families Deaths

I have blogged in the past about child abuse and mismanagement by the Department of Children & Families here, here and here. Gov Rick Scott has praised Secretary David Wilkins handling of the DCF. The only problem with Scott's narrative is dead children and the words of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen.

“We have a very severe systemic problem,” Cohen said. “The system is not working, and it’s scary.”

“Every single one of these deaths could have been avoided,” said Cohen who was a veteran child welfare judge before transferring to Miami’s drug court, where she often still deals with parents whose addictions undermine their parenting. “You can’t explain away this many child deaths in this short a period of time where the state’s child protective investigation system is implicated. It’s urgent and it’s serious and it’s unconscionable..''

Translation: Judge Cohen is saying that the state bears responsibility in these deaths and lacks credibility. The Scott administration's first reaction to the TB outbreak was to cover it up. The result was 3,000 Floridians getting TB. This is the kind of incompetent governing that happens when a ideologue conservative becomes governor.

Quote of the Day

"We are not abandoning these children; we are preparing these children for a life on their own."

Rep. Dana Young

Actually Mrs. Young, you are abandoning these children. Claiming that you are preparing them for the real world by forcing kids out of the DCF system two years soon is like claiming you are teaching someone to swim by throwing him into the water.

The Florida House voted 79-38 to age children out of the system at 21. Currently the law states that kids aren't aged out of the DCF system until 23.

Let's be clear about this. These kids have no families to fall back on. Florida Republican has run the Department of Children & Families incompetently. Children have died in the DCF system run by Gov. Jeb Bush's administration. Former DCF chief Kathleen Kearney resigned because children were lost missing are killed under DCF supervision.

The Agency of Persons With Disabilities sued the family of Kevin, a blind boy with cerebal palsy. Kevin's doctor told the St. Petersburg Times that thermal blankets were needed for Kevin's well-being. The cost was $360.00. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities refused to pay. The medical company decided to provide the blankets for free.

The Agency For Persons With Disabilities decided to sue. For some bizarre reason they decided that the state must have repayment for free thermal blankets. Charlie Crist put an end to the lawsuit when he because governor.

I ask how exactly is Florida preparing foster children for the real world. The pro-life attitude of Republicans doesn't seem to extend to children once they are born.

King Rick Scott's 'supreme executive power'

Rosalie Whiley has filed suit against Gov. Rick Scott. The governor froze all regulation for review. Even though Scott could not cite a regulation that was impeding the private sector. Whiley says the freeze affected the Department of Children and Families from renewing her food stamp application. Scott's attorneys countered by stating the governor has "supreme executive power."

Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte wrote a brief and noted that King Arthur in Monty Python & the Holy Grail cited "supreme executive power" over all of the Britons.

On May 23, Whiley's attorneys poked fun at Scott's claim to "supreme executive power" by suggesting that "the Governor's theory seems to have come from a Monty Python skit. See the discourse between 'Arthur, King of Britons' and 'Dennis the Constitutional Peasant,' from Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

In that scene from the 1975 cult classic comedy, King Arthur explains to Dennis, a filth-covered peasant, that Arthur rules over all Britons because a mystical Lady of the Lake "held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king."

Dennis responds: "Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony … You can't expect to wield supreme executive power because some watery tart threw a sword at you."

Here is the scene from Monty Python & the Holy Grail.

Florida Gay Adoption Ban Ends

Department of Children & Families Director George Sheldon announced that Florida's ban on gay and lesbians adopting is over. Sheldon also said the decision affected the Frank Gill adoption case.

"The Gill family adoption is now final. They can take pride that they are now a family in the eyes of the state and they can take pride that their struggle has closed the chapter on this law for good," Sheldon said.

The DCF sent out this press release.

Based on the ruling that the current law is unconstitutional, you are no longer to ask prospective adoptive parents whether they are heterosexual, gay or lesbian, nor are you to use this as a factor in determining the suitability of applicants to adopt. Focus your attention on the quality of parenting that prospective adoptive parents would provide, and their commitment to and love for our children.

Florida politicians showed incredible hypocrisy towards gay adoption. Gill was allowed to be the foster father of two brothers because of the shortage of foster parents. Gill wanted to adopt the brothers so they would not become separated. Republican politicians were against gays adopting by using bogus claims that children would be brainwashed into the gay lifestyle. Republican Attorney General used (now outed) gay Christian conservative George Rekers to help make his case. Judge Cindy Lederman did not find Rekers' testimony to be credible.

Florida joins the 21 century on adoption. If Rick Scott becomes governor he will attempt to change the policy and waste more tax dollars fighting for a discriminatory adoption policy.

Crist & Sink On Gay Adoption

Charlie Crist say his position on gay adoption has not changed, but evolved. That is a politically clever way of saying his position has changed.

CRIST: Not really. It's more of an appropriate evolution. As I think most of us learn in life, the older you get the more tolerant you become and the less judgmental you are.

Crist was asked if he would have the Department of Children and Families drop its appeal against Martin Gill adopting his foster children. Judge Cindy Lederman awarded Gill custody. The appeal is currently tied up in the system.

Crist has said he will look at the case before making a decision. Crist's term as Governor will be over soon and there is a limited window of opportunity for him to make a decision on the case. LGBT rights groups are pressuring Crist to drop the appeal.

Sink made this statement on gay adoption.

SINK: Every case should be evaluated individually and that it should be left to the experts who know most intimately about that child's well-being and the judge. There should be no discrimination.

It is a welcome to see candidates not bashing gays this campaign season. Actions need to match the rhetoric. Crist can have the DCF drop the costly suit against Gill's adoption. Sink can speak out more about gay rights issues. Both candidates are cautious political centrists. If either or both or elected, activists need to hold Crist and Sink to their campaign promises.

McCollum Forced DCF to Hire Rekers

People within the Florida Department of Children and Families were forced to hire George Rekers to testify against a gay adoption case. Former DCF head Bob Butterworth admitted as much to the Miami Herald.

"We basically had to," said Butterworth. "The only problem we had was the expert, and the amount of money and the credibility of the expert."

That expert would be Rekers and the dollar amount was $120,000.

McCollum ignored adviced from Assistant Attorney General Valerie Martin.

"Dr. Rekers is a right-wing religious-based expert who I am reluctant to use - but nevertheless contacted him with no response," Martin wrote in an e-mail to John Slye, DFC deputy council.

Rekers religious-based testimony hurt the state's case. Frank Martin Gill and his partner were able two adopt two boys that were in their care for years. Judge Cindy Lederman wrote, "The court cannot consider his testimony credible or worthy of forming the basis of public policy."

McCollum was warned that Rekers was not suited to testify in the case. McCollum ignored legal advice and chose to pander to the Christian Right. McCollum failed to serve his conservative agenda by stopping the adoption. Tax dollars went to a witness that the court said lacked credibility. I'm not a lawyer but I have to wonder if McCollum is one. From a strictly legal standpoint hiring Rekers was stupid.

Florida Rankings In Health Care and Education

The Lawton Chiles Foundation has compiled a list of Florida's national in health care, education and social economic matters. The closer the ranking is to 50 the worse Florida's rating is compared to other states. For instance, Florida ranks 49th in uninsured children. The education numbers are dismal and prove no one should take Jeb Bush seriously on education matters.

Florida ranks 41st in child abuse-related deaths. The Florida Department of Children and Families is in need of aggressive reform. The DCF officials have been charged with committing crimes. THe DCF has failed to move children from abusive homes. In 2008, One in four foster children were homeless. Only one out of ten foster children were at grade level.

A mother was denied parental rights because she no longer attended "therapeutic visitations and individual therapy." The DCF discontinued these sessions due to budget cuts. The mother was found at fault for not attending sessions the DCF terminated. The Third District Court of Appeal reversed the DCF decision. This level of incompetence is normal for the DCF.

The Third DCA also held that the trial court erred in terminating the mother’s parental rights based on her failure to comply with her case plan. "The failure to comply with a case plan may not be used as a ground for termination of parental rights if the failure is due to the parent's lack of financial resources or the failure of the department to make reasonable efforts to reunify the parent and child." K.J. v. Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 906 So.2d 1183 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005); see T.M. v. Dep't of Children & Families, 905 So.2d 993, 997 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005).” The mother completed her parenting classes. The mother’s failure to complete the therapeutic visits and individual counseling was partially attributable to the department.

Finally, the Third DCA held that the trial court erred in terminating the mother’s rights based on abandonment. The mother made more than a marginal effort to communicate with her child. The mother failed to provide child support but that alone does not warrant a finding of abandonment as the mother lacked the ability to provide child support.

The Third DCA reversed the TPR order and remanded for further proceedings.

Florida's national rankings in health care, education and social economics.

HEALTH

Ranking on number of uninsured children
Florida ranks 49th. About 19 percent, or 763,000 of our children, do not have health insurance, versus a national average of 11 percent.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center

Immunization Coverage
Florida ranks 10th, with 82.4 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months
receiving complete immunizations.
Source: United Health Foundation, America’s Health Rankings, 2008

Access to Prenatal Care
Florida ranks 47th in the percentage of pregnant women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester, with 70 percent. More than 71,000 women in Florida do not get prenatal care in the first trimester.
Sources: Kaiser Family Foundation, StateHealthFacts.org; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, VitalStats.

Infant mortality
Florida ranks 32nd in the number of infant deaths (before age 1) per 1,000 live births with a rate of 7.2, or more than 1,600 infant deaths annually.
Source: United Health Foundation, America’s Health Rankings, 2008; Kaiser Family Foundation, StateHealthFacts.org.

Low birth weight babies
Florida ranks 36th in the nation in the percent of low-birthweight babies, defined as babies weighing less than 5 ½ pounds at birth – 8.7 percent of all births, or nearly 21,000 babies a year.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation 2008 Kids Count Data Book; Kaiser Family Foundation, StateHealthFacts.org.

Teen birth rates
Florida ranks 30th, with a rate of 42 (births per 1,000 females ages 15-19), or more than 25,000 teen births annually.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation 2008 Kids Count Data Book; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, VitalStats.

EDUCATION

State spending on education as percentage of total resources
Florida ranks 42nd. As a state, Florida spends only 3.1% of its resources on education.
Source: Education Week, Quality Counts, 2009

State per capita spending on corrections vs. education
Florida ranks 50th in per capita spending on education, but ranks 16th in the nation in spending on corrections.
Source: NEA Rankings of the States 2008

High School Graduation Rates
Florida ranks 43rd, with 60.8 percent of public high school students graduating with a diploma.
Source: Education Week, Quality Counts, 2009

Standardized Test Scores
Florida students rank 48th in the nation in average composite scores on the ACT, a standard college entrance exam.
Source: American Legislative Exchange Council, Report Card on American Education, 2008

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC

Children in Poverty
Florida ranks 31st in the percentage of persons under age 18 who live in households at or below the poverty threshold, with 17.9 percent. The federal poverty threshold for a family of four is $22,050 annual income.
Source: United Health Foundation, America’s Health Rankings, 2008

Children in Single-Parent Families
Florida ranks 40th, with 35 percent.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation 2008 Kids Count Data Book

Child Abuse Deaths
Florida ranks 41st, with 2.9 child abuse fatalities per 100,000.
Source: Every Child Matters Education Fund, “Geography Matters: Child Well Being in the States,” 2008

Teens not working and not attending school
Florida ranks 36th, with 9 percent.
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation 2008 Kids Count Data Book

Juvenile violent crime
Florida ranks 48th in the nation in juvenile incarceration rates, with a custody rate of 451.8 per 100,000 children ages 10 and up.
Source: Every Child Matters Education Fund, “Geography Matters: Child Well Being in the States,” 2008

Jeb Bush's Conspiracy Theory

Former Gov. Jeb Bush said Barack Obama would not have gotten elected if he told the American public about his secret plan. Jeb makes Obama sound like Dr. Evil.

Said Bush: "Barack Obama would not have gotten elected if he'd let us in on his secret plan prior to the election. He would not have gotten elected if he'd said, 'My idea is to create a $1.8 trillion deficit for the next fiscal year. My idea is to spend $750 billion over the next ten years on a government-sponsored, government-subsidized health-care policy. My idea is to create a massive cap-and-trade system [based on the idea] that CO2 is [a] pollutant and we need to tax it in a massive way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.' Those ideas, which are now embedded in his budget, and the ideas in the stimulus package, weren't central in his campaign."

Jeb is suddenly a fiscal conservative now that his brother is out of the Oval Office. I don't recall Jeb running on making Florida's education system a national embarrassment. Jeb didn't make campaign promises about being Governor of the state with the lowest graduation rate. Bush flip flopped on his offshore drilling stance near the end of his second term.

Bush backed raising property taxes on a local level. Jeb wanted to increase the tax burden on local governments, so he could continue to portray himself as a tax cut Republican. This helped lead to the property tax revolt.

There have been numerous child abuse stories because of neglect from the Department of Child & Families. Jeb hired Jerry Regier to run DCF. Regier spent more time rewarding cronies than keeping children from being abused.

Jerry Regier has obviously got Polaroids of Gov. Jeb Bush in drag, or an equally kinky secret.

Nothing else could explain why Bush hasn’t fired this knucklehead from the Department of Children and Families, where Regier has served two damaging years as secretary.

Arguably the most important appointment of the governor’s tenure — choosing the person to lead Florida’s scandalized child-welfare agency — has proved to be one of the worst decisions Bush has ever made.

A scalding report by the governor’s chief inspector general has revealed that high-ranking DCF officials handed out fat and dubious contracts to pals and political cronies, and accepted gifts, favors and lodging from outside contractors.

Citizens were concerned Regier endorsed corporal punishment. Regier's credientials were being the former president of the ultra-conservative Family Research Council and lowering Oklahoma's Health & Human Services national ranking.

Oklahoma ranked 40th. Its secretary of Health & Human Services at the time was Jerry Regier, the man Bush tapped last week to head Florida's Department of Children & Families.

While Florida has worked its way up the state rankings of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national nonpartisan group that gathers statistics on child welfare, Oklahoma has declined.

Indeed, from 1997, when Regier was named Oklahoma's HHS secretary, until 1999, the most recent date for which information is available, Oklahoma's state ranking declined from 38th to 40th. At the beginning of the 1990s, Oklahoma was ranked as high as 37.

I challenge Jeb to run on this platform. He tries to bill himself as an educational Governor with no achievements. His fiscal conserative policies forced Charlie Crist to immediately handle a property tax crisis and budget concerns. Can anyone name a single Jeb accomplishment? That is what I thought.

Brian Blair Update

Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian "Killer Bee" Blair was ordered released from jail by Judge Walter Heinrich. Blair was arrested on two counts on child abuse. Blair was arraigned in video court at the Orient Road jail. Judge Heinrich is famous for not offering probation or releasing the accused on their own recognizance. His attitude is much more lenient for Blair.

Blair initially was held without bail, a common procedure in domestic violence cases. Heinrich released him on his own recognizance.

Usually, those accused of such crimes can't have any contact with their victims and must move out of the home if the victims also reside there.

Heinrich initially gave Blair such an admonishment but put the decision in the hands of DCF officials once Lorenzo told him they were involved. The judge also noted the age of the alleged victims, saying they aren't infants.

The infamous Walter Heinrich sense of compassion.

Blair choked and punched both his sons. Two other boys, not related to Blair, are witnesses to the alleged attacks. Blair told the media "If they were there, I think they'd understand the situation." Meaning the voters. Blair's spin was it was a "misunderstanding."

"It's a real, I guess, unfortunate situation, that it's a misunderstanding that could have been prevented," Blair told reporters as left jail. "I have over 7,000 hours mentoring children, and the last thing that I'd ever do is hurt a kid. Sometimes the hardest kids to mentor are your own."

The police report said Blair might have been drunk. AA and anger management might have prevented the incident.

Blair is going back to his home with his two boys. He was photographed arm-in-arm with his wife outside of the Orient Road Jail. I doubt Blair will be convicted with his celebrity and the DCF's track record of screwing up child abuse cases.

Another DCF Horror Story

Three boys were in the care of the Floirda's Department of Children & Families. They were caged like animals and raped in foster care. The children were adopted by Debbie and Jorge 1998.

The couple were unaware of the maltreatment the boys had suffered, and had told DCF officials they did not want to adopt children who had been sexually abused.

Not only did the department keep Debbie and Jorge in the dark, it even instructed a treatment center not to release records to the parents.

Meanwhile, the boys ran afoul of the law, set fires, were expelled from schools, attempted suicide and tried to poison Debbie.

Current Florida law forbids adoptive parents from seeing their children's medical records. The stupidity of that is beyond words.

Gov. Charlie Crist signed SB 58. The bill awards $9.5 million to Debbie and Jorge. Florida is infamous for refusing to pay lawsuits. Courts can decide a settlement. The idiotic tort reform law calls for any settlement over $500,000 to be approvedf by the legislature. This case is so shameful the legislature and Crist had no choice but to pay.

Under the bill Crist signed, the boys each will receive $256,666.66 a year for the next 10 years. Each parent will receive annual payments of $90,000.

It would be cheaper to run the DCF properly. However, that would intervere with Republicans goals to make government small enough to drown in a bath tub.

PR Outsourcing Nightmare

The Department of Children and Families awarded JPMorgan Chase & Co. the contract to manage the Electronic Benefit Transfer. The EBT is responsible for food stamps. Florida food stamp recipients having problems were directed to a call center in India. Because we all know there is nothing unemployed people enjoy more than speaking to someone that has outsourced their job. Thankfully, no politician civil would make political hay out of this. Unfortunately, Ronda Storms was never known for her tact.

"We should not have any jobs going outside of the country. We have enough people here in our country, we need to take care of our own who need to work," said Storms.

Storms is like clockwork. She never fails to use an issue for political opportunism.

1 in 10 Floridians On Food Stamps

One in ten Floridians are on food stamps. Florida has seen a 30 percent increase in food stamp recipients in the past year. The economy has devastated rural communities.

The number of Lee County households receiving food stamps rose 72 percent to 25,450 in 2008, according to the state Department of Children & Families.

Other areas with big increases include Manatee County, up 60 percent to 12,652 households, and Sarasota County, which rose 54 percent to 12,399 households.

1.8 million Floridians are receiving food stamps. The state leads the nation in food stamp recipients. The Department of Children & Familes handles food stamp applications. The DCF's budget has been cut by $5 million.

In related news: Florida Department of Law Enforcement supervisor Susan Curry Wolfe was arrested for stealing $24,000 food stamps and other items. I wonder how much of this theft occurred during the holidays.

Great Moments In Florida History

Which state has laws that clearly forbid gay adoption? If you guessed Florida then you get a cookie.

In 1977, former Miss America runner-up Anita Bryant was positive that gays and lesbians wanted to adopt children to foster a new generation of homosexuals. "Since homosexuals cannot reproduce," Bryant said, "they must recruit and freshen their ranks." Bryant spoke of the LGBT community, as if it was run like a division 1 college football team.

Bryant recruited her own blue chip Christian conservatives; including sexual puritan Jim Bakker to repeal an anti-gay and Tink Winky arch-enemy Jerry Falwell. Together they defeated an anti-gay Dade County anti-discrimination ordinance. Bryant went on to ban gays and lesbians in Florida from adopting. Now Florida has foster children performing below grad level and running away.

The Supreme Court had an opportunity to hear the case Angela Gilmore v. the Department of Children & Familes and Charlie Crist. The plaintiffs argued that the law violated their 14th amendment rights due process and equal protection. The plaintiff cited the Lawrence v. Texas decision, as protectinh their sexual privacy. The 11th Circuit Court ruled that the plaintiffs arguement was moot. "Adoption is not a right; it is a statutory privilege," the Court reasoned. The Supremes wouldn't bother hearing the case.

Presidential candidate John McCain publicly stated he is against gay adoption. The Straight Talker ducks the question about what to do about children stuck in the foster care system.

Q: President Bush believes that gay couples should not be permitted to adopt children. Do you agree with that?

Mr. McCain: I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no I don’t believe in gay adoption.

Q: Even if the alternative is the kid staying in an orphanage, or not having parents.

Mr. McCain: I encourage adoption and I encourage the opportunities for people to adopt children I encourage the process being less complicated so they can adopt as quickly as possible. And Cindy and I are proud of being adoptive parents.

Q: But your concern would be that the couple should a traditional couple —

Mr. McCain: Yes.

Anita Bryant promoted Florida orange juice. From these clips you learn that cans grow on trees and Bryant enjoys singing in orange groves.

Charlie Crist Signs Marissa Amora Bill

It is nice to finally report good news on the blog.

Governor Charlie Crist signed the bill awarding Marissa Amorra $18.2 million over the next 11 years. In a classy move, Crist welcomed Marissa's mother Dawn and her brothers and sisters to the Governor's mansion.

Crist's office sent out a press release.

"Today, we give to Marissa and we honor her loving family for the unselfish commitment they have made, not only to Marissa, but also to other foster children," Crist said, according to a news release. "I applaud Senator Al Lawson and Representative Marti Coley for sponsoring this legislation and for recognizing that compensating Marissa is the right thing to do."

Related posts: More DCF FUBARS, Agency for Persons with Disabilities FUBAR, Marissa Amora Update, FastTrack Marissa Amora Settlement, Marissa Amora Gets Short Changed

Marissa Amora Gets Short Changed

I have written about the tragic Marissa Amora story here, here, here and here. Marissa was badly beaten by her biological mother's boyfriend. Her collarbone was broken and she was hospitalized for a month.

Marissa's mother could offer no explanation for the little girl's broken collarbone.

A DCF child abuse investigator testified at trial she was concerned that Marissa's mom ''was more interested in getting her boyfriend out of jail'' than picking up her own child.

The mother, the investigator said, rarely visited the girl during her monthlong hospitalization, ''and when the mother did come to the hospital the child would cry and the mother spanked the child in her hospital bed,'' the appeals court wrote.

The shocker is that the Department of Children and Families placed Marissa back in the custody of her mother. Marissa was beaten again. Marissa's suffered internal organ damage and bleeding to the brain. She is only capable of speaking a few words. Marissa's adoptive mother Dawn Amora won a $26.8 million lawsuit against the state. Jeb Bush stonewalled and appealed. Incoming DCF Sec. Bob Butterworth reversed the decision.

The Florida legislature award Marissa only $1.2 million of the settlement.

Nine-year-old Marissa Amora would get only $1.2 million from the state. Legislators said a tight budget year is the reason for the reduced amount.

The Department of Children and Families has promised to increase the amount to $18.2 million over 10 years, payments that would have to be put in the state's budget each year.

Dawn Amora left a comment explaining Marissa's medical expenses and the legal fight.

Thank you Michael. We want a trust/annuity set up for her and will continue to fight. This is just plain disgraceful.
Her adoptive mom. Dawn
No disrespect to the Andersons, however we went through the legal process, both by Grand Jury, Civil Jury and two appelate courts. This has been going on for six years and we are being crushed financially as more and more attorneys make money off of my daughter's blood.

Future payments are not guaranteed. High-valued disability settlements against the state must be approved by the legislature. Whoever had the great idea that the legislature can trump the will of public juries is an idiot.

The Palm Beach Post has a video story on Marissa and Dawn.

The Sales Tax Increase

The St. Petersburg Times reports a Quinnipiac University poll shows only 48 percent of Floridians support a one cent sales tax increase meant to offset $8-billion cut from property taxes. The idea has come under criticism for money that will be lost from education funding. Under problem is that sales taxes are not a stable tax base. If people are making less money they will purchase less things. Florida has always had this problem with it's current tax system.

The sales tax loopholes is a matter the Republican legislature refuses to address. Corporations can avoid paying state taxes on property sales by filing as a corporate sale.

Phillips Point in West Palm Beach, PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Centre — all are officially recorded as selling for $10 in recent months.

In truth, these trophy properties fetched $200 million, $170 million and $230.9 million, respectively.

So why the tiny sale prices in public records? Taxes.

Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio has long been pushing for the sales tax increase to lower property taxes. Hysterically, Republicans in the Florida Senate are against the idea because they fear they would have to eliminate corporate sales tax loopholes in order to make up for loss revenue.

Haridopolos is in line to become Senate president in 2010, and likely would be at the forefront of having to find the replacement revenue. He's among a group of Florida lawmakers who have signed a pledge not to raise taxes.

Haridopolos' math works like this: To avoid raising taxes, legislators would have to eliminate the largest sales tax exemptions other than the sacred ones for groceries, rent and prescription drugs.

The remaining exemptions include the value of trade-ins toward new car purchases, government supply purchases, the purchase of fuel by utilities and for metered water.

"You will start to tax items that are not currently taxed. By any definition, that's a tax increase," Haridopolos said. He said he has written three letters to the tax commission over the past two weeks but has received no reply.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at Rubio's and Haridopolos's economic stupidity.

In other news: the legislature is making drastic cuts to the Department of Children & Families.

But Thursday, in his latest role as Secretary of the Department of Children & Families, Butterworth met his match: an intransigent Legislature that is pursuing what he called the equivalent of taking out a ''contract on kids,'' with a budget that ''destroys'' the public safety net by cutting programs deeply rather than tapping the state's $1.3 billion emergency fund, or close corporate-tax loopholes.

''In my 40 years in public service, this is the worst year I've ever seen, the meanest I've ever seen,'' Butterworth told The Miami Herald as the House was completing debate on its $65 billion budget proposal.

Sacrifices must be made to keep football stadium skyboxes tax exempt.

Disturbing Findings From DCF Survey

The Miami Herald has a disturbing article on the problems with the Department of Children & Families.

In southern Sarasota, nearly one in four former foster kids is homeless. In St. Augustine, fewer than one in 10 foster children age 17 is performing at grade level. And in Miami, Tampa and Daytona Beach, fewer than one in four 17-year-old foster kids passed Florida's high-stakes standardized assessment test.

DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth correctly calls this child abuse. The reason many foster children are homeless is to escape sexual and physical abuse. The article details that privatization of child services has hurt and not helped the DCF. WE can thank Jeb Bush for the privatization madness.

Children are not given education plans are taught money management skills. The short answer is these kids are not ready for the real world when they leave DCF services.

Conpassionate Conservatism: Agency for Persons with Disabilities Edition

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities has performed disgracefully. Former Director Shelley Brantley would not pay $360 for thermal blankets for Kevin Estinfil. The boy's body can not regulate body temperture. Brantley decided to spend thousands fighting in court over not paying a $360 tab. Jeb Bush refused to take federal money for KidCare. The result was 7,000 children being placed on a waiting list for medical care. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities waited five years to answer requests for financial assistance for Marissa Amora. The girl suffered permanent injuries after Department of Children and Families placed her back in her abusive home.

The Florida Legislature's answer to these problem is to cut the budget of Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The department has a deficit created by Bush. His cost cutting actually put the agency in a $126 million hole.

That sum is nearly one-fifth of the agency's annual budget, and an estimated 13, 000 eligible clients are on a waiting list for services.

"I've never seen a health and human services budget cut that deeply, " said John Hall of the Association of Retarded Citizens. "There's no way that's going to happen without the families of people with developmental disabilities losing support."

The budget also compels the agency to impose cost-containment measures, which are expected to curtail the scope of services for clients.

It is inexcusable to not give children medical care. The Florida Legislature can give $60 million to the Florida Marlins. They cut medical care to children on a waiting list. This is outrageous.

FastTrack Marissa Amora Settlement

The Panama City News has a good article about the stark contrasts between the way the state is handing the Marissa Amora and Martin Anderson cases. Both are horrible tragedies. The difference is restitution has been fast-tracked for Anderson's family.

The Department of Children and Families under Jeb Bush has fought against giving Marissa a settlement. The young girl was repeatedly abused under her biological mother's care. THE DCF put Marissa back in her mother's home after a broken collarbone. She is now brain-damaged and suffers from other medical problems from a beating from her mother's boyfriend.

Marissa's adoptive mother won a $26.8 million lawsuit against the DCF. The fallacy is settlements over $100,000 must be approved by the Florida legislature and the Governor. What business does the legislative and executive branch have interfering with the judicial branch. This is not what the Founding Fathers wanting. The state is deciding whether they should pay after they have been found at fault in the Amora and Anderson cases. How fucking redicious is that?

What is even more redicious is the DCF never did an investigation after Marissa's collarbone was broken. The Florida Legislature is sitting on deciding on the settlement while Medicaid puts a $400,000 lien against Marissa's future health coverage.

Fasttrack. Now.