Author: Robert Latham
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Florida Supreme Court: no more summary dismissals of private dependency petitions filed by immigrant kids
The Florida Supreme Court issued a 3-1-3 opinion today with the majority ruling in favor of the child and the controlling opinion (i.e, the narrowest reasoning adopted by the most justices) being that trial courts cannot summarily dismiss dependency petitions filed by immigrant children seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile status. In doing so, the opinion echos the concerns…
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APD: dependent children are “automatically” and “immediately” off the wait list when reunified
The Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities issued a declaratory statement this month, at the request of the Children & Youth Law Clinic, clarifying that foster children on the wait list for developmental disability services will be immediately placed into the waiver program upon the presentation of an order reunifying the child with their parents.…
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CYLC files petition for reunification through developmental disability services
The Children and Youth Law Clinic (where I work) recently filed a petition with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities asking the agency to clarify the procedure and criteria for removing foster children from the Waitlist when they are reunified with their parents. Specifically, we asked about the procedure for children with severe developmental disabilities who can…
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Judge C. Alan Lawson (5DCA) appointed to Florida Supreme Court. How did he rule on child welfare cases?
Governor Scott has appointed Judge C. Alan Lawson of the Fifth District to the Florida Supreme Court. Judge Lawson will replace Justice James E.C. Perry who has reached mandatory retirement age. News reports have focused on Judge Lawson’s conservative credentials, but I thought I would take a look at his child welfare rulings to…
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Florida foster care numbers in historical context
I’ve added a new tab to the Child Welfare System Dashboard that shows the out-of-home care population annotated with historical events: governors’ tenures, legislative history, and Florida Supreme Court opinions. Each picture tells a different part of the story about what drives child welfare policy and the rise and fall of the OOHC population. Leadership…
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Florida DCF numbers for Nov: up 5.2% over last year, racial disparity dropping, Suncoast and NW still on fire
The DCF trend report numbers are out, and the expansion is continuing statewide. You can see in the chart below that, due to its size, the Suncoast Region continues to be the largest driver of the statewide expansion, but the Northwest Region continues to show the largest individual growth. The two Southeast Region contracted again…
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Does Florida have enough foster homes? (It’s at 2/3 capacity.)
I have read a lot in the news lately about the foster care crisis. By many accounts, the growth in out-of-home care (OOHC) has been driven in part by a growing epidemic of drug cases. In previous posts, I’ve shown that the data does not exactly bear that out and the growth is more likely…
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October DCF numbers: 5% rise continues, non-licensed placements growing
Florida’s statewide out-of-home care population rose 232 children in October, maintaining a consistent 5% growth over October of last year. In-home-care numbers decreased by 29 children and are expected to remain flat. Growth was largest in the Northwest and Suncoast regions, while the Southeast and Southern regions experienced contractions. Only the Southeast region is projected…
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September monthly update: OOHC up 5% over 2015, IHC even, expansion continues
Florida’s statewide out-of-home care population rose 309 to 23,538 in September, up 5.3% from the same time last year. IHC has remained stable for the past 12 months. Our model has now seen a long enough period of OOHC growth that it can begin separating out seasonal variations, like summer slumps and adoption months, from actual…
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Where the therapeutic foster care placements are
I received a question the other day about the availability of therapeutic placements around the state. My gut answer at the time was that there is wide variation based on geography and CBC. Through a public records request I had done a few months ago, I was able to put together maps showing the disparity. It’s…