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Plan's Goal: Less Foster Care

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2007

Updated: 12/27/2007 12:13 am

TAMPA - The number of Hillsborough County children sheltered by the state has dropped drastically this year because of a new program that puts help into the home so children can stay put.

Investigators received 12,840 child-abuse complaints last year that resulted in 1,775 children going into out-of-home care.

From January to Dec. 14 of this year, there were about 13,000 complaints, but they resulted in only 978 children being sheltered, according to records provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The reduction comes as child-abuse investigators emphasize ways to bring services to the home instead of removing the children.

Officials say the statistics put the county on schedule for a 42 percent decrease in the number of children being removed from their homes, a figure being praised statewide and beyond as child welfare advocates push nationally for family preservation.

Just 18 months ago, Hillsborough led the state with more than 5,000 children in care, said Jeff Rainey, chief executive officer of Hillsborough Kids Inc.

"We just had too many kids coming in," he said.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study released in July concluded that children whose families are being investigated for abuse and neglect do better in life if they can remain with their families instead of going into foster care.

Those taken from their families were at greater risk of becoming juvenile delinquents, unemployed or teen mothers, the study found.

"If we can keep them with their parents, even marginal parents, they're better off," said Alan Abramowitz, a Florida Department of Children & Families regional administrator who hopes to emulate Hillsborough's success in neighboring Pinellas and Pasco counties.

The diversion program also is being eyed for other counties, including Lee, Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto, said Nick Cox, DCF's local regional director.

Here's how it works in Hillsborough: After investigators determine a child is not in danger, services such as therapeutic care, case management or mental health counseling are brought to the family instead of removing the child.

Sometimes, keeping the family intact is as simple as providing a hotel room for the night or a crib for their newborn, said Brena Slater, who manages the diversion program.

The program is the brainchild of the sheriff's office, which began overseeing child-abuse investigations for DCF in July 2006, and Hillsborough Kids Inc., Slater's employer and the provider of local foster care and adoption services for the state.

In the past, investigators with limited time and endless paperwork would check with individual agencies to find available services. Often, they became dependent on one or two agencies. If there was a waiting list, the child had to be removed from the home while workers scrambled for options.

That didn't make sense to sheriff's Maj. Craig Latimer, who heads the Child Protective Investigations Division in Tampa.

Instead of investigators searching for agencies, those groups "should be coming to us," he said.

In November 2006, Slater and another Hillsborough Kids worker, Jo Dee Nicosia, began building a resource library at the unit's headquarters on Falkenburg Road and educating investigators on coming to the two women for help.

They also developed a pool of providers who regularly supply the unit with information on available services and went to the community for donations of bunk beds and to help organize a maid service to clean homes while helping families learn about proper upkeep.

Today, there are 11 workers on the diversion team who hail from the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office, Northside Mental Health Center and Hillsborough Kids. They have become integral to Hillsborough's focus on keeping families together.

The team has quick access to funding, food, clothes and hotels. Clients can get help for a few days or a few weeks.

In addition to giving children better chances in life, Latimer said, keeping them with their families also saves the state and taxpayers money. Foster care can run about $28 a day per child.

Just because children aren't entering foster care doesn't mean no one is keeping track of them, investigators said. DCF has set a benchmark for Hillsborough and other counties where private agencies contract with the state to provide foster care services.

The goal is to ensure that at least 93 percent of the children whose families were investigated for abuse or neglect are not the subject of new reports of verified abuse six months later. Hillsborough hovers at about 90 percent, Latimer said.

The remaining 10 percent may have had a report of verified abuse, but they aren't necessarily being removed from their homes and families, he said. Investigators will try to put more services into the home if the child's safety is confirmed, or place the child with a relative instead of into foster care.

Rainey said the emphasis on keeping children in the home or with relatives is working.

"Once kids leave our system, they're not coming back," Rainey said.

Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144 or sackerman@tampatrib.com.

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