TAMPA - A panel ordered to review Florida's first private agency to take on child welfare duties for the state said today it cannot recommend renewing the agency's multimillion-dollar contract without serious internal changes. ...more

October 29, 2007

Bob Butterworth recently stood before more than two dozen child welfare leaders and told them the experiment that put private agencies in charge of Florida's social services system is a success. ...more

October 29, 2007

It took courage for Pinellas School Board member Nancy Bostock to go public with the heartbreak faced by adoptive families who struggle to raise children damaged by abuse or neglect. ...more

October 26, 2007

Developing a statewide gang-reduction strategy will be the focus of a high-level state panel formed Thursday by Attorney General Bill McCollum. ...more

October 26, 2007

More state oversight of private contractors of foster care and common-sense safety measures are among recommendations released this week by a task force created to protect children in state care. ...more

October 11, 2007

Lawsuit settlements have cost Florida nearly $200 million in the past decade, more than a third of it in payouts over child welfare cases, a newspaper reported Sunday. ...more

October 1, 2007

State officials agreed Friday to pay $14 million to victims of a woman convicted of beating, starving and threatening foster children in her care. ...more

September 29, 2007

Improving home studies, staff training and children's attendance at hearings are some of the common goals that officials across Florida have set for enhancing child dependency procedures. ...more

September 16, 2007