Recently discovered victims of former Department of Children & Families' spokesman Al Zimmerman were not clients of the state agency, said DCF Secretary George Sheldon. ...more

October 16, 2008

Hillsborough Kids Inc., the agency that oversees 3,057 children in state custody, is testing a new computer program that ensures caseworkers visit children every 30 days as required by law. ...more

October 14, 2008

Shannon Lise took his 5-year-old son on a high-speed chase Sunday night, Tampa police say. Officers in the Robles Park Apartments saw Lise's black Chevrolet traveling north on Hayden Court without headlights on at 10:44 p.m. Sunday. They activated lights and sirens, stopping the vehicle near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Interstate 275. ...more

October 6, 2008

It wouldn't have been surprising if India Marrero turned her back on the Department of Children & Families once she turned 18 and could finally walk away from the foster care system. ...more

September 27, 2008

Tina Freeman, a mother of four and stepmother of four more, was browsing Craigslist for day care services today when she came across what she called a shocker: "Eight Months Old Baby Boy For Adoption." ...more

August 28, 2008

The race to replace outgoing Circuit Judge Marion Fleming has shaped up to be one of the more interesting local electoral contests. ...more

August 22, 2008

A judge this morning postponed a child pornography trial for a former Department of Children & Families spokesman. Al Zimmerman had been scheduled to go on trial next month on a federal charge of producing child pornography. He was arrested in February. ...more

August 20, 2008

A medical center that allowed a patient to escape twice before he killed a sheriff's deputy has been ordered to stop admitting the mentally ill who have been involuntarily committed. ...more

August 5, 2008

Here are some commonly asked questions about Florida's voluntary pre-kindergarten program: ...more

August 1, 2008

Bob Butterworth, who was hand-picked by Gov. Charlie Crist to straighten out the beleaguered Florida Department of Children & Families, resigned Tuesday, leaving many local child welfare advocates surprised and saddened. ...more

July 30, 2008