AVON PARK – An Alabama man remained in Highlands County Jail in lieu of $40,000 bond after sheriff's investigators say he threatened and stalked his ex-wife as well as threatened to hurt or kill a Department of Children and Families investigator. ...more

June 27, 2008

MANATEE - A woman who stabbed her ex-boyfriend's rabbit with scissors in a fight this year was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed today to a state psychiatric hospital. ...more

June 25, 2008

SEBRING — The Florida Department of Children and Families has released $42,897 in funding to programs operating in both Highlands and Hardee counties, the agency announced Friday. The announcement was made in a memo from Circuit 10 Contract Manager, Jacqueline Burt. Richard Reinhardt, executive director for the Highlands County Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. said typically, they're given about half that amount. "This grant is received annually, but this is the most ever awarded to these two counties," he said. Funding for the state's Department of Children and Families Grant-In-Aid program is statewide, but is left up to each DCF Circuit to administer these funds. Circuit 10 covers Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties. ...more

June 23, 2008

Put yourself in the shoes of a child who has been abused or neglected, and then whisked into emergency foster care. The only thing that could make the whole experience more frightening would to be taken away from your siblings and sent to live with complete strangers. ...more

June 23, 2008

State lawmakers agreed Wednesday to transfer more than $21 million from state trust funds to shore up adoption, foster care and child protection programs that were casualties this spring of the state's budget crisis. ...more

June 19, 2008

SEBRING — Of Highlands County's nine baby deaths in 2007, three are a result of mothers sleeping with their babies. It's called co-sleeping, and officials say it's a big problem in Highlands County. Deborah Hadley, program manager of Healthy Families for Highlands County, said family support workers with Healthy Families, who visit mothers in the home, are reporting many teen mothers sleeping with babies in their bed. "We have a huge problem with co-sleeping," Hadley said. "Some of our parents use drugs or alcohol, and it concerns us greatly that that have babies in the bed with them." Hadley said some mothers say co-sleeping is a cultural habit they don't want to change and others say they cannot afford cribs for their babies. ...more

June 2, 2008

SEBRING — The Children's Advocacy Center could be doubling in size in the next 18 months. Jeff Roth, director of the center, announced plans for the 8,300-square-foot, $1.2 million expansion at Wednesday's Children Ser-vices Council meeting. The space, which would be added to the rear of the existing building, would allow the Department of Children and Families and Guardian Ad Litem to move their operations in the building. Roth said the centralization of services not only leads better communication between the agencies but also the economy of time due to central record keeping. ...more

May 29, 2008

Today, the Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) at USF's Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute is joining the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) initiative across the United States to participate in National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day: Thriving in the Community. ...more

May 8, 2008

SEBRING — A 16-year-old boy was in the care of the Department of Juvenile Justice on Friday after he was accused of sexually molesting a minor child. The teenager was booked Wednesday into the Highlands County Jail on charges of two counts of sexual battery on a child 12-years old or younger and two counts of lewd lascivious behavior on a victim less than 12 years old. ...more

May 2, 2008

OCALA - Police say a mother of four teenage boys has been charged with neglect after saying she was going "on strike" because she was fed up with them. ...more

February 21, 2008