Department Of Children And Families: Epic Fail!

If you live in Florida, make sure that you stay under the radar of the Department of Children and Families. Recently, a small child of the tender age of two was returned to her abusive mother by DCF. No one but the involved parties knew that this decision was made until the media reported that child's death by the hand of her mother. Of course, the mother said that she found the child unresponsive, so she put her small body in a suitcase and buried her in a shallow grave. It reminds me of the six year old entrusted to the care of DCF that was missing for years before they even knew. There are many other tragedies attributed to the wisdom of this state department, but you get the picture. They have not been held responsible for this tragic decision.

In the first half of 2013, 40 children that had come to the attention of Florida's Department of Children and Families lost their lives. Governor Rick Scott is being blamed for his recommendation of budget cuts to the department, but is that where the true blame lies? I don't think so. This has been happening long before Gov. Scott took office. Another recent news story told of a DCF worker arrested for falsifying records that claimed that she had been visiting the homes of the children under her care when she had not. That is only half of the story. DCF is quick to decide to take a child from a loving home. This is also a real tragedy. Many children have been taken from their loving homes, not because of abuse or neglect, but because the state didn't agree with the parents. It happens more than you may think.

The reason that I am writing about this is because I and my grandchildren have become the latest victims of the state of Florida. My two granddaughters are in a foster home of unknown origin. I live less than 5 miles from the area, but it took a court order to get visitation. I have been trying to get the state to let them live with me for the last 5 months. I underwent all of their background checks, I remodeled two rooms in my home to satisfy the criteria of the state, and I allowed them unchecked access into my life. I received a court order for unsupervised visits pending placement, so that the girls could get to know me a little bit better. They kept telling me that soon the girls could come live with me, so I changed my plans and started gearing my life toward that end. At the last minute, they decide that some legal trouble from almost a decade ago (nothing violent or about children) would prevent me access to my granddaughters. I didn't get a chance to explain anything to them. So they don't what happened and they probably think I don't want them. Now I can't see them at all, and since there is no law in Florida giving grandparents' rights to their grandchildren, there is nothing I can do except appeal to the judge that wrote the court order. I am currently waiting for a court date, but in the meantime, I have involuntarily disappeared from my grandchildrens' life. I really miss them.