New computer system will allow for instant case updates

The Department of Children and Families has begun training its staff on a sophisticated new computer system that is designed to keep track of child abuse cases, and prevent the sort of slipups that marred the investigation into Versena Phillips' safety.

DCF says the system will give supervisors something they've never had: the ability to instantly check the quality of child abuse investigations while they're going on.

That's "an incredibly powerful tool," said Mike Watkins, director of family safety for the department. Under the current system, cumbersome audits provide information after the fact.

The state began working on the system in 1993, and it will be fully operational in 2005. It's projected cost is $230-million.

Among other things, Watkins said, the computer is designed to help supervisors catch a missed medical examination like the one in Versena's case. A supervisor could have punched commands into the computer, asking if any needed medical exams had not been scheduled. Versena's name would have popped up.

The same system will help supervisors check on other critical points of the cases their investigators are handling at a time, Watkins said.

DCF Secretary Kathleen Kearney and her staff say the computer system, called Homesafenet, is one of the ways they are working to make the massive social services agency more efficient.

But proper tools and procedures do not always guarantee children's safety.

For proof, look at Latiana Nakia Hamilton, a 17-month-old girl who died last year in Jacksonville.

The person accused of beating and drowning her was her foster mother, licensed by DCF. The department failed to check the woman's background as a foster mother in Michigan, where an abuse complaint was on file.

"Latiana was killed by the person who was supposed to keep her safe, and that is our fault," Kearney acknowledged. "I mean, we gave this woman a license to take care of children. And it should not have happened and she should have been monitored much better, clearly."

But she said her staff is working constantly to improve.

Kearney, 46, was a Broward County Circuit judge when Gov. Jeb Bush tapped her in late 1998 to take over the often-maligned agency once known as HRS.

Since taking over DCF, Kearney has proved more than willing to shake up the massive agency, by firing administrators she considers inept and changing how new hires are trained.

She and Bush have won big budget increases that have allowed the state to add hundreds more abuse investigators. Kearney also revamped how child abuse investigators are trained, giving them more time in the field to gain real-world knowledge.

And she has happily privatized much of DCF's child welfare work, a concept mandated by the Legislature. Under Kearney, DCF employees no longer investigate child abuse, place foster kids or counsel abusive families in Pinellas and Pasco counties. Those jobs have been given to sheriff's offices and a non-profit company.

DCF got good marks earlier this year when a legislative study said the department had greatly reduced the number of abandoned calls to the Florida Abuse Hotline, and slashed the number of backlogged child abuse investigations.

But the celebration ended quickly when allegations surfaced that a non-profit company hired to finish investigating old cases might have falsified some of its work. Now DCF says it has learned much of the work wasn't properly completed.

Kearney said that when Latiana died she was "incredibly disappointed" in her staff's handling of the case, "but at the same time this is incredibly difficult, very, very difficult work that's very draining and very personally debilitating."

A sort of "battle fatigue" sets in among overworked child welfare staff, and she said the changes in computerization, training and staffing are designed to combat that and improve morale and efficiency.

"Every child that we save individually is important. Every child that we could have saved and did not is a tragedy and is also something that we have to learn from," Kearney said.

She added that, "While I accept that the public demands perfection all I can say is that we are truly doing everything we can, as hard as we can, as fast as we can to improve. Because every single one of those deaths weighs heavily on us."

-- Information from the Florida Times-Union was included in this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright