Florida judge warns DCF 3 times to protect baby. Requests ignored. Baby dies.

What a sad situation. A judge could see the warning signs in the case and faxed the abuse line for DCF. Three times. She was ignored.

DCF Head Says Baby’s Death “A Failure of the System”



The judge cared enough and was worried enough to contact them 3 times. Her concerns were ignored.

Here is more from another article:

A Broward Circuit judge sought state intervention repeatedly for a vulnerable baby. But help for Bryce Barros came too late.



Florida's Division of Child and Family Services has had serious problems for years.

Part of it is the privatization of some areas which are not regulated much at all. Part of it is funding problems. I hate to see this.

That abuse hotline is vital for the lives of children and for their safety. When I was teaching I had to use it more than once. If a student told us of abuse, or if we suspected abuse....we had better be on that phone under penalty of law. If the parents suspected the teacher called, we might catch abusive words from them. It is the law.

I always had the greatest respect for social workers in that agency. They were conscientious, and they cared. They were always there to work with teachers, to meet with parents and teachers together. Things have changed. I blame Jeb and his privatization mindset.

The judge did the right thing. Good for her for caring.

And the absolutely incompetent Republican dominated Legislature.

The Florida Democratic Party has been in shambles for years, so candidates don't get much support. I have tried more than once to volunteer with the party, rather than wait for a campaign to work with - they have turned me down without checking who I am or what I can do. Just flat out said they don't use volunteers, period. It really sucks.

and carry no stick at all.

They only want volunteers they approve, but they want your money. Our county DEC is set up so that if we don't attend meetings, if we miss 3 in a row....we can not even get the email updates. I would call that secretive.

A fellow DFAer was chairman of our DEC for a while, but the DLC types made his life so miserable he said life was too short.

We just don't bother locally now at all. It is like two different worlds, the truth we see online and the truth of the local Democrats. Since they tried to sabotage Dean as chairman we gave up.

I'm not disabled IMO for a handicapped permit (though my doctor would give me the paperwork if I applied) but I can't make the hike to the city hall where the meetings are held - there is a parking garage with a hike up a 30% slope. I can manage the hike up the slope, but my knees do not like the hike back down that steep a slope. If I got a handicapped permit, I could park under the building and take the elevator, but it's just not worth it.

I'm just going to wait and pick a candidate or two and volunteer for them. I haven't worried about it just yet since I had surgery in June and I'm still doing physical therapy. Got the word Thursday that I can't start strength training until September, so use of that arm will be restricted for several months yet. So I might as well wait.

Rick Minor, who was head of the local DEC, is running for our state representative. He doesn't think Rep. Michelle Vasalinda has done enough. With the Obama campaign and the shoulder, I have not paid much attention, but I've liked Rick when working with him for the DEC. I'll have to see what his platform is. He was a protege of Scot Maddox so a lot of the local activists don't like him because of Scot's connections with developers.

And I do think it is important to work on the Governor and Senator races, so I am keeping an eye on those. Crist might be a slam dunk, but the more we can cut his lead, the better.

Oh well, go to do my exercises....

to the good people who live there and suffer under their POS state govt.)

Too bad it was too late for that precious baby.

K&R

:cry:

others who are convinced of abuse and report it have their concerns taken seriously?

I am retired but in contact with many who are not. DCF has changed, the caliber of some of the social workers has changed. Hard to tell who works for the state and who works for a private company.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c06ejY3-vE&feature=related

There are many videos of the child playing. What a sweetheart. I read in a blog that the mother said the father had many videos of him online. Now I can't find the blog that said that.

The names match...Bryce and the mother is Jocelyn. His birth video is up also.

Edit...found the blog where I read it.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hallandale/sfl-broward-baby-death-bn073009,0,2965319.story?page=2

"What's more, she said, the boy's father posted a video on YouTube of the baby standing up in a grocery cart, and has posted other videos of him climbing stairs by himself.

Jocelyn Barros had told Hollywood police about her concerns, and they referred her to DCF.

After visits with his dad, Jocelyn complained, Bryce's eyes "don't hold happiness.''

But the mother's concerns, too, were dismissed -- though, apparently, after some greater consideration.

Laura Johnson, a special projects coordinator, wrote a May 11 e-mail to bosses. Jocelyn Barros had called, discussed her concerns for the baby, and asked why the judge's faxes had all been ignored. "What is the protocol for this type of order?'' Johnson asked.

"This is a custody issue,'' was one reply.

Caseworkers did not walk away entirely, though. They say they sent Jocelyn Barros a form letter, offering help from food banks, clothing closets, adult day care and Meals on Wheels. And a phone number for a domestic violence shelter. Jocelyn Barros says she never received the letter, and DCF says the agency no longer has a copy of it."

Hard to believe that DCF would ignore 3 complaints from a judge.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/v-print/story/1163407.html

"DCF investigators rejected the judge's request. ``The fax was screened because there are are no allegations of abuse, neglect threatened harm to the child,'' a hot line counselor wrote at the time. On March 10, at 11:22 a.m., O'Connor re-faxed the complaint. It was again rejected -- this time because it did not specify where the baby could be found, and because it contained ``no allegations'' of harm to him.

O'Connor sent a third fax 32 minutes later, adding an address. Again, a hot line counselor threw it out on the grounds of ``no allegations,'' and ``insufficient information.''

Under DCF policy, O'Connor's third strike should have triggered an automatic review of the case by DCF quality-assurance investigators. The thinking: If anyone is concerned enough to ask three times, maybe it's worth another look.

``Somehow, in this case, that didn't happen,'' Sheldon said. ``There is no question that should have been done.''

On April 21, Jocelyn Barros called the abuse hot line herself. Bryce, she said, ``consistently returns from dad's with injuries.''

While I appreciate Florida's service of accepting the nation's stock of douchebags, I am having a hard time thinking of anything positive besides grapefruit that Florida brings to the Union.

before the strike.

Grapefruit farmers too.

Very nice of you. :hi:

when a Judge! a Judge and to boot, a former federal prosecutor's concerns are not taken seriously by the DCF. My god, then what do these hotline people consider credible? How many people do they reject?

and was ignored - that does not speak well of FL's system, or lack thereof.

The article describes that babysitter told the mother the child was sick, vomiting, letargic.
But the child apparently was not taken to the doctor. The next day mother took the child home from the babysitter, the child slept next to the mother, and the child was dead in the morning. I am not sure how DCF could predict something like that.
The police says the death could be do to blunt trauma or to the virus? One think they should be able to tell the difference after the autopsy.

Yes, the article does not make it clear that the child was abused, and I was careful not to say so.

However teachers must face the wrath of parents because they are required by law to report abuse, and it angers me that they won't even listen to a judge.

I was verbally harassed by parents when I made a phone call like that. Then DCF did visit, and the young child had told me the truth. There was great abuse going on in that home.

It took a long time for the parents to come around and finally admit to me and the principal that I was 100% right. It was a time when they were spreading rumors that I had lied. I did what I had been required to do, and I paid a price for it for a while.

So when I see a judge contact the abuse line 3 times and get ignored, I think something is very wrong.

Privatization is good? C'mon. And if the government handles too much, it's the evil socialism. I fear for our country. The whole birther phenomenon has shown me how easily the sheeple of our nation are led.

The birthers are everywhere, but no one believes any of the Bush admin nightmares???

Thank you, madfloridian, for keeping us abreast of the situations of my home state. I am glad I moved.

...the police would have been all over them like a cheap suit, factual allegations or not. Ever heard of knock and talk? They know what it smells like and can smell it a mile away. They'll take your home and kids too if they smell it.