Recent Event Highlights: Agencies 'missed opportunities' before her death - Fernandina Beach News-Leader, Red flags overlooked in prescription drug death of 12-year-old [The Miami Herald] - Behavioral Health Central (blog), YouTube contest takes aim at underage drinking - MiamiHerald.com, Former foster child travels Road to Independence - Orlando Sentinel, Amendment to bill targeting foster kids' medication draws fire - MiamiHerald.com, 'Low risk' diagnosis criticized after Sarah Hunter's death - Florida Times-Union, and 116 more...
Created by dipity on Mar 31, 2009
Last updated: 10/23/10 at 06:33 AM
Agencies 'missed opportunities' before her deathFernandina Beach News-LeaderAn internal review by the Florida Department of Children and Families indicates numerous concerns and "missed opportunities" ...
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Sanibel School cleared of wrongdoingNaples Daily NewsThe district's personnel department and Florida Department of Children and Families also have cleared Von Harten. The Lee County School District received ...and more »
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MiamiHerald.comRed flags overlooked in prescription drug death of 12-year-old [The Miami Herald]Behavioral Health Central (blog)DCF received its first report involving Denis on Oct. 26, 2006. The report made some findings of medical neglect based on a teacher's complaints that Denis ...Red flags overlooked in 12-year-old's prescription drug deathMiamiHerald.comall 5 news articles »
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Efficient services is goalHonolulu Star-Bulletin... after a 2004 overhaul that earned national praise for service-delivery by Florida's Department of Children and Families in a report to the US Department ...and more »
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YouTube contest takes aim at underage drinkingMiamiHerald.comDFYIT's SoBe Sober campaign is sponsored by the Florida Department of Children and Families and Southern Wine and Spirits of America. ...and more »
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Orlando SentinelFormer foster child travels Road to IndependenceOrlando SentinelGrant's mother gave up her four daughters to DCF when she became seriously ill. Kamesha, the third born, was still a toddler. From then until age 9, ...and more »
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Amendment to bill targeting foster kids' medication draws fireMiamiHerald.comThe bill requires DCF to get an independent review in order to medicate children younger than 11. In an e-mail to DCF's legislative affairs director, ...and more »
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Tampabay.comMom who sent adopted boy back to Russia vilified, but some understandTampabay.comFlorida doesn't track the number of disrupted international adoptions, but the director of a family safety program for the Florida Department of Children ...and more »
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'Low risk' diagnosis criticized after Sarah Hunter's deathFlorida Times-UnionDuring the two years leading up to Hunter's death, the Florida Department of Children and Families conducted seven investigations to determine whether she ...and more »
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Florida Senate Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs - Psychotropic Drug Use Among Foster Children. Oct 7, 2009. Senators committee to discuss SB2718 after death of Gabriel Myers. Children are not given traditional therapy but instead are subjected to extreme psychotropic drugging. Point made that psychiatry is not what it used to be and has resorted to drugging; the move away from psychiatry which should be replaced with more traditional use of psychologists for therapy if needed - attachment disorder, trauma therapy. Florida Senate 2010 SB 2718. By Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and Senator Storms. A bill to be entitled An act relating to the provision of psychotropic medication to children in out-of-home placements. www.flsenate.gov In Memory of 7 Year Old Gabriel Myers: In wake of childs suicide, Legislature moves to limit foster cares reliance on psychiatric drugs. March 19, 2010. St. Petersburg Times, By Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer. TALLAHASSEE, Fl. - A year after a 7-year-old boy heavily medicated on powerful psychiatric drugs hanged himself in his Margate foster home, lawmakers are pushing to reform state medical requirements for foster children. The Senates Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee unanimously approved a measure Thursday designed to curb the prescription of mental-health drugs to children in state care. The proposed law would require the state Department of Children and Families to assign volunteer ...
W.S. v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIESLeagle.comDep't of Children and Families, 851 So. 2d 689, 693 (Fla. 2003). In addition, the right to trial by jury under Article I, Section 22, is limited to those ...and more »
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The Florida Department of Children and Families has enabled child protective workers in the field to safeguard the children in their care better by adaptint technologies used be shipping companies to track packages. Governor Charlie Crist and DCF Secretary George Sheldon introduce the new tools at a press conference held at the JWB Children's Services Council
TALLAHASSEE— Florida CFO Alex Sink today announced $12 million in taxpayer savings from applying private-sector business practices to Floridas risk management. CFO Sink utilized advice from experts with Publix, Disney, and Rosen Hotels & Resorts and implemented an overhaul of her Division of Risk Management with these more businesslike reforms to realize the savings. When I initially asked private businesses to take a look at how the state runs its risk management, the results were eye-opening, said CFO Sink. So I put these private-sector reforms to work immediately to save taxpayer money and improve service. CFO Sinks reforms have refocused the states efforts on loss prevention. CFO Sink met with four of the five state agencies with the highest claims to share her vision for a fresh approach to managing Floridas risks, and ask for their collaboration in implementing new risk management strategies. The Division is now providing all of Floridas insured agencies with new tools to reduce losses and save the state money. Every dollar saved through improving our loss prevention program is another dollar available to help the people of our state, said Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon. In this economic climate where the needs are greater than the resources available, this savings can make a tremendous difference in the lives of the children and families we serve. CFO Sink today also announced her new Advisory Council on Risk Management. The council ...
Florida Back To Work - Rebuilding Community, Economy and Hope. The Florida Department of Children and Families, DCF, Call Center in Ocala is Florida's model for the Florida Back To Work subsidized employment program. Learn more about the program at www.clmworkforce.com and www.floridajobs.org/workforce/backtowork. DCF opened the call center with Recovery Act, TANF subsidized employment program in early November 2009. Local, state and federal agencies collaborated as DCF organized the temporary call center to help the agency better answer calls for assistance and create 76 new positions in Ocala, Florida. More videos at www.youtube.com . Video photographed and produced by Jannet Walsh Workforce Connection, Ocala, Florida Workforce Connection © 2010
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...obtained by The Associated Press. In 2008, 79 children were killed who had some type of involvement with the Department of Children and Families in the past five years, compared with 66 children who died in 2007. "The numbers should be a call for careful scrutiny...
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Tampa Bay Online
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tbo/news/~3/qYtw6J2Pxsk/
76 New Call Center Jobs - Florida Department of Children and Families, DCF, opened a call center with Recovery Act, TANF subsidized employment program in early November 2009. Local, state and federal agencies collaborated as DCF organized the temporary call center to help the agency better answer calls for assistance and create 76 new positions in Ocala, Florida. More videos at www.youtube.com . Video photographed and produced by Jannet Walsh Workforce Connection, Ocala, Florida Workforce Connection © 2009 www.clmworkforce.com Links are encouraged Follow on Twitter twitter.com
George Sheldon, Secretary of Florida Department of Children and Families talks about the need to reform Florida's Justice system.
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...Florida provided emergency shelter to more than 14,500 domestic violence victims and their children. The Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, seven certified domestic violence centers and seven Florida...
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All American Patriots
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48755297-florida-governor-highlights-domestic-violence-prevention-project
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...who had lost custody. Only a few are real mysteries. The decrease in missing children comes two years after the state Department of Children and Families hired six regional coordinators and a director, spending about $1 million, to better track the children. DCF...
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sun-sentinel/news/local/~3/pcVh59DYXww/sfl-florida-missing-children-day-bn091409,0,1575067.story
Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from her home in New Albany, Ohio, because her Muslim family threatened to murder her for converting from Islam to Christianity. **Fathima Rifqa Bary: Runaway Ohio teen goes back to court on Thursday:** Fathima Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenager who has become a cause célèbre among evangelical Christians for running away from her Muslim family, returns to an Orlando courtroom today. A judge must decide whether her father -- or anyone else in Ohio -- poses a threat to her. Meanwhile, Ohio child welfare officials have already concluded it's safe for Rifqa to return. They want to place the girl in therapy and reunite her with her family. That, however, may not be the conclusion of Florida officials who have had to deal with a flood of e-mail and reaction from thousands of people, many of them including anti-Muslim sentiments, who say the runaway is a hero. Gov. Charlie Crist has received more than 9000 e-mails about the runaway, his office said. For the past two weeks, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been investigating whether there are any credible threats to Rifqa, 17, a native of Sri Lanka. Agents will present their findings today, something that could signal what happens next. If they conclude no threats exist, Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson could send the girl back to Columbus, Ohio, where her parents have agreed to place her in foster care for at least a month. If agents conclude Rifqa is in danger, the judge could leave her here ...
Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from her home in New Albany, Ohio, because her Muslim family threatened to murder her for converting from Islam to Christianity. Hear Her Story: www.youtube.com Read More As of September 2, 2009: **Fathima Rifqa Bary: Runaway Ohio teen goes back to court on Thursday:** Fathima Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenager who has become a cause célèbre among evangelical Christians for running away from her Muslim family, returns to an Orlando courtroom today. A judge must decide whether her father -- or anyone else in Ohio -- poses a threat to her. Meanwhile, Ohio child welfare officials have already concluded it's safe for Rifqa to return. They want to place the girl in therapy and reunite her with her family. That, however, may not be the conclusion of Florida officials who have had to deal with a flood of e-mail and reaction from thousands of people, many of them including anti-Muslim sentiments, who say the runaway is a hero. Gov. Charlie Crist has received more than 9000 e-mails about the runaway, his office said. For the past two weeks, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been investigating whether there are any credible threats to Rifqa, 17, a native of Sri Lanka. Agents will present their findings today, something that could signal what happens next. If they conclude no threats exist, Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson could send the girl back to Columbus, Ohio, where her parents have agreed to place her in foster care for at least a month. If ...
Please contact Gov. Crist and the FL DCF and urge them to ask the court to keep her in Florida state custody. Here's the contact info: Governor Charlie Crist's office: Phone: (850) 488-4441, (850) 488-7146 Fax: (850) 487-0801 Email: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com Florida Department of Children and Family: George H. Sheldon, Secretary 1317 Winewood Blvd. Building 1, Room 202 Tallahassee, Florida Phone: (850) 487-1111 Fax: (850) 922-2993 ooo OOO ooo On Monday, an attorney for Rifqa Bary, the 17-year-old girl who ran away from her Ohio home, gave the court information detailing ties the mosque has to terrorism. Attorney John Stemberger believes that the Noor Center, which her parents are members of, represents "a clear and present danger" to his client. Click play for more analysis of Bary's case and the new evidence to support her claims with CBN News Senior Reporter George Thomas. "As this facility is the spiritual home and directly connected to the Bary family's daily and weekly life concerns about the mosque's leadership and ideology are critical to understanding the potential threat to Rifqa Bary," Stemberger said in a Monday telephone news conference. Bary fled to Florida last month, claiming her parents threatened to kill her after they discovered that she had converted to Christianity. "This is just not some threat," the 17-year-old warned with tears in her eyes. "This is truth. This is reality." A Florida judge ruled earlier this month that Bary can stay in foster care ...
final resolution that guarantees the permanent safety of this young girl. UPDATE: And this from MARCO RUBIO COMMENTS ON RIFQA BARY CASE (Rubio is running for Senate this fall, if I was a Floridian, he'd get my vote); Miami, FLU.S. Senate candidate and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio today issued the following statement regarding Rifqa Bary's court case: "America has a rich tradition of religious freedom that is enshrined in our First Amendment. Today in Florida, this freedom could ...
for months. New management has been in place for about two weeks. You must be 18 to dance in the club. Cocoa, Florida police also tell us the 15 year old has not been in school since the 7th grade. Truancy is a concern. Investigators are working with code enforcement officers on this case to determine if Playmates is in compliance. The Department of Children and Families has also been contacted. Http ... 15-year-old Stripper's Grandma Attacks Cameraman Playmates Rosemary Lumpkin Cocoa Florida ...
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...are represented by Hilarie Bass, Elliot Scherker, Elaine Walter, Brigid Cech Samole and Ricardo Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, and Charles Auslander, an attorney and former District Administrator for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF)....
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YubaNet
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yubanet/~3/G2I_AmObHOI/ACLU-Urges-Florida-Appellate-Court-To-Affirm-Ruling-Striking-Florida-Law-Barring-Gay-People-From-Adopting.php
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...Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, and Charles Auslander, an attorney and former District Administrator for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF). The ACLU of Florida is freedom's watchdog, working daily in the courts, legislatures and communities...
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Miami Herald
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2009/08/aclu-urges-florida-appellate-court-to-affirm-ruling-against-law-barring-gays-from-adopting.html
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...that gay people can parent as effectively as straight people and do no harm to their children. Although the Florida Department of Children & Families is fighting the decision, they did agree that it was in the best interest of the children that their foster...
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Pam's House Blend
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/yICepIqrEOM/floridas-gay-adoption-ban-headed-to-appeals-court
playmates for months. New management has been in place for about two weeks. You must be 18 to dance in the club. Cocoa, Florida police also tell us the 15 year old has not been in school since the 7th grade. Truancy is a concern. Investigators are working with code enforcement officers on this case to determine if Playmates is in compliance. The Department of Children and Families has also been contacted. ... 15-year-old Stripper's Grandma Attacks Cameraman Playmates Rosemary Lumpkin Cocoa ...
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...Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) has given the inpatient addiction treatment center Lakeview Health Systems a rating of 99.7 out of a possible 100 during its annual survey. The State of Florida sets forth certain regulations and statutes each...
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TransWorldNews
http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?storyid=111932
covering), which she hated. In her discomfort she would slouch down, embarrassed, and her father would haul off and sock her in the face so that she never forgot to sit up straight in her costume. The beatings were regular and so much a part of the landscape of Rifqa's life, she became inured to them " Bary, a native of Sri Lanka, hitchhiked to a bus station and ran away from home on July 19 because she says her family will murder her in what is known as an honor killing. In Islamic ...
him to make sure that Rifqa Bary is not sent back to her parents in Ohio, and that the Department of Children & Families (DCF) keeps custody of her. People can also call George Sheldon, Secretary of the DCF: Contact Governor Charlie Crist today: Phone Calls to (850) 488-7146 Fax letters to (850) 487-0801 or Email him at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com The Florida Department of Children and Families George H. Sheldon, Secretary 1317 Winewood Blvd. Building 1, Room 202 Tallahassee, Florida Fax: (850 ...
Fathima Rifqa Bary, who turned 17 this week, is currently in foster care. An Orlando judge on Monday ordered her placed with the Florida Department of Children & Families until social workers can figure out where she belongs and if her home in Columbus, Ohio, is safe.
, If you have this Jesus in your heart, you're dead to me. You're not my daughter.' And I refused to speak but he said, I will kill you. Tell me the truth.' So I knew that I had to get away." Alan Kornman, with the Orlando chapter ACT for America, a group who says it opposes what they call authoritarian values of Islam fascism, says many fear the secular media isn't taking seriously the issues at play. "It is almost like Rifqa is on trial," said Kornman. "The secular media has been very ...
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...Sheldon, the secretary of the Department of Children and Families, said Thursday he might consider recommending additional review for all children in state custody on such medications and the appointment of a new in-house state medical director to keep tabs...
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sun-sentinel/news/local/~3/R8wkNYPfW5k/sfl-children-psychiatric-drugs-bn081409,0,3335436.story
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...it came to accurately awarding food stamps to eligible households, federal numbers show. The distinction had Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon doting on his staff Monday as he accepted a $7.18-million check on behalf of the...
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TampaBay.com | St. Petersburg Times
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article1022340.ece
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...Children and Families had placed the child. The City of Cocoa Police Department was called to the scene and the Florida Department of Children and Families could not be reached. The police officers on the scene called the sergeant on duty, he decided there...
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Associated Content
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1989936/city_of_cocoa_police_department_oversteps.html
TK & JP Music Fest for Families, US Capitol, Washington, DC, July 19, 2009 - Francesca Moore of St. Petersburg, FL tells her horror story of Florida DCF and a corrupt judge taking her prematurely born baby despite the judge finding her to be a fit parent.
TK & JP Music Fest for Families, US Capitol, Washington, DC, July 19, 2009 - Francesca Moore of St. Petersburg, FL tells her horror story of Florida DCF and a corrupt judge taking her prematurely born baby despite the judge finding her to be a fit parent.
TK & JP Music Fest for Families, US Capitol, Washington, DC, July 19, 2009 - Francesca Moore of St. Petersburg, FL tells her horror story of Florida DCF and a corrupt judge taking her prematurly born baby despite the judge finding her to be a fit parent.
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...acknowledges the lies caused it to temporarily lose track of at least six children and leave 14 in unsafe homes. The Department of Children and Families cannot rely on luck to keep Florida's foster children safe. To deter lying, the state needs to fully enforce...
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TampaBay.com | St. Petersburg Times
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article1019450.ece
ENGAGING IN A PATTERN OF RACKETEERING ACTIVITY - MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF, AND GET A TON OF PUBLICITY AND GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE ONE WHO DID THE WORLD A WORLD OF GOOD. EVERYONE CAN SEE THIS COMING - DON'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW, BE A LEADER, TODAY, AND MAKE HISTORY! AND THINK HOW PROUD YOUR MOM WILL BE OF YOU. SERIOUSLY. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act or RICO) is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of ...
Seventy caseworkers hired by the Department of Children and Families to keep track of foster kids lied about monthly visits. Some kids went six months without seeing a caseworker. As Whitney Ray tells us, the caseworkers have been fired and DCF is hoping a new GPS system will help keep better track of who is skipping visits. ... Florida "Social workers" "Case Workers" "Missing children" "falsified reports" "George Sheldon"
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...old. "The deputies had to wake some of the children," Roy said. Janice Thomas, circuit administrator for the Florida Department of Children and Families, said that as of this morning, her agency has not been contacted about becoming involved in the Billings'...
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Tampa Bay Online
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tbo/news/~3/N3zzRXA-Hmg/
www.wfsu.org FLORIDA ON THE LINE with Host Margie Menzel After the tragic death of seven-year-old Gabriel Myers in April, the Department of Children and Families began a review of children in state custody taking psychotropic drugs. In more than 16 percent of cases where children were given these drugs, DCF lacked the legal consent of a guardian or judge. Fifteen percent of Florida foster children are on one or more such drugs. Our guests include Sen. Ronda Storms, chair of the Senate ...
they know, not strangers lurking in schoolyards. Thus, residence restrictions do little to prevent the most common situations in which children are likely to be harmed. Research shows that such restrictions greatly diminish housing availability and increase transience, homelessness and instability -- as evidenced by the situation under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. These laws interfere with effective tracking, monitoring and probation supervision. This undermines the very purpose of sex- ...
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...The children are represented by Hilarie Bass, Elliot Scherker, Elaine Walter and Brigid Cech Samole of Greenberg Traurig, and Charles Auslander, an attorney and former District Administrator for Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF). ...
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American Civil Liberties Union
http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/parenting/39953prs20090623.html?s_src=RSS
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...cases are up 14 percent, this group's increase is 53 percent, said Jennifer Lange, access director for the state Department of Children and Families in Tallahassee. Lange said the number of welfare recipients jumped 33 percent from 1991 to 1992, after Florida's...
Source Info
Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1109492.html
case files, it was determined that he had been prescribed several psychotropic drugs that had not been accurately reflected in the DCF database that contains case notes and histories of foster care children. Additionally, there was no indication of a signed parental consent form or a court order authorizing the administration of the drugs, as required. In compiling the report, all Community-Based Care organizations throughout the state have been asked to review every foster childs record ...
case files, it was determined that he had been prescribed several psychotropic drugs that had not been accurately reflected in the DCF database that contains case notes and histories of foster care children. Additionally, there was no indication of a signed parental consent form or a court order authorizing the administration of the drugs, as required. In compiling the report, all Community-Based Care organizations throughout the state have been asked to review every foster childs record ...
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