Foster Care Agency Under Criminal Investigation; State Names Replacement

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — After announcing last month it was terminating its foster care services contract with Eckerd Connects Community Alternatives, Department of Family Services Secretary Shevaun Harris has named Family Support Services of North Florida as the new lead community-based care agency for foster children in Pasco and Pinellas counties.

“FSS has proven to be successful in caring for children in Northeast Florida while offering a robust continuum of services,” said Harris. “This is our opportunity to rebuild the system of care in these counties that truly addresses the needs of children and families it serves by engaging the community to leverage all available resources. We looked for a qualified lead agency who knew how to activate the community and reach partners, and we know that FSS will work diligently to carry this out in Circuit 6.”

Both Pasco and Pinellas counties fall under the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida, which handles foster and adoption cases.

Family Support Services of North Florida is among 18 lead agencies that offer foster care and adoption services in Florida for the DCF. FSS has had a contract with DCF since 2001 to provide these services in Duval and Nassau counties.

Eckerd Connects announced last month that it was no longer going to provide foster care services in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties due to insufficient funding.

Before Eckerd Connects made the announcement that it was pulling out of Tampa Bay, Shevaun Harris, who was appointed secretary of the Florida Department of Children and families in February after serving as acting secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, said she had already decided not to renew the state's contract with Eckerd Connects for Pinellas and Pasco counties when it expires Dec. 31. The contract dates back to June 9, 2014.

"Both the Hillsborough and Pinellas-Pasco child welfare contracts are woefully under-funded, despite Eckerd’s best efforts to increase financial resources available to serve youths and families in Tampa Bay," Eckerd Connect board chairman V. Raymond Ferrara said in a statement. "As a comparison, Hillsborough County serves nearly 1,500 children more than Miami-Dade but receives $20.3 million less in state funding. Pinellas and Pasco counties serve 1,745 more children than Miami-Dade and receive $27.4 million less in state funding."

He said, in the past two years, Eckerd Connects has experienced a 40 percent increase in the number of children being removed from their homes by law enforcement in the three counties, without any increase in funding from the state.

On the same day that Eckerd Connects revealed it was pulling out of the foster care programs for Hillsborough Pasco and Pinellas counties, Harris announced that she would not be renewing the state's $80 million contract with Eckerd Connects for foster services in Pasco and Pinellas counties when the contract ends Dec. 31. She cited concerns about the foster care agency's placement and supervision of children in its care. DCF has contracted for services in Pasco and Pinellas counties since June 9, 2014.

A few days later, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri called a news conference to say his office was investigating Eckerd Connect for criminal child abuse and neglect after several children were injured while sleeping in Eckerd Connect's Largo office because there weren't enough foster beds available.

On Nov. 9, Eckerd Connects gave the state its mandatory 2021 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification announcing that, as of Dec. 31, it will close its offices at 8550 Ulmerton Road, Largo, 36739 State Road 52 in Dade City; and 7916 Evolutions Way, Suite 102, Trinity.

It plans to lay off 197 people at the Largo office, four people at the Dade City office and 30 people at the Trinity office.

Eckerd Connects hasn't announced any changes in its Hillsborough County program yet. Its $87 million contract with the state to provide services in Hillsborough County isn't up until this summer.

Eckerd Connects continues to provide children's services in both Florida and around the country including a juvenile justice diversion and detention program in Central Los Angeles, a juvenile justice family intervention program for youth age 11 to 18 and a foster care program in Wichita, Kansas, and a foster care program for the state of North Carolina.

Eckerd Connects also operates the Pathways community service program for youth age 11 to 19 in Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pasco, Osceola, Sarasota and St. Lucie counties; Project Bridge juvenile justice residential program in Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties; and Strive Academy, a Department of Juvenile Justice day treatment program for teens age 12 to 19 in Pinellas and Polk counties.

Additionally, Eckerd Connects runs workforce development and Job Corps programs in 17 other states.

Counties with the largest number of children in foster care as of Oct. 31, according to the DCF, are:

• Hillsborough County - 2,442 children
• Pinellas County - 1,667 children
• Broward County - 1,130
• Orange County - 1,044
• Pasco County -1,018
• Polk County - 980
• Miami-Dade - 971
• Lee County - 919 children
• Duval County -907
• Palm Beach -909
• Volusia -851

See related stories:

• Sheriff Launches Criminal Investigation Into Eckerd Connects
• Foster Care Provider Pulls Out Of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco