| Why Should We Dump Jeb ? |
When candidate Bush was running for Governor, he made a promise to fix the state's child welfare agency.
Bush had criticized Gov. Lawton Chiles' handling of the department he would leave no child behind.
But that's exactly what happened. His administration headed by his appointee lost track of Rilya Wilson.
He said, "I am the person...to provide a solution. That is my responsibility and I accept that."
So what does that really mean to him ? Not a thing. It's just something he says to appear to be responsible.
Because to Jeb Bush, all that matters is what things appear to be like, not how things really are.
So what does he say now - now that he's failed miserably ? "In an imperfect world, with imperfect parents...",
Jeb said that we can't blame his administration for these failures, now he says that government can't do everything.
Around May 5, 2002, The Miami Herald has revealed that DCF paid a private company, the Pinellas County-based Florida Task Force for the Protection of Abused and Neglected Children, $4.8 million to investigate and close unresolved child abuse reports. The company was abruptly fired in March for poor performance. (Big surprise there) Caseworkers with the company told The Miami Herald they were ordered to close cases quickly . . . and according to unrealistic quotas . . . even if the pressure left some children at risk. Was Jeb applying pressure here ? Who else would ? Could it be to make things appear to be getting better when really, they are not getting better. It's all about appearance and perception, not reality. It is this kind of thing that shows what Jeb Bush is. It is not getting it right that matters, it is trying to make it look like you are getting it right. DCF audits show the company performed shoddy work both in Miami-Dade County and in the Treasure Coast. In Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush said state officials are reviewing the handling of Rilya's case to try to prevent it from happening again. But he said the government can only go so far. Funny how when he was not the Governor, he felt it was the Governor's responsibility - now that it is his responsibility, he says government can only go so far. "Until we recognize that the biggest issue here is the lack of wholesome love and family life in our state, to expect that the government can fill that void in a perfect fashion is impossible," he said. As if all we need is love and the world would be a perfect place. Apparently, we don't need good government according to Bush, we only need love. How foolish we all were to think the government should be in charge of abused and neglected kids. If we all just loved a little more, the problem would probably go away. That's what usually happens to issues that are ignored, they don't get worse, they just go away. Four years after Kearney took the helm of the child welfare agency, advocates say the system is no better, and key indicators show vulnerable kids are worse off. "This exemplifies just how messed up the system is," said Karen Gievers, a Tallahassee lawyer who has sued the state on behalf of foster children. "While it is despicable, those of us who have been watching for years know it's not functioning. There have been so many children who have paid the price." Joshua Saccone, of West Palm Beach, 2, died in August 2000 after a severe beating. Before his death, DCF received four abuse reports on the boy but bungled the investigations, a grand jury concluded. Joshua's mother has been charged with manslaughter. Latiana Hamilton, 17 months, was beaten and then drowned in a bathtub by her foster mother in Jacksonville last year, police say. DCF licensed the foster parents, despite complaints that they previously mistreated foster children in Michigan, locking one youngster in a dark basement and smearing feces on a child's face. Bryan Bratchell Jr., 4 months, was shaken to death in January by his father, who said the baby's screaming was disrupting his Nintendo game, police said. The Central Florida toddler had been the subject of five abuse reports in his short life, and DCF workers had removed his 2-year-old sister from the home three times after she turned up with bruises and broken bones. So, is it an isolated problem as Bush would have you believe ? "The system is dysfunctional," said Bernard Perlmutter of the University of Miami's Children & Youth Law Clinic. Rilya's case is particularly egregious, "but it is very much symptomatic of the wholesale failure of DCF to have adequate systems in place and checks and balances where those systems break down," Perlmutter said. Bush said Friday that he has not yet determined whether Rilya's case represents a "systemic problem." That's because Bush doesn't want to face the truth. Everyone else can see it is a systemic problem. Bush is the only person at the highest level of government who doesn't think so. Bush is clearly out of touch with the reality of the situation. The average time children spend in foster care has steadily risen over the past three years, according to a legislative audit released in March. Children who are reunited with their families stay an average of two years while those available for adoption remain in the system 47 months on average, the audit reported. State and federal laws require children to be sent home or adopted within 12 months. Hundreds of other children under state care are simply missing. Almost 400 children statewide have been abducted or run away, and DCF makes minimal efforts to find them, advocates say. Agency policies require workers to report missing children to state and national registries. But according to an Aug. 13, 2000, memo from Ruben Betancourt, a former DCF administrator in Broward County, fewer than 10 of the 129 children missing at that time had been reported. |
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