TALLAHASSEE, FL. (WTXL) - According to the Florida News Service, months of reports about problems in the state's child-welfare system, forced lawmakers to approved a sweeping reform bill in 2014. The reform bill included the establishment of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare at Florida State University, designed to guide state leaders by providing research, policy and data analysis. The institute's interim director, Patty Babcock, is preparing its first strategic plan for the upcoming legislative session. She says part of her charge is to evaluate the outcomes of child abuse and neglect cases so that lawmakers will have better information when they make decisions.
Interim Director at Florida Institute for Child Welfare Patty Babcock says, "This could be one of the best opportunities, if not the best opportunity, to really change the child welfare system because the legislature has really put the magnifying glass on the system."
The legislature also allocated funding for nearly 200 new child protective investigators in 2014.
