Florida Foster Care System

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Theoretical Perspective 1

How Has Privatization Affected The Florida Foster Care System?
At the end of 2011, 19,760 children in Florida were in Foster Care. (Federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, 2011). The Florida Foster Care system was privatized in 1998. Based on the literature, there is no definite answer as to whether or not privatized foster care is more or less effective than publicly administered programs. Throughout the research it was unclear which model was more affective; privately or publicly provision of foster care services in Florida. (Albowiczk, K. Florida?s Experiment with Privatizing Child Welfare Services. 2004).
In 1996, the Florida Legislature mandated that the Department of Children
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By privatizing these services, the support and commitment of communities to the reunification of families and care of children and their families will be strengthened, and efficiencies as well as increased accountability will be gained. These services may include family preservation, independent living, emergency shelter, residential group care, foster care, therapeutic foster care, intensive residential treatment, post adjudication legal services, foster care supervision, post adjudication case management, postplacement supervision, permanent foster care, family reunification, the filing of a petition for the termination of parental rights, and adoption. (The 1997 Florida Statute, Chapter …show more content…
Galatians 6:9, King James Bible

Research will contribute to the current body of knowledge by providing more current, detailed and scholarly information. Unfortunately while performing the review of the literature it was revealed that there was an abundance of pamphlets and brochures touting the many merits of privatization of the foster care system in Florida, but a paucity of empirical studies.
With implementation of privatization, The Florida State Department of Children and Families (DCF) spent $27.5 million dollars on five primary programs, later called lead agencies. The money was to be used for privatization from 1997-2000. According to (Albowicz, K. 2004) four of the pilots failed for a variety of reasons. In spite of the failure of most of the pilots, the Florida Legislature mandated in 1998 that foster care and related services be privatized throughout the state. Privatization was to take place between January 2000 and December 2002. The theory to be used was evidenced-based which refers to any concept or strategy that is derived from or informed by objective evidence. The lead Agency model would be used to implement services. Legislation required that Department of Children and Families contract with a single community-based provider in each identified geographical local agency that administers services. Further,