Kearney wants the money to ease the massive caseloads plaguing the state's child abuse investigators. Kearney's staff heralded Bush's plan. But whether it's good enough to heal a fractured system remains to be seen, said Jack Levine, executive director of the Center for Florida's Children, a statewide watchdog group. Levine pondered whether too much of the money comes from one-time sources, such as federal grants and tobacco trust funds, rather than from a steady flow of general revenue. That won't instill confidence in community providers who have three years to take control of the state's child welfare system, he said.
Nobody wants to be invited somewhere and then realize that the invitation is very, very short-lived.
Levine and others also are concerned that too much of the budget focuses on relieving the front-end of the foster care system. A new, stricter child protection law and growing public awareness of abuse issues has slammed child abuse investigators with as many as 35 to 40 new reports a month, said Linda Radigan, assistant secretary for family safety. The national standard is 12. That, in turn, has strained every aspect of the child protection program. Some advocates wonder whether enough counseling and other services will be available once all those cases are investigated, dropping more children into the system.