Expert weighs in on Detroit family seeking to get their children out of Florida foster care
Program may reunite foster kids with family
Five siblings stuck in Florida's foster care system are over 1,000 miles from their Michigan home. Their grandmother came to Florida to get the children but was turned away. FOX 35 has learned that there is a program to assist families that find themselves in this situation.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A Detroit family continues to search for answers after five of their family member's children were sent into the foster care system in Florida.
The children belong to a woman accused of child neglect, after allegedly deserting one of the kids on the beach in Daytona Beach. The family was visiting from Michigan when the incident occurred. The five boys have been placed in three separate foster homes since early November.
"I find myself crying every day because we don't know what the outcome [is going to be]," Lynnisha Mitchell, the boys’ aunt said. "It is very traumatizing."
The family has attempted to coordinate with the Florida Department of Children and Families as well as Michigan’s Department of Children's Protective Services. Despite weeks having passed, the family said they had received very few updates about the process of receiving the children.
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Timothy Turner is an expert witness who specializes in cases related to child protective services. FOX 35 News reached out to Turner to help provide context for the case at hand. Turner said part of the legal process requires children to go into the system, at least temporarily. He was confused, however, as to why they hadn’t been transferred back to their home state while the custody details were figured out.
"They basically have fallen down on the job because they're not pursuing reunification of the children with family," he said.
Turner said there’s a federal statute called the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. It helps to set guidelines for how child protective agencies operate across state lines. According to Turner, the typical process would invoke the agreement. The children’s grandmother, Valerie said she was not informed of said protocol during her discussions with the agencies from both states.
"A good agency would be talking to the mom and the grandmother about the interstate compact," he said. "They must have some kind of reason that I'm not aware of."
DCF officials declined to address the specific case. They issued the following statement instead:
"The Department conducts investigations concerning all allegations of abuse, neglect or abandonment. Information regarding investigations is confidential per section 39.202, Florida Statutes."
Officials have not yet responded to general questions about custody cases involving suspected criminals.
This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 35 for the latest.