Foster Care Concealed Abuse

Miami, FL: (Oct-22-07) A former Boynton Beach couple brought a lawsuit against Florida's Department of Children & Families (DCF), alleging that they were not given adequate knowledge of the boys that they adopted. The suit, filed in 2001 stated that the couple was not told about the full extent of the boys' background and deep seeded psychiatric problems. They claimed that the three brothers had endured neglect from their own parents, sexual abuse at the hands of a foster father, and punishment that included being placed in a backyard chicken coop. The suit contended that the abuse emotionally scarred the brothers for life and that DCF was negligent. The suit also claimed that DCF failed to provide appropriate mental health services for the boys, downplayed the emotional harm they had suffered, and concealed information about the brothers to get them adopted. As part of a settlement reached, Florida's Department of Children & Families agreed to pay the adoptive parents $10 million to resolve the dispute. [SUN SENTINEL: CONCEALED ABUSE]

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Published on Oct-23-07