Attorney General: Child Abuse Reports Are Public Record
By Mark Hollis, Tallahassee Bureau
Originally published in the Sun-Sentinel, July 25, 2001
TALLAHASSEE — Drawing praise from government watchdogs, Attorney General Bob Butterworth on Tuesday told Florida's child-welfare agency that records of abuse, neglect and abandonment of children in the state's foster homes, shelters and treatment centers are a matter of public record.
The opinion from the state's chief legal adviser collides with plans by the state Department of Children & Families to keep secret "critical incident reports" detailing allegations of abuse when children are in state custody.
An attorney for the department said he would review the non-binding opinion before recommending any policy changes. The lawyer said it is likely that the DCF will follow Butterworth's advice.
"We just want to make sure we understand all of it," said John Slye, the DCF's deputy general counsel. "We don't want to be outside the boundaries of what the statutes require. That's why we requested the opinion."
In his opinion, Butterworth said the abuse reports are not confidential but information that would identify a victim of abuse, abandonment or neglect may be kept private.
In recent weeks, department officials have said they should keep confidential the entire record of abuse.
Incident reports have been a resource for people suing the department. One case was filed on behalf of 1,500 children in foster care in Broward County by the San Francisco-based Youth Law Center.
Michael Dale, a Nova Southeastern University law professor who is monitoring DCF's compliance with the settlement terms of that case, applauded Butterworth's opinion.
"The public should not be denied knowledge of governmental shortcomings by hiding documents," Dale said. "Personally identifiable information about children does not become public. Governmental shortcomings and problems become public. And for the public to understand governmental shortcoming, in the long run, is to protect children."
In the 1999-2000 budget year, about 8 percent of the 14,980 foster children in Florida were re-abused or neglected while in state care, according to a March government report.
