State Senator Holding Public Meeting On DCF Deaths

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Interim Department of Children and Families Secretary Esther Jacobo will be among the attendees of a tri-county meeting next week to talk about the multiple recent deaths of children under DCF care.

The meeting is being organized by State Senator Eleanor Sobel (D-Hollywood) and will also have legislative members from the Miami-Dade and Palm Beach legislative delegations.

In addition to Jacobo, Kurt Kelly, president of Florida's Coalition for Children; Andrea Moore, attorney and former Director of Florida's Children First; and James Walker, asst. program administrator for Child Protective Investigations at the Broward Sheriff's Office will be at the meeting.

The meeting comes as multiple children have died in South Florida despite DCF being aware of allegations or abuse and neglect at the hands of their caregivers. In each of the deaths, DCF failed to take the children from the abusive/neglectful households.

The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the Broward College South Campus, Building 68B, in Pembroke Pines, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on August 20.