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Child Deaths Still Going Uncounted

According to a review of Florida Department of Children and Families documents by the Miami Herald, child deaths are being inaccurately counted.
 
The problem, as reporter Carol Marbin Miller explains, is when the death of a child goes from “verified” -- resulting from neglect and abuse -- to “unverified.”
 
As the Herald reports, cases where DCF had prior contact and documented abuse still aren’t being counted as a result of these switches and delays in investigations. And according to a former official with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, nothing has changed at DCF despite new promises for transparency in the wake of reports of hundreds of child deaths. 
 

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.