Another Child Dies on DCF Watch

A Florida Keys child whose family had “a long history” with Florida’s Department of Children & Families was found dead in his parents’ home,  the Miami Herald reports.
 
Carter James Turcanu’s April 24 death came within months of two reports to DCF that his mother was spending most of her money on drugs and leaving her children with no food, the Herald reports.  Carter’s death is being investigated by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
 
A DCF report stated that a crib in the house was “stacked with clothing and other articles”  while the 9-month-old was sleeping on a couch, a practice that has proved fatal for other infants in the past. DCF had received two child abuse hotline reports on the family in the months prior to the child’s death.
 
Meanwhile in Tallahassee, House leaders say they intend to resist pressure from the governor's office to cut back some of the safeguards built into the DCF reform bill, as Florida Public Radio reports.
 
Earlier this year, the Herald ran a series of articles, called "Innocents Lost," detailing how hundreds of children died of abuse or neglect even after DCF had been warned.