Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on child safety:
Crime & Courts
Efforts continue to prevent another Phoebe Jonchuck tragedy
By Anastasia Dawson | Tribune Staff
Published: April 1, 2015 | Updated: April 1, 2015 at 10:53 PM
TAMPA — The Glazer Children’s Museum bustled Wednesday night with children jumping through fountains, spinning pinwheels and reveling in the general innocence and joy of childhood.
But one little girl missed out on the party, the victim of a short life mired by tragedy.
It’s been nearly three months since 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck’s father threw her into Tampa Bay from the Dick Misener Bridge. The Florida Department of Children and Families, as well as numerous other agencies in Hillsborough County, have been left to analyze what went wrong with Phoebe’s case and how her death could have been prevented.
A new initiative announced Wednesday at the statewide kickoff of Child Abuse Prevention Month may help that effort by better coordinating the many resources available locally to help endangered children.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman announced the board’s newest project, the Blue Ribbon Committee for Child Safety. Comprised of representatives from the county commission, the Children’s Board of Hillsborough Community, DCF, Eckered College, judges, juvenile justice, school system, and mental health and substance abuse agencies, the committee’s first goal will be improving data sharing among agencies and identifying problem areas that need attention.
“Child abuse is changing forms right now; it’s not just neglect or abuse, it’s parents who are mentally ill or really need help early on,” Murman said. “With so many support systems already in place, we all need to work together to come up with a plan and intervene earlier in these children’s lives.”
The committee, one of the first of it’s kind in the state, is an important step in tackling the problems that have plagued Florida’s child care agencies, said DCF Secretary Mike Carroll.
Every year, DCF investigates more than 200,000 allegations of child abuse and neglect across the state. “The issue with us is most of the families we’re working with are already at that critical care level, with substance abuse issues or domestic violence, and once they’re at that level it’s very difficult to help,” Carroll said. “We need to get better at stopping kids from getting to the point where the state needs to intervene, and we need people in the community to step up and be part of the solution,” he said.
Local businesses, public offices and schools across the state will display blue and silver pinwheels this month for the DCF’s Pinwheels for Prevention campaign. There is a critical need for adoptive parents, foster families and mentors, Carroll said, and the pinwheels should serve as a “call to action” for community members to reach out to children in need.
Some policy changes should also help in the effort to help children before it’s too late.
Since Phoebe’s murder, DCF now requires the statewide abuse reporting hotline to respond to cases involving a potential mental health crisis within a four hour time period. The agency also has a new child death fatality website featuring quarterly reviews from the new response team.
Legislators last year passed a bill in hopes of preventing more child deaths, but changes being considered this year would strengthen it. Under last year’s bill, 270 child protective investigators were hired for a “Critical Incident Rapid Response Team.” The new language would require a child protection team medical director certified in child abuse cases and heighten the members’ training and credentialing standards.
