Child welfare agency won’t renew contract with DCF over funding issue
Child welfare agency won't renew contract with DCF over funding ... News 13 Orlando
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Embrace Families Faces Financial Emergency
ORLANDO, Fla. — Leaders of the nonprofit, Embrace Families, which manages foster care throughout Central Florida are in the midst of what they call a “financial emergency.” It’s an issue that will cause the agency to run out of money in the coming months.
Financial Challenges Lead to Non-Renewal of Contract
CEO of Embrace Families Gerry Glenn said Wednesday the group isn’t closing their doors, but they aren’t renewing their contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families. In the coming months, another agency can bid to take over the foster care and adoption responsibilities.
Glenn said the move is due to not having significant money to properly lead the foster care system for the Central Florida region. The agency said several moving factors got them into this situation, but they claim they’re not getting enough support from DCF.
Embrace Families serves 12% of the foster and adoption population in the entire state of Florida, but their leaders said they only received about 7% of DCF’s budget to address the issue.
“Our primary focus has always been and will continue to be the children and families we serve in Central Florida. If we’re not the best agency for those children and families, we will step aside and let the department pick someone whom they feel is the better fit,” said Glynn.
Proposed Bill Aims to Improve Funding Allocation
This week, State Senator Ileana Garcia proposed Senate Bill 536, which would revise the way money is allocated to child welfare agencies. This is something Embrace Families says is long overdue and will help future child welfare agencies succeed.
Spectrum News 13 reached out to DCF about the funding and money allocation and has yet to get a response.
Transition Process and Timeline
Embrace Families said it’s already given their 6-month notice for non-renewal of their contract with DCF.
Their last day being the lead agency in Central Florida is May 14, though they believe they will run out of money beforehand. The agency says other agencies’ deadline to bid is Jan. 15.
Embrace Families said depending on when DCF makes their decision, they will have 45-90 days to help transition the new lead agency.
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