Latest news with #FloridaDepartmentofChildrenandFamilies
Business Upturn
17-07-2025
- General
- Business Upturn
One More Child Appoints Jodi Domangue as Chief Operating Officer
LAKELAND, Fla., July 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — One More Child recently announced that Jodi Domangue has been appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer. With more than a decade of leadership on the executive team, Domangue will now oversee the organization's operations which extend to 26 states and 19 countries. Prior to One More Child, Domangue worked with the Florida Department of Children and Families, where she investigated child abuse cases and became a recognized human trafficking expert. In 2014, she joined One More Child and launched Florida's first certified safe home for minor victims of human trafficking. Domangue continued to lead the expansion of One More Child's Anti-Trafficking program throughout multiple states including Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio. 'I came to One More Child after experiencing the transformative care they provided to foster children and child victims of sex trafficking,' said Domangue. 'I had not seen anything like it while working for the child welfare system. They were doing something different, and I had to be a part of it. It is an honor to lead the operations of an organization that's so committed to its mission of providing exceptional Christ-centered services to vulnerable children and struggling families. Our expert staff are the tip of the spear and selfless in their dedication to serving others.' Domangue's impact extends beyond anti-trafficking services. She led the successful launch of One More Child's Foster Care services in the Tampa Bay area and later served as executive director of the Single Moms program, overseeing five residential campuses and launching national and international community programs designed to help single mothers break the cycle of poverty. 'In every role, Jodi has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to fight for children and families in need,' said Stephen Robert, president and CEO of One More Child. 'She's a highly respected professional and a skillful communicator who brings a broad range of institutional knowledge to this position.' Domangue has built strong partnerships with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to ensure victims receive compassionate, comprehensive care. She has become a highly sought-after national expert on human trafficking awareness and prevention, contributing to policy development and best practices in the field. The newly appointed COO holds a bachelor's degree in criminology and psychology and a master's degree in criminology from Florida State University. About One More Child: One More Child operates in 26 states and 19 countries around the world, meeting the needs of foster children, hungry children, single moms, struggling families and sex-trafficked children and teens. In 2023, One More Child provided direct services to 250,259 children and individuals while impacting an additional 143,334 individuals through advocacy, trainings, awareness and volunteering. One More Child provided more than 19 million meals nationally and globally. For more information, visit Attachments Jodi Domangue appointed new COO of One More Child Jodi Domangue speaks at One More Child's 'Traffick Stop' press conference Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash
Miami Herald
07-07-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
How young is too young to leave a child alone at home? What Florida law says
School is out and the kids are home for the summer. What does that mean for you and your children? It mainly means parents and guardians will now have to find ways to keep them busy for the next couple of months. While summer camps and other childcare options are available to keep kids busy and out of the house, not every parent can afford to enroll their children in summer programs. Is leaving your child home alone an option in Florida? Here's what to know about leaving your children home alone, and how to prepare them: What age can a child be home alone in Florida? Florida doesn't have clear laws that specify the exact age when children are allowed to stay home alone. But experts and a state agency have guidance. What do the experts advise? According to Florida Department of Children and Families and the national SAFE Kids Campaign, children under the age of 12 years old should not be left alone. And the child welfare advocates say kids should not be taking care of siblings younger than 15. Experts say it's fine to leave 12-year-olds home alone for a few hours a day, while children 8 or 9 years old should only be left alone for 30 minutes or so every once in a while, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Does Florida law protect neglected children? Under Florida law, a parent or caregiver can be accused of 'failure or omission to provide a child with the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the child's physical and mental health, including, but not limited to, food, nutrition, clothing, shelter, supervision, medicine, and medical services that a prudent person would consider essential for the well-being of the child.' Preparing your child to stay home alone If your child is old enough to be home alone, it is important to make a plan and set rules with them. Here are some things you should do to prepare your child to be home alone, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics: Post key contact information details in a visible place such as the refrigeratorMake sure your child is familiar with when and how to call 911 Have a first aid kit that is easily accessible Show your child where emergency supplies are locatedShow your child how to turn on and turn off an alarm if you have one Practice using kitchen appliances if they are allowed to use them while they are alone Make an emergency exit plan
Miami Herald
27-06-2025
- Miami Herald
60 kids rescued in a Tampa Bay human trafficking bust, Florida officials say
Dozens of missing children were rescued and eight people arrested following a human trafficking bust in Central Florida earlier this week, according to Florida officials. Held hostage: 60 Tampa Bay area kids, aged 9 to 17 years old, said U.S. Marshal William Berger. Dubbed 'Operation Dragon Eye,' the mission saw 20 agencies across federal, state and nonprofit sectors come together in what they're calling the 'largest child rescue operation in United States history.' 'In a two-week period, this team, a collective work of many agencies and law enforcement personnel, rescued 60 kids, kids that were in critical danger, many the victims of trafficking, many missing kids,' Uthmeier said at a news conference Monday night. 'We got a lot of people up here, and that's because it took a lot of people to get this done.' Eight people were arrested — five men, two women, one unidentified — in connection with running the trafficking ring and face charges including human trafficking, child endangerment, drug possession and drug trafficking. Mugshots of the 'leeches,' as Berger called them, were shown on a screen at the briefing below blurred photos of the victims. According to Redefining Refuge, a nonprofit that combats child sex trafficking, some of the kids were found pregnant and hooked on drugs. 'One such child, a girl, you know, barely beginning her own life, and yet she was carrying a life inside of her. The baby, actually, of her trafficker,' said Natasha Nascimento, the organization's founder and executive director. 'This child was forced to use substances by her trafficker throughout her pregnancy, and so a baby gets to be born addiction free, a baby gets to be born to a mom who's not being sold every day, and a baby gets to have a story that doesn't start with trauma.' Now free, the kids are receiving the physical and emotional care needed to 'support each child, both immediately and in their journey ahead,' assured Taylor Hatch, secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families. 'I promised several months ago, we're going to go after every child predator we can find,' said Uthmeier. 'If you want to prey on our kids, we will hunt you down. We will get you in this state, there's no tolerance for human trafficking.'
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Posts claim ICE is removing foster children for deportation. Here's what we know
Videos that circulated on social media in June 2025 claimed ICE was removing children in the country illegally from their foster homes for deportation. A report published by the Miami Herald (archived) on June 11, 2025, said child welfare authorities in Florida turned over a 17-year-old Honduran foster child to ICE agents. However, the Herald's reporting relied on information from anonymous sources, so Snopes was unable to replicate it. The Florida Department of Children and Families provided the following statement to Snopes via email: "The individual referenced in your inquiry has been in the care of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (U.S. ORR). The individual absconded and, due to his actions, was intercepted by Florida law enforcement. The Florida Department of Children and Families may provide temporary care but must work with all partners to return the individual to the appropriate legal custody, which in this case was U.S. ORR." ICE had not responded to Snopes' request for comment at the time of this writing. A White House spokesperson provided a statement addressing its efforts to "conduct welfare checks" on migrant children "to ensure they are not being exploited and to reunite them with their families when possible." However, they did not directly address the claims about federal agents removing foster children for deportation. Videos that circulated on social media in June 2025 claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was removing undocumented children from their foster homes for deportation. One of the earliest iterations of the claim was shared on TikTok (archived) on June 10, 2025, with overlaid text that read, "Foster Children Removed for Deportation." In that video, which has garnered more than 800,000 likes and 100,000 shares as of this writing, a user said: It's time to speak up. ICE is now removing undocumented foster children from their foster homes. Removing foster children from their foster homes for deportation. Several Instagram (archived) users (archived) shared the video on their accounts, while other (archived) users (archived) on social media used the audio as voiceover in their posts. Snopes readers also emailed us and searched our site looking for information about the claim. At the time of this writing, Snopes found a report published by the Miami Herald (archived) on June 11, 2025, that said child welfare authorities in Florida turned over a 17-year-old foster child to ICE agents. The Herald's reporting relied on information from anonymous sources, so Snopes was unable to replicate it. The Herald's deputy investigations editor, who worked on the story, told Snopes via email, "As the story indicates, support for our reporting includes sources whom we are unable to name, and a document we are not at liberty to share." ICE had not responded to Snopes' request for comment at the time of this writing. A White House spokesperson provided a statement addressing the administration's efforts to "conduct welfare checks" on migrant children "to ensure they are not being exploited and to reunite them with their families when possible." However, they did not directly address the claims about federal agents removing foster children for deportation. The statement read: Under the Biden Administration, countless migrant children were illegally smuggled and sex trafficked across the wide-open Southern Border. Not only did the Biden Administration allow this to happen, but once the children arrived to the U.S., Biden's Administration lost track of tens of thousands of them. DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure they are not being exploited and to reunite them with their families when possible. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration takes the safety of these children seriously. In response to Snopes' questions about the teen referenced in the Herald report, the Florida Department of Children and Families provided the following statement via email: The individual referenced in your inquiry has been in the care of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (U.S. ORR). The individual absconded and, due to his actions, was intercepted by Florida law enforcement. The Florida Department of Children and Families may provide temporary care but must work with all partners to return the individual to the appropriate legal custody, which in this case was U.S. ORR. The Florida agency did not confirm whether the teen was in foster care at the time, as the Herald reported. In its story, the Herald reported that a 17-year-old Honduran boy was removed from his foster home in Pensacola, Florida, "in handcuffs and shackles" and "transferred immediately into ICE custody." He and his mother "had crossed the southwest border into the U.S. without permission," sources told the newspaper. According to the Herald, the teen traveled from Texas to Pensacola in search of work after being separated from his mother, who was later deported. The report said, in part: He entered foster care after he was found living in a shed with no source of food, shelter or income, records show. The boy, whose first name is Henry, also may have been a victim of labor trafficking. The Herald is not fully naming him to protect his privacy. The decision to alert immigration authorities to Henry's status as an undocumented migrant is at odds with decades of child welfare practice in Florida – and it appears to violate a 30-year-old state Department of Children and Families rule that prohibits workers from acting upon a child's status. Republican Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump but has openly criticized the president's immigration policies, declined to name the child but told the Herald she is "concerned his case may be part of a larger pattern in which children in the state's foster care system could be picked up at the homes of their foster parents by federal immigration authorities," the newspaper reported. In a post on X (archived) on June 9, 2025, Garcia wrote: Stephen Miller has made it a point to include undocumented minors in foster care, many of whom are victims of human trafficking, in his efforts to fulfill a desperate weekly quota of deportations. These individuals are being picked up at the homes of foster parents. This is unacceptable! Regardless of their citizenship status. Miller serves as the White House's deputy chief of staff. The White House did not directly address any of Garcia's allegations. Garcia told the Herald she could "only provide specifics about the Pensacola case," according to the newspaper. Snopes reached out to Garcia via phone and email to ask for additional information about such incidences and evidence corroborating her claim. We will update this story if we receive a response. Lawyers told the Herald it had been years since they had heard about Florida child welfare agencies, such as the Department of Children and Families, notifying ICE about children in their custody, the newspaper reported. The Herald report also documented Henry's journey to the United States and his time in Pensacola. Henry, whose father is dead, was 13 when he crossed the border with his mother. A source told the Herald that he was initially released into his uncle's custody, though details about his early time in the U.S. aren't entirely clear, according to the newspaper. Henry moved in with his mother at some point before she was arrested in Texas and ultimately deported to Honduras. He made it to Pensacola, where his brother lived, and ended up working for $10 a day. Henry "ran away" when he "realized he was being overworked," and may also have been a victim of labor trafficking, records obtained by the Herald show. In November 2024, a report made to the Department of Children and Families' child welfare hotline alleged Henry was homeless and "did not have a caregiver available," the Herald reported. He was briefly placed with a local family before leaving over disagreements about a visitor and sleeping arrangements, according to the newspaper. The state agency filed a petition in April 2025 asking a judge to designate Henry as a dependent of the state and he was then placed in foster care, the newspaper reported. According to sources who spoke to the Herald, a DCF administrator reported Henry to ICE on June 6. Three days later, ICE agents took him from his foster home "in handcuffs and leg irons," a source told the Herald. Henry is now in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, as DCF mentioned in its statement to Snopes. He does not have a deportation order, according to a source who spoke to the Herald. The Herald also reported that the Department of Children and Families' decision to report Henry to ICE appears to conflict with state policy. DCF passed a governing procedure in 1995 called the Undocumented Child Rule, which "requires the agency to screen and respond to child abuse hotline calls 'without regard to the immigration status' of the child or family at the center of the report," the Herald reported. According to the Herald, the rule reads, in part: "No such status check or other contact shall be made for the purpose of seeking the child's or the family's detention by [immigration authorities] or the initiation or resumption of deportation or exclusion proceedings against the child or the child's family, irrespective of the outcome of the dependency proceeding. No Department of Children and Family Services staff member may attempt to place any alien child in [immigration] custody." A Florida legal expert told the Herald that "DCF appears to have violated that rule by reporting Henry to ICE." The state agency did not address Snopes' question about allegations that it violated the Undocumented Child Rule. ICE typically does not detain unaccompanied children. Instead, the "responsibilities related to the care and custody of unaccompanied undocumented children" falls under the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to ICE's website. The person referenced in Snopes' inquiry "has been in the care of" ORR, the Florida Department of Children and Families said in its emailed statement. Under federal law, the ORR is required to "feed, shelter and provide medical care for unaccompanied alien children until it is able to release them to safe settings with sponsors (usually family members), while they await immigration proceedings," according to the website for the federal Administration for Children and Families. All sponsors must pass background checks and agree to ensure the child attends their immigration proceedings. They also have to agree to "ensure the minor reports to ICE for removal from the United States if an immigration judge issues a removal order or voluntary departure order," according to the ACF. Miller, Carol Marbin, et al. "Florida Child Welfare Agency Calls ICE on Teen Migrant in Foster Care, Sparking Criticism." Miami Herald, 11 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. Kochi, Sudiksha. "'Unacceptable and Inhumane': Latinas for Trump Founder Blasts Immigration Arrests." USA TODAY, 9 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. Syra Ortiz Blanes. "'Inhumane:' Latinas for Trump Founder Condemns White House Immigration Crackdown." Miami Herald, 7 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. X (Formerly Twitter), 9 June 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025. "Detention Management." Accessed 19 June 2025. "Unaccompanied Alien Children Released to Sponsors by State." 10 Jan. 2025, Accessed 19 June 2025.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bay County celebrates families reunited in Reunification Month
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – June is National Reunification Month, which is a time to celebrate and honor families who have overcome challenges and successfully reunited. According to a news release, the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in Bay County, Florida, which serves Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties, will commemorate reunified families and their heroes. This specific event celebrates those families who have successfully reunited with their children, with involvement from the Florida Department of Children and Families and associated agencies. FWC announces recreational harvest closure of the gray triggerfish The Reunification Celebration will take place on Friday, June 6, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street. Court hearings will take place to reunify families and monitor the status of those previously unified. A reception will follow the court hearings at the Northwest Florida Health Network/Twin Oaks Community Services Offices at 910 Harrison Avenue. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
