Child Removals Down 50% In Pasco & Pinellas Counties, Florida Drop After DCF Intervenes With Sheriff’s Offices

The Florida Department and Children and Families (DCF) announced that the child removal rate in Pinellas and Pasco counties (DCF Circuit 6) in January 2022 was 50% lower than in November 2021. The reduction occurred within 45 days after DCF worked with local Sheriff’s offices in Circuit 6 to launch a direct referral process to the Hope Florida – A Pathway to Prosperity and Care Navigation tool to link families with economic barriers and open child dependency cases to community resources. Child removal rates in the circuit are now 63% lower than the rate in 2020 and 2021.

Child removal . . .