Florida Foster Care for Federal Money -Ca$h for Kid$

“A new series, we’re starting to expose how the Florida Department of Families (DCF) rakes in federal money  by removing kids from their families, placing them in state custody, and then adopting them out to others. This “system” was established after President Bill Clinton’s 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act established financial rewards for state’s which meet adoption quotas.”

Theresa’s Story

“DCF became involved around 2022. My children were 13 years old and 3 years old when they were removed. I was accused of abuse and drug use. The abuse allegations were false and later proven wrong. The drug use—I admitted to, took responsibility for, and fixed.

What followed was not support. It was punishment.

I completed rehab, anger management, parenting classes, Pathways for Change, WISE/FIT, and every requirement on my case plan. I complied fully. I showed up. I did not miss appointments. I did not miss visits. For 11 months straight, I had perfect visits—both in person and virtual. No cancellations. No excuses. No failures.

None of it mattered.

Over the course of my case, I was assigned five different caseworkers. Each one changed expectations. Each one moved the goalposts. Stability was impossible because the system itself was unstable.

From the beginning, the Guardian ad Litem was against me. Not neutral. Not objective. Against me. Once that narrative was set, nothing I did could undo it.

My court-appointed attorney was no help. When I tried to ask questions or understand what was happening to my family, I was told, “This is my job, not yours. I know what I’m doing. You’re clueless.” I was silenced while my children’s lives were being decided without me.

During my termination of parental rights hearing, I watched the judge shop on Amazon instead of paying attention while my family was permanently severed. That is not hyperbole. That is what I witnessed as my rights as a mother were taken.

We were given no goodbye visits. No closure. No transition. We were alienated from the very beginning

My oldest child was bounced from group home to group home, stripped of stability while being told this was for her protection.

My youngest child was subjected to overnight stays at the FFN building and placed in six different foster homes. She was abused, lied to, and neglected—and the court did not care. Those concerns were raised. Our pleas were ignored.

My children had only five sibling visits in nearly a year and a half. Five. While the system claims sibling bonds matter, ours were treated as disposable.

Every family member and friend we put forward for placement was picked apart and disqualified. The system found something wrong with everyone, because reunification was never the goal—termination was.

No one helped us.

No one listened.

No one cared.

I did everything right. I fixed my wrongs. I followed every rule. And I was still denied my children.

My parental rights were terminated.

My youngest child has been adopted.

I have no contact with my oldest child.

Florida claims its child welfare system prioritizes reunification. My case proves otherwise. It prioritizes speed over safety, adoption over healing, and silence over accountability.

If doing everything right still ends in losing your children forever, then the system is not broken—it is functioning exactly as designed.”

FACE$ OF DCF ADOPTION$ FOR FEDERAL MONEY: Theresa’s story
[South Santa Rosa News 1/27/26]

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