General legal information furnished as a service of Fort Lauderdale / West Palm Beach family law attorney Janet Langjahr
A 3 year old child, previously taken into protective custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), was released to his mother - only to die two months later.
There was a court hearing on whether to release the little boy, but neither the boy’s non-lawyer advocate nor his caseworker attended. They weren’t aware of the hearing.
And DCF failed to inform the Court (either in person or through a report or other court papers) that the mother’s boyfriend hit the child and his background check was not completed correctly until after the boy went home.
DCF only made a couple of visits after the child was sent home.
The boy’s mother and boyfriend have respectively been charged with manslaughter and murder in the child’s death.
The question remains: did DCF do enough to protect the boy?
Read more in this [Southwest Florida] News Press article: DCF admits to errors in death of Zahid Jones.
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