Sheriff Shoulders Blame in Death of Girl, 5, in Foster Care
Authorities failed to ensure the girl underwent a required medical exam after she was taken from her Clearwater home, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said. She later died while a Dunedin babysitter watched her.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says his department is responsible for an ommission in the care of a 5-year-old girl who died in Dunedin while under foster care, and his department is conducting an internal investigation. The girl failed to undergo a required health screening within 72 hours of being taken from her home earlier this month, Gualtieri said in a news conference Thursday in Largo. She died eight days after being placed in foster care, without ever having undergone the exam, Gualtieri said. "We are going to be candid, forthright, and transparent," he said. "An omission occurred where we should have acted and didn't." The sad story of Elizabeth Holder begins on Jan. 11, when neighbors called about a child wandering …
Donna Morris
3:34 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
This is typical of the Eckerd group and DCF. they never follow thru with their own procedure and policy. Parents are at their mercy and endure their threats, but they don't do their job either making sure the children are safe. This department is full of incompetence and does a poor job of protecting children and families. more ›