Kid care in new hands

Family Services of Metro Orlando is not going quietly after a recent decision from the Department of Children and Families left them without a contract they’ve relied on since 2003.

“It’s the first time a lead agency like us… has been replaced for something other than performance issues,” said Bart Mawoussi, Family Services director of communications and grants. “And we kind of saw that as a puzzling decision.”

The Oct. 22 decision made by the Department of Children and Families to put Community Based Care of Seminole in charge of child welfare services in Orange and Osceola Counties came as a shock.

But DCF officials say the better-suited agency prevailed.

“Community-based care is a legislative design, and competition was expected,” DCF CEO John Cooper said. “This is not an entitlement.”

Contract dropped

The decision came from a 12-0 vote decided by a team of community leaders, who have no ties with either organization, awarding Community Based Care of Seminole a $200 million contract over four years, which is still in negotiation.

“We did a lot of research… and the ultimate result was we decided we would be the better choice for the tri-county area,” said Joseph Durso, Community Based Care of Seminole’s vice president of community relations. “So we decided to submit our application for the bid for the contract, and we won the panel over.”

Cooper said the decision to pick a new agency was not one that was based solely on performance.

“We did the procurement based on Florida law, and not because these services did or did not meet contract terms… it was mandatory that we did this process,” he said.

The nonprofit Family Services has since filed a protest letter with the state DCF headquarters, in hopes that the decision may be reversed before their contract officially expires on Dec. 31.

“We are exercising our statutory right to protest the decision, which essentially puts the decision on hold until an administrative law judge can hear the case,” Mawoussi said.

He said three main things could happen when the case is presented before the judge: the judge could decide the process was flawed and the process would have to start over from scratch, decide there was an error made in the process, or DCF can move forward with their contract with the new agency. In the latter case, Family Services would have the opportunity to appeal the decision to the District Court.

“Our approach with DCF is really going to focus on what’s right, what’s best for kids and families, and if what’s best for kids and families is to bring in a new provider that can provide better services at a better value to the state, then so be it. …But right now, we just don’t see that that’s what they need,” Mawoussi said.

The contract will affect thousands of children, families, foster parents and social workers in the two counties, which have some of the highest child-abuse rates in the nation. All of the agencies involved are trying to keep this in mind, as the competition for the tri-county funding still wages on.

“Both of the lead agencies enhanced and elevated their system of care in the process,” Cooper said. “And in the end, the community is the one who’s the winner.”