Posted on 12/10/2002 8:40:45 PM PST by blam
8 Fla. Child Welfare Officials Sacked
Wednesday December 11, 2002 4:10 AM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The second in command and seven other top officials at the state's beleaguered child welfare agency were ousted Tuesday in a shake-up sparked by the case of a missing Miami girl.
Gov. Jeb Bush had asked for the resignations of the agency's top managers after his election to a second term. Jerry Regier, who took over as secretary of the Department of Children & Families in August, accepted the resignations Tuesday.
``The secretary let people know when he came into the office that he was going to take a look at everyone and make changes if he felt they were needed,'' said Lisa Gates, spokeswoman for Bush's transition team.
Bob Cohen, the department's deputy secretary, along with the administrators serving districts in Orlando, Palm Beach and Polk counties were let go. Deputy administrators in Orlando and Palm Beach will also be replaced.
The departures follow last month's resignation of Charles Auslander, who oversaw the district that covers Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Auslander said then that Rilya's case had nothing to do with his decision to step down.
Regier was hired in August to replace Kathleen Kearney, who resigned while the department was under scrutiny for the disappearance of 5-year-old Rilya Wilson. The girl was missing from her foster home in Miami for 15 months before the agency noticed.
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