When looking at the history of child welfare and the repeated attempts (some successful and some not so successful) to care for abused and neglected children, the resurfacing question that should be asked is this: what one law will cause major change in the system? Arguably, the most effective way to alter Florida's child welfare system is to pass legislation that requires DCF and the State Attorney to investigate every report of child abuse and then document the reasons for, or against prosecution. If the Department of Children and Families determines that there's child abuse, and children are at risk of being removed from their homes, is it too much to ask for the State Attorney to help investigate the crime and then decide whether or not to prosecute it?

A commonly cited barrier to any new legislation is funding. And because funding is no small matter in legislative action, it will be addressed briefly here. Certainly, money will be an issue, however the federal government has already begun to add money into the child welfare court system (Strengthening Abuse and Neglect Courts Act of 2000; SANCA). SANCA provides up to twenty $10 million grants to be awarded to states each year. And because SANCA is already legislated, an accomplishment in its own right, what will be needed as Florida law changes, is pursuit of increased appropriations and/or re-appropriations. Interestingly, the intent of SANCA appears to be focused on funding those states that are attempting to expedite child welfare cases by resolving legal wrangling as quickly as possible. And with the proposed change in Florida law that is being made herein, it is possible that the state could become a frontrunner in getting SANCA funds.

Child abuse cases should be required to stand the test of the criminal process. Criminal investigations should become a part of the law; and the State Attorney and DCF should agree upon, and justify in written form, decisions not to prosecute suspected child abusers. In the end, more criminal investigations, charges, and court hearings can bring about change in a child welfare system that is riddled by iatrogenic effects. Under new law, fewer children will remain out of homes in cases where abuse cannot be proven; more alleged perpetrators of child abuse will be guaranteed a legal defense; more abusers will go to jail; the vast numbers of children who are unnecessarily in care will shrink and lastly, more of the children in care, will belong there. 

Conjoint investigations by the State Attorney's Office and DCF, will implicitly provide for an increase in the number of cases that are prosecuted, particularly if the two agencies must document and justify every case that is not prosecuted. This is not all bad news; research that looked at child abuse prosecutions in Iowa, New York, California, and Minnesota found that whenever cases were not prosecuted the number of children placed into state custody significantly increased compared to those cases that were prosecuted (Cross, Martell, McDonald & Ahl, 1999).

Will investigations and prosecutions be a panacea for Florida's child welfare system? Hardly. It is important to remember that what is being proposed, to change Florida law, is really a proposition that adds nothing to an already overburdened child welfare system. In fact, under this proposal, Florida's investigation and prosecution procedures, both civil and criminal, could be streamlined. Investigations and court proceedings that are now handled by DCF, local law enforcement, civil courts, criminal courts, and prosecutors (such as the State Attorney) would be consolidated into two main stakeholders; DCF and the State Attorney. As it is now, any one or all, of the preceding stakeholders could be participating in a given child abuse case, with each party being driven by its own directives and goals.

And finally, the successful and equal treatment of children should remain a priority in the child welfare system. There are effective programs in Florida that accomplish the goal of prosecution and treatment, used in conjunction with each other in order to help families heal ("Family Courts," 2001). And other programs exist that show promise as well, such as family drug courts (Lovato & Mack, 2003) and shared family care (Mikkelson, 2002).

Ultimately, to effect simultaneous systemic and case-by-case change in Florida's child welfare system, the law must be changed to make investigations and prosecution mandatory. Because DCF is best suited, as the experts of child welfare, to deal with children and investigate abuse reports, and because the State Attorney's Office is best suited, as the experts in building and prosecuting criminal cases, these two agencies have the potential to form the crucible of child welfare; quite possibly the best that Florida can get.