Officials at Troubled Florida Child Welfare Agency Fired
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, whose whereabouts are still unknown.
Bob Cohen, the deputy secretary of the Department of Children & Families, along with administrators in Orlando, Palm Beach and Polk counties were let go.
The departures follow last month’s resignation of Charles Auslander, who oversaw Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Auslander said the Rilya Wilson case had nothing to do with his leaving.
Gov. Jeb Bush had asked for the resignation of the department’s administrators and top management as part of a transition into his second term next month. New department secretary Jerry Regier accepted the resignations.
The department has been under scrutiny regarding the disappearance of 5-year-old Rilya Wilson. She was missing from her foster home in Miami for 15 months before the agency noticed.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
