Florida lawmakers seek more oversight of child-welfare organizations, exec pay

In the Tampa area, a child-welfare organization doing business with the state was enhancing an executive’s annual pay with state and federal funds while children under its watch were forced to sleep in offices.

In Central Florida, the lead agency for foster care was accused in a lawsuit of failing to pay a service provider that was helping it house children in the system.

And in North Florida, the chief executive officer of an organization dedicated to helping abused and neglected children currently earns nearly $775,000 — a majority of which is paid through public contracts.

All of these scenarios — outlined in state reviews and investigations, news reports and lawsuits — have been cited as the impetus for legislation advancing this year in the Florida Senate that would set stricter disclosure requirements for administrative salaries and conflicts of interests, among other accountability measures. The bill sponsor, Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, says she wants to ensure non-profit organizations that are hired by the state to provide services for abused and neglected children are not misusing public funds.

“We have an obligation to protect the resources of the taxpayers, especially when it comes to making certain those dollars are wisely used in caring for the most vulnerable,” said Garcia, who is sponsoring Senate Bill 536.

Lawmakers are seeking to further scrutinize how privately-run child-welfare agencies are using public funds, and want to impose financial penalties for officials who fail to disclose potential conflicts of interests. The House does not go as far as the Senate with its legislation when it comes to penalties, but still includes provisions intended to give more oversight to the Department of Children and Families in managing the child welfare groups. The fate of the bills remain up in the air as the House and Senate iron out their different approaches with four days left in this year’s annual legislative session.

The proposed legislation comes nearly four years after Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered state agencies to review how nonprofit organizations that get state dollars spend their money on things like executive salaries.

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The governor’s actions were prompted by what he said were revelations that the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a state-funded nonprofit, had used state and federal funds “to subsidize exorbitant executive leadership team compensation payouts.” Tiffany Carr, the former head of the organization, was compensated more than $7.5 million over three years despite being monitored by the Department of Children and Families.

Inspired by that directive, two private auditors hired by the Florida Department of Children and Families found issues with six of the state’s 17 contracted child welfare groups, including failing to competitively bid contracts.

The House bill sponsor, state Rep. Fiona McFarland, on Monday said that she wanted to do more for accountability and transparency in the system after learning state reviews recently raised potential issues at some of organizations.

The House and Senate bills would both impose fines on nonprofits that fail to disclose conflicts of interest when executing a contract, but the House has a smaller financial penalty than the Senate – $10,000 for a first violation, compared to $25,000 in the Senate. And in the Senate, when a group fails to disclose a conflict of interest when setting a contract, a board member can be removed – under the House bill, they would not be.

Additionally, one provision could impact one executive’s salary that has been the subject of scrutiny by a Department of Children and Families review last year. Garcia said she proposed legislation in light of state-backed reviews that raised concerns about groups like Northwest Florida Health Network and how much the group paid its CEO, Mike Watkins.

She is also concerned about allegations against Eckerd Connects and Embrace Families, the two state contractors that faced scrutiny for financial decisions as children in their care slept in offices. The state no longer has contracts with Eckerd and Embrace Families.

Watkins currently earns $775,000 a year, state records show. From that amount, he earns $310,000 from community based care contracts and $139,500 from a separate state contract with the Department of Children and Families — making his total payout in public dollars $449,500. Under the Senate proposal, his salary cap for public dollars would be set at $315,000.

Watkins says he is currently complying with state law compensation requirements and that he plans to “adhere to the laws as we always have” if the Senate bill’s provision were to pass, and potentially impact his current salary.

The Senate legislation would factor in that extra state pay, potentially forcing Watkins’ salary down.

“I am very proud of the success we’ve had across the panhandle. As the only managed care company serving both child protection and behavioral health in Florida we are uniquely situated to serve children and families in 18 North Florida Counties,” Watkins said in a statement when asked about his salary.

Watkins is also the chair of the Florida Coalition for Children’s board of directors, which represents the various child welfare groups that contract with the state, and is active in Republican political circles.

Last week, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said the government needs to do a “better job” at ensuring public funds are not being misused and said she was supportive of the Senate proposal.

State Rep. Fiona McFarland, the House bill sponsor, said on Monday that the House proposal is a “better option,” and said she considered it to be a “compromise” between what the Senate is seeking to do and the feedback she received from those involved with private child welfare groups.

“We feel like we ought to reward strong executives for good work while still being responsible for how high that executive compensation can go,” said McFarland, R-Sarasota. She added that giving administrators more “flexibility” on salary might help bring more providers into that sector.

In a text message to the Herald/Times on Monday, Garcia said she is concerned that allowing higher salary amounts will take away money from services and would like to see stronger provisions than the House bill.

McFarland said her proposal would give more powers to the Department of Children and Families to ensure compliance with community-based care contractors and it would create an oversight panel for such contracts.

At a bill stop in mid-February, Watkins told lawmakers the accountability measures proposed in the bill already exist, and noted that the department has a representative at “every single” board meeting they have and that the state agency “approves every dollar” they spend for reimbursement.

He also mentioned that the state can already choose not to renew a contract.

“Those levers already exist and they have pushed out the bad actors already,” Watkins said.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families said they are focused on accountability and transparency within the child welfare system.

“We appreciate the support of the Legislature this Session through SB 536 and HB 1061 which will further ensure that the funding in the system is being properly managed and spent to help achieve the best outcomes for the children in our care,” the spokesperson said.

Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris at a committee meeting told lawmakers she supports the bill’s accountability measures. She said they were “not thought out of thin air” but rather came from a need to close loopholes discovered in the audits.

Harris said the child welfare system is typically thought of as underfunded, and that they wanted to be sure that “every dollar goes toward the services needed for children.”

“We feel very strongly that the provisions in here are not excessive, or rather are supportive of the most accountable system that we can have for the kids in care,” Harris said.