‘Brokenness to the system’: Broward senator asks DCF to commit to fix foster care problems
By Jake Shore
February 13, 2026 at 8:08 PM EST
A Florida state senator and nurse representing West Broward County pressed the nominated leader for the Florida Department of Children and Families this week to fix dogged problems within the foster care system.
Before voting along with the majority of senators to advance the nomination, Sen. Barbara Sharief, D-Davie, asked DCF acting-secretary Taylor Hatch to commit to making changes.
“I see there is a brokenness to the system in terms of the ability to process families’ cases and reunify those children with their families on a consistent and more fast-paced basis,” Sharief said on Tuesday.
DCF is in charge of protecting Florida children from abuse and helping struggling families. As of January 2026, there are nearly 15,000 children and young adults statewide in foster care homes, staying with approved family members, group homes or treatment centers, according to DCF data.
The agency is tasked with shepherding the children to achieve “permanency,” through reunifying with rehabilitated families, adoption or guardianship. Roughly a third of children in the system achieve that within their first year, and about half will by their second year, DCF data shows.
Hatch has been in the role since last February, but her tenure has been overshadowed by questions about the Hope Florida controversy involving her predecessor, the attorney general and Gov. DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis. The vote on Hatch’s nomination was postponed last year while state lawmakers probed the political quagmire.
Though Hatch will likely face additional questions about Hope Florida in front of another state Senate committee, her nomination advancing Monday nearly unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs marks a success.
The questions posed by state senators like Sharief had nothing to do with Hope Florida and everything to do with the $4.8 billion agency she’s running.
READ MORE: Florida Democrats excoriate DCF officials for turning over Honduran foster child to ICE authorities
Sharief said changes in executive leadership, and the lack of staff for child protective investigators and few child protective teams “puts the agency at a deficit all the time.”
“If you could make a commitment to really focusing in and honing in on those problems and changing something that has been a problem for 34 years of my being in health care,” Sharief asked.
Hatch committed to doing so.
“We are absolutely focused. I am focused and committed on what we have discussed and that is the preservation of childhoods and the reduction of trauma,” she said.
DCF’s turnover rate for child protective investigators has been abysmal: hovering at around 55%, according to the last several quarters of data available from DCF.
Hatch voiced optimism during the hearing. She touted how far fewer Florida children were entering foster care and new initiatives to find missing children.
Her nomination goes to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections. The committee’s website does not state when that hearing or vote is scheduled.
Before voting along with the majority of senators to advance the nomination, Sen. Barbara Sharief, D-Davie, asked DCF acting-secretary Taylor Hatch to commit to making changes.
“I see there is a brokenness to the system in terms of the ability to process families’ cases and reunify those children with their families on a consistent and more fast-paced basis,” Sharief said on Tuesday.
DCF is in charge of protecting Florida children from abuse and helping struggling families. As of January 2026, there are nearly 15,000 children and young adults statewide in foster care homes, staying with approved family members, group homes or treatment centers, according to DCF data.
The agency is tasked with shepherding the children to achieve “permanency,” through reunifying with rehabilitated families, adoption or guardianship. Roughly a third of children in the system achieve that within their first year, and about half will by their second year, DCF data shows.
Hatch has been in the role since last February, but her tenure has been overshadowed by questions about the Hope Florida controversy involving her predecessor, the attorney general and Gov. DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis. The vote on Hatch’s nomination was postponed last year while state lawmakers probed the political quagmire.
Though Hatch will likely face additional questions about Hope Florida in front of another state Senate committee, her nomination advancing Monday nearly unanimously out of the Senate Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs marks a success.
The questions posed by state senators like Sharief had nothing to do with Hope Florida and everything to do with the $4.8 billion agency she’s running.
READ MORE: Florida Democrats excoriate DCF officials for turning over Honduran foster child to ICE authorities
Sharief said changes in executive leadership, and the lack of staff for child protective investigators and few child protective teams “puts the agency at a deficit all the time.”
“If you could make a commitment to really focusing in and honing in on those problems and changing something that has been a problem for 34 years of my being in health care,” Sharief asked.
Hatch committed to doing so.
“We are absolutely focused. I am focused and committed on what we have discussed and that is the preservation of childhoods and the reduction of trauma,” she said.
DCF’s turnover rate for child protective investigators has been abysmal: hovering at around 55%, according to the last several quarters of data available from DCF.
Hatch voiced optimism during the hearing. She touted how far fewer Florida children were entering foster care and new initiatives to find missing children.
Her nomination goes to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections. The committee’s website does not state when that hearing or vote is scheduled.