MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A scathing Marion County grand jury report says the Florida Department of Children and Families is “failing catastrophically” to protect vulnerable children and the elderly.
The grand jury issued the report August 27th stating it was intending to “sound an alarm” and that the “gravity of the crisis cannot be overstated.”
The report comes just months after a Marion County grand jury indicted Jeroen Jarrel Coombs on a first-degree murder charge in the death of 3-year-old Paisley Brown.
Coombs is accused of beating the little girl at their home until she became unresponsive.
Prosecutors said Coombs told his girlfriend, Jennifer Kendrick — who was Paisley’s mother — about the incident, but said the couple waited 40 minutes to call 911.
Kendrick now faces a manslaughter charge in Paisley’s death as well.
After the couple was arrested and charged, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) placed Paisley’s surviving siblings into the care of 47-Year-old Vanessa Pawlicki.
Afterwards, the community rallied to support Pawlicki and the children in her care, even fundraising to help buy Pawlicki a van.
But investigators said Sunday, Pawlicki was seen repeatedly hitting and kicking a child victim after church.
Pawlicki was arrested and charged with child abuse for that incident, and now faces a second child abuse charge after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said they received video allegedly showing her smacking a child.
Wendy Irizarry has been an advocate for Paisley’s surviving siblings. She reported the video capturing the alleged abuse to the Department of Children and Families who shared it with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
“You want better for these kids, and you thought better was happening, and it wasn’t,” said Irizarry.
Irizarry said the case is highlighting failures that are being underscored in that new grand jury report.
In preparing the report, the grand jury reviewed 7 cases where they said, “systemic inaction allowed severe trauma and preventable fatalities to occur.”
In one case, the report said DCF investigated and visited a family 14 times before a child was murdered.
The report states the defendant in that case was indicted on the same day the grand jury was empaneled.
Channel 9 asked the state attorney’s office if this was Paisley Brown’s case since Coombs was indicted in March, and we could not find any other Marion County child murder cases in our archives matching that timeline. However, the state Attorney’s Office said they could not confirm that detail.
The Report of the Grand Jury further outlined operational gaps so severe that local law enforcement, medical professionals and first responders in Marion County established a program to review cases weekly and implement safety plans for vulnerable adults left unprotected by DCF.
The report elaborates, DCF “routinely fails to respond to calls, closes cases prematurely without thorough review, and misinterprets policies to shirk its responsibility.”
The report also issues 32 recommendations for DCF ranging from mandating body camera for home visits, to conducting random case worker audits, requiring additional training, and revising how custody decisions are made.
In response to the report, DCF sent Channel 9 the following statement.
“The Department takes these findings seriously. Any case in which a child or vulnerable adult may not have been adequately protected warrants careful examination, and when opportunities to improve our practice are identified, we have an obligation to act.The cases highlighted in the report span approximately a decade, during which Florida’s child and adult protection systems underwent significant changes in law, policy and practice. Many of the report’s recommendations reflect safeguards and reforms already in place today, while others would require legislative action, additional funding or further legal review.
The Department of Children and Families conducts investigations concerning all allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment in Florida. Information regarding investigations is confidential per section 39.202, Florida Statutes.”
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