Governor Rick Scott has officially named a new leader of Florida’s child welfare agency. It’s the third DCF chief Scott has appointed since taking office.
Over the last couple of weeks, Scott has been announcing resignations of his agency heads. But, he started off this week by officially naming his interim Secretary Mike Carroll to lead the Florida Department of Children and Families. And, another interim head could join the permanent ranks along with Carroll: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Interim Secretary Christy Daly, who replaces the retired Wansley Walters.
“Well, I’m going through the process right now,” said Scott, speaking to reporters about both last week. “I’m looking at all of our agencies and I want to make sure that we have the right people in place to make sure they take care and serve the needs of our citizens. So, whether it’s DCF or DJJ, or any other agency, we make sure that we have people who are serving our needs and the problems or services that we want to provide.”
Carroll has close to 25 years working for DCF. He succeeds Esther Jacobo, who stayed for almost a year until the 2014 Legislative Session was over. Her predecessor was David Wilkins, who resigned amid a spate of child deaths that occurred under DCF’s supervision.
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