As of December, nearly 200 children were missing from Florida foster care or group homes. Rep. Patricia Williams (D-Fort Lauderdale) says the state needs to do more to find them, or to stop them from disappearing in the first place.
Williams has a bill that would create a taskforce within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement assigned to monitor children in out-of-home care, conduct focus groups and provide recommendations.
“This just gives an additional eye on our children that are in our of home care," Williams says.
Foster kids could go missing for a number of reasons including getting picked up by a non-custodial parent, running away or even becoming a victim of human trafficking.
A report from the Sun Sentinel last year found a strong link between girls living in group foster homes and those same girls being trafficked.
