Florida's Foster Care Nightmare Ep. 1 Perception

Rick and Shirley Hazel were great foster parents. Or so everyone thought. On today's episode, I'm going to tell you about the Rick Hazel case and how it caused Florida's foster care system to be flipped entirely. While hearing about this tragic case, listeners will also get to learn a little more about foster care and how there is no attention on these institutions that are falling apart. 

Works Cited
“Becoming a Traditional Foster Parent.” St. Johns County Government, http://www.sjcfl.us/FIP/LicenseProcess.aspx#.YIn4LbVKjIU 

Children’s Bureau, United States Department of Health and Human Services. “Children Maltreatment 2019”. Administration for Children and Families. Accessed 3 Mar. 2021. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/cm2019.pd

Editorial Board. “USA Today Investigation shows that protecting children must be a top priority.” The Dayton Beach News Journal, 25 Oct. 2020, https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/10/25/better-protecting-children-must-top-priority/6012254002/ 

Korfhage, Stuart. “St. Johns County Man sentenced to 25 years on molestation charges.” staugustine.com, 25 Nov. 2019, https://www.staugustine.com/news/20191125/st-johns-county-man-sentenced-to-25-years-on-molestation-charges

Peel, Corley. “St. Johns County man accused of repeatedly raping child under 12.” News4Jax, 2 July 2019, https://www.news4jax.com/news/2019/07/03/st-johns-county-man-accused-of-repeatedly-raping-child-under-12/ 

Salman, Josh, et al. “Foster kids lived with molesters. No one told their parents.” USA Today, 15 October 2020, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/10/15/no-one-checks-on-kids-who-previously-lived-with-abusive-foster-parents/5896724002/.

Link to USA Today's database of abuse and neglect in foster care: https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/florida-foster-care-abuse-tracker/