Don’t Track Kids, Track the Folks Checking Up on the Kids

Florida is among the first states to use GPS, digital photography and cell technology to insure that case workers responsible for the state’s challenged children are doing their jobs.

The Florida Department of Children and Families new Blackberry app upload information directly to the state database in Tallahassee at each home visit. Social workers snap the child’s picture which is sent on to the database stamped with a date, time and GPS coordinates. That helps document visits and keep workers safe in rough neighborhoods. It may also prevent some false records that led to children being lost forever.

For now the app is in use in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties now, with a rollout to the entire data planned for October.

- Miami Herald