ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — More than 2,000 people have signed the petition to pass "Jordan's Law" to protect children in Florida.
- Thousands sign petition to pass "Jordan's Law" in Florida
- Law named in honor of Jordan Belliveau
- Belliveau, 2, killed by mother in Sept. 2018
- MORE stories on Jordan Belliveau
Jordan's Law is named in honor of Jordan Belliveau, 2, who was allegedly murdered by his mother, Charisse Stinson, in September 2018 after numerous warning signs were missed.
Belliveau had been in and out of foster care for his short life. He had been living with a foster family before he was returned to his mother and later found dead in the woods near his home.
His death put a spotlight on Florida's broken child welfare system.
One of the main issues is child welfare case workers are overwhelmed and underpaid, managing about 30 cases for about $17 an hour. The turnover rate has skyrocketed, causing serious miscommunication mistakes as cases are handed over to new employees.
Officials say Jordan’s Law would fix Florida’s child welfare system with three steps:
- reduce the case load
- streamline communication, and
- increase training
When able, the case manager’s load would be slashed in half, from 30 to 15 cases, increasing attention on the children they’re tracking. Additionally, the law would close the gap between data collected by case workers and law enforcement, helping children stay away from violent caregivers.
It would also require special training for parents, caseworkers, and law enforcement to better recognize the warning signs of head trauma - the leading cause of child abuse deaths in Florida.
So far, the online petition has signatures from people in more than 320 zip codes, including out of state.
Jordan’s Law was refiled in the Florida Senate by State Senator Darryl Rousson. Latvala has refiled the bill in House. Last session, Jordan’s Law passed unanimously in the House, but the Senate failed to approve the measure.
“It’s exciting to see strong grassroots support for Jordan’s Law. People from across Florida are telling us they’re concerned about the safety of our children, and they’re calling for change,” Rep. Chris Latvala said. “And this is all by word of mouth. No tax dollars or advertising dollars are being spent to get the message out. Our community is standing up, asking us to fix the serious flaws in our child welfare system before another life is lost.”
Somber anniversary
One year ago, Jordan Belliveau’s body was found in a wooded area near Lake Avenue and McMullen Road.
For two days before that terrible discovery, family members and community members searched for Jordan, hoping he was still alive.
Sarah Buczny didn’t know Jordan or his family, but she felt compelled to help organize searches after the Amber Alert went out. She created a Facebook page to keep track of who was searching where. Within two days, the group had nearly 9,000 people.
“That week, Jordan became the child of the entire community. We all loved him,” said Buczny. She went on to say, “At the time, our focus was on Jordan and then when Jordan was found, our focus was on justice for Jordan.”
Stinson is set to go on trial in March of 2020.