{"id":391095,"date":"2026-09-05T05:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T05:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/391095\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T05:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T05:20:16","slug":"grand-jury-slams-florida-dcf-over-systemic-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/391095\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand jury slams Florida DCF over systemic failure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">MARION COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A scathing Marion County grand jury report says the Florida Department of Children and Families is \u201cfailing catastrophically\u201d to protect vulnerable children and the elderly. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The grand jury issued the report August 27th stating it was intending to \u201csound an alarm\u201d and that the \u201cgravity of the crisis cannot be overstated.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The report comes just months after a Marion County grand jury indicted Jeroen Jarrel Coombs on a first-degree murder charge in the death of 3-year-old Paisley Brown. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Coombs is accused of beating the little girl at their home until she became unresponsive. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Prosecutors said Coombs told his girlfriend, Jennifer Kendrick \u2014 who was Paisley\u2019s mother \u2014 about the incident, but said the couple waited 40 minutes to call 911. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Kendrick now faces a manslaughter charge in Paisley\u2019s death as well. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">After the couple was arrested and charged, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) placed Paisley\u2019s surviving siblings into the care of 47-Year-old Vanessa Pawlicki. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Afterwards, the community rallied to support Pawlicki and the children in her care, even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/news\/local\/suspect-death-marion-county-toddler-accused-abusing-other-children-home\/6SIDCOD7V5G45FT3PPSFXI7IH4\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/news\/local\/suspect-death-marion-county-toddler-accused-abusing-other-children-home\/6SIDCOD7V5G45FT3PPSFXI7IH4\/\" target=\"_blank\">fundraising to help buy Pawlicki a van<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">But investigators said Sunday, Pawlicki was seen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/news\/local\/marion-county-caregiver-arrested-child-abuse-after-being-trusted-with-victims-siblings\/PZTY3GN5ABGRBKLK3Y3HKROZWQ\/%5C\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/news\/local\/marion-county-caregiver-arrested-child-abuse-after-being-trusted-with-victims-siblings\/PZTY3GN5ABGRBKLK3Y3HKROZWQ\/%5C\" target=\"_blank\">repeatedly hitting and kicking a child victim after church. <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Pawlicki was arrested and charged with child abuse for that incident, and now faces a second child abuse charge after the Marion County Sheriff\u2019s Office said they received video allegedly showing her smacking a child. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Wendy Irizarry has been an advocate for Paisley\u2019s surviving siblings. She reported the video capturing the alleged abuse to the Department of Children and Families who shared it with the Marion County Sheriff\u2019s Office. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">\u201cYou want better for these kids, and you thought better was happening, and it wasn\u2019t,\u201d said Irizarry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Irizarry said the case is highlighting failures that are being underscored in that new grand jury report. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">In preparing the report, the grand jury reviewed 7 cases where they said, \u201csystemic inaction allowed severe trauma and preventable fatalities to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">In one case, the report said DCF investigated and visited a family 14 times before a child was murdered. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The report states the defendant in that case was indicted on the same day the grand jury was empaneled. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Channel 9 asked the state attorney\u2019s office if this was Paisley Brown\u2019s case since Coombs was indicted in March, and we could not find any other Marion County child murder cases in our archives matching that timeline. However, the state Attorney\u2019s Office said they could not confirm that detail. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The Report of the Grand Jury further outlined operational gaps so severe that local law enforcement, medical professionals and first responders in Marion County established a program to review cases weekly and implement safety plans for vulnerable adults left unprotected by DCF. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The report elaborates, DCF \u201croutinely fails to respond to calls, closes cases prematurely without thorough review, and misinterprets policies to shirk its responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The report also issues 32 recommendations for DCF ranging from mandating body camera for home visits, to conducting random case worker audits, requiring additional training, and revising how custody decisions are made. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">In response to the report, DCF sent Channel 9 the following statement. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department takes these findings seriously. Any case in which a child or vulnerable adult may not have been adequately protected warrants careful examination, and when opportunities to improve our practice are identified, we have an obligation to act.The cases highlighted in the report span approximately a decade, during which Florida\u2019s child and adult protection systems underwent significant changes in law, policy and practice. Many of the report\u2019s recommendations reflect safeguards and reforms already in place today, while others would require legislative action, additional funding or further legal review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">The Department of Children and Families conducts investigations concerning all allegations of abuse, neglect, or abandonment in Florida. Information regarding investigations is confidential per section 39.202, Florida Statutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\">Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\">click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wftvapps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788585616_854_APP DOWNLOAD LOCAL_1541693885678.jpg_13622062_ver1.0.jpg\" width=\"100%\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARION COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A scathing Marion County grand jury report says the Florida Department of Children and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[111855,28,30,29,84512],"class_list":["post-391095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-111855","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-paisley-brown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}