DCF Evicted!
Can't Pay Rent

July 2, 2009 permalink

Yes, it's true. Florida DCF was evicted from its premises when they could not afford to pay the market rent on their offices. So what happened to the overcrowded kids who sleep overnight in the office?

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DCF Kicked Out Of Its Westside Office

Out-Of-State Landlord Fails To Renew Lease On Storefront Office

POSTED: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, UPDATED: 2:11 pm EDT July 1, 2009

People showing up at the DCF office on 103rd Street Wednesday morning found the doors locked and a note on the door saying the office had to close.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Children and Families was told suddenly to vacate its Westside office, catching the agency and those who show up for food stamps or other service scrambling for where to go.

A news release sent at 7:44 p.m. Tuesday announced that the closure, effectively immediately, was "beyond the control of the Department of Children and Families."

DCF spokesman John Harrell said the agency had been negotiating with the landlord to renew its lease on the storefront office on 103rd Street.

Harrell said DCF had operated in the storefront location on 103rd Street for about 20 years, but the ownership of the property recently changed hands. The state was negotiating with the new landlord, which was asking for a 20 percent. DCF had countered that was too much in tight economic times and negotiations were ongoing as recently as Monday.

Tuesday -- the day the lease expired -- DCF was told they had to be out by the end of the day.

"We were stumped by this, by the quickness of the decision by this out-of-state landlord," Harrell said. "This is not what we wanted; we want to provide with the best possible service and we wanted to be in that office for a longer period of time."

DCF stationed employees outside the storefront providing forms to people seeking food stamps, directing them to other offices around town or suggesting that they apply online at its Web site.

[ list of alternative offices omitted ]

Source: News4Jax.com