Sarasota area suffering ‛unprecedented’ surge in parents ousting kids because they can’t cope with them
In Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, “inability to cope” is the third-most-often reason parents cite when they use the Baker Act to have a child removed from their home.
That’s 85 children forced from their homes at their parents’ request because their parents simply can’t handle them anymore. Only drug abuse and domestic violence caused more expulsions in Sarasota County.
Experts say that’s unprecedented.
“I’ve been doing child welfare since 2006 in many different counties, and this is something new to me over the last year,” Nathan Scott said in an interview with Sarasota Magazine. He’s the child welfare policy coordinator with the Family Safety Alliance, which works with a number of agencies in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties.