To safeguard the privacy of those in the state's foster care system, Florida lawmakers and nonprofit organizations this year championed a measure that would limit online access to images of children up for adoption.
“It’s their story and their life, so youth should have a say,” Republican state Rep. Dana Trabulsy, who represents Fort Pierce in Tallahassee, said in a statement.
The law “gives them a sense of control while protecting their privacy," he said.
The law requires foster care agencies to add extra online guardrails, such as private login mechanisms, to make online photo galleries safer for individuals on their site.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law last month and it’s set to take effect July 1st.
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“Children’s photos and personal information should be off limits to the public,” said Ashley Brown, founder of and CEO Selfless Love Foundation, a Jupiter-based non-profit dedicated to improving the child welfare system.
“And this law will reduce the harmful consequences that can result from public access.”
For the last two years, the foundation has led formal efforts to improve online security after former foster care children expressed first-hand accounts of how public access to their photos had led to bullying incidents in schools and targets of human traffickers.
JR Minter, director of advocacy for Selfless Love Foundation, told WLRN a lot of young adults had referred to the easily accessible online listing as “pet shop,” because of how easy it was to randomly search and select personal information about a potential adoptee.
Janessa Collins, a coordinator who's had personal experiences in the child welfare system, told WLRN that ”close the pet shop” served as a rallying cry for change.
Minter and young adults formerly in foster care worked with elected officials to add the security measures specifically to the adoption photo listing exchange, a statewide system for adoptive children which features photos and personal descriptions of the individual.
An extra layer of privacy
The state Department of Children and Families typically works with families to address the issues endangering children in private homes.
During the adoption process in the child welfare system, DCF contracts with community-based agencies for safe out-of-home placements, case management, and other services.
Many agencies place potential adoptees in readily available photo listing sites that are attached with a personal description of the person.
The new state law adds an extra layer of privacy.
Now, that current public information will only be accessible to prospective adoptive parents, not the general public, according to the new state law.
"There will be some login credentials for individuals and families that are going through the adoption home study process that will then get access to that information,” Minter said. “So that's really impactful.”
And all children 12 years or older will have a say on which photo they’d prefer on photo listings. The law also requires consultation with adults before agencies can develop descriptions for their adoption recruitment.
“This is going to now require that everybody across the state is doing it, not just a few agencies that have been doing it the right way for a while,” Minter said.
Minter said agencies are working with DCF to figure out the next steps in developing and implementing the new adoption exchange law.
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