Jul 29, 2008 12:32 pm US/Eastern
Bob Butterworth Resigns As Secretary Of DCF
Resignation Effective August 15, 2008
He Became Secretary On January 2, 2007
He Served 19 Months
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
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Bob Butterworth, dean of St. Thomas Law School in Miami, named 12/19 to head Florida DCF. His resignation as Secretary of DCF is effective August 15, 2008.
CBS
Bob Butterworth, Secretary of the Department of Children and Families, has resigned. In his
resignation letter, Butterworth told Governor Charlie Crist the job "has been one of the most challenging and rewarding opportunities in my four decades of public service."
The resignation is effective August 15, 2008. The letter notes that Butterworth's commitment when Crist asked him to serve was for 18 months. He became secretary on January 2, 2007.
"It is time to pass the torch to a new secretary," says the letter, which was delivered to the Governor Tuesday morning. "It's not that all the problems are solved. This agency will never be able to say, 'Mission Accomplished.' We only look at the accomplishments these past 19 months and say, 'Keep it going.'
He said the agency has become "a pacesetter of your administration and made Florida a national leader in protecting children and nurturing families." He said Crist had "raised the bar on expectations" of the Department.
Governor Charlie Crist issued this statement Tuesday regarding Butterworth's resignation. "Today, we celebrate a career that spans 35 years of service to the people of Florida. Throughout my career, I have regarded Bob Butterworth as a role model who truly sets the gold standard for what it means to be a public servant. I congratulate and thank him on behalf of Florida's children and families for his work over the last 19 months where he brought a new era of openness to the agency and enacted what he calls the 'Two Sense Strategy,' which calls on a sense of urgency and common sense in all decision making."
Butterworth, who will be 66 on August 20, was Florida's longest-serving attorney general, from 1987 through 2002. A hallmark of his tenure was a commitment to open government, a philosophy he carried into his role as secretary at the Department of Children and Families.
One of his first acts as Secretary was to join a newspaper's lawsuit seeking to open otherwise confidential records in a high-profile child-abuse case. He declared that the agency would be "transparent" and that public scrutiny would make the agency better.
Butterworth's letter to Crist says, "Reflecting your own tone of respect for state employees, we have shown the people of the Department that we believe in them." He added, "None of the things we did were my idea. We simply tapped the knowledge and creativity of our employees, from the leadership team to the front lines."
He called the employees of Children and Families and local service agencies the "unsung heroes" of state government who are "often the last hope" "for people who are in crisis during these economic times, for children who suffer abuse or neglect, for adults slipping into the frailties of old age or suffering from mental illness or substance disorders."
He also declared that the agency has "the most effective leadership team in state government."
Butterworth promoted decentralization. His management reorganization cut administrative positions in Tallahassee and moved more decision-making to regional and circuit administrators around the state.
He split off a "Children's Legal Services" division from the Department's general counsel and directed that its nearly 400 lawyers to act as a statewide law firm representing "the best interests of children." If the lawyers represented children's interest well, he declared, the agency would not have to worry about legal liability in its decisions.
The Department also focused on building strong relationships with local agencies that had contracts and grants to handle a number of social-service functions. He referred to them as "our community partners." The Department reached out to advocacy groups, many of them longtime critics of the agency, and created groups such as the Child Protection Task Force and the Adult Services Advisory Panel.
"All of us have been inspired by the people whose lives we touch every day," Butterworth told Crist in the resignation letter. "They are the reason we are here, the reason we keep going." He added, "This has been one of the great adventures of my life."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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