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Thailand RPCV Alan Abramowitz, a Department of Children & Families administrator who worked to clean up the agency's troubled Palm Beach County operations, has been promoted to a position running DCF operations in the Daytona Beach area
Thailand RPCV Alan Abramowitz, a Department of Children & Families administrator who worked to clean up the agency's troubled Palm Beach County operations, has been promoted to a position running DCF operations in the Daytona Beach area
DCF manager gets promotion
By Sam Tranum
Staff Writer
Posted July 23 2004
Alan Abramowitz, a Department of Children & Families administrator who worked to clean up the agency's troubled Palm Beach County operations, has been promoted to a position running DCF operations in the Daytona Beach area.
Abramowitz has been deputy district administrator for DCF's Palm Beach County office for 18 months. He will start in about 10 days as district administrator for the agency's operations in Volusia and Flagler counties, he said.
Palm Beach County Circuit Chief Judge Edward Fine said Abramowitz's departure is a loss for Palm Beach County.
"He got a lot done," Fine said. "He was very good to work with."
Abramowitz, 42, came to Palm Beach County in February 2003 to help overhaul DCF's county operation, which had suffered through a number of high-profile child deaths, been criticized by grand jury reports and been plagued by employee turnover. He had been working as chief legal counsel for two DCF districts in Central Florida after joining the agency in 2000.
While Abramowitz was serving as deputy to Palm Beach County District Administrator Ted Simpkins, the district eliminated a 1,700-case backlog, Abramowitz said. It also signed a deal to privatize services for foster children. Since that change, the average caseworker's workload has declined from about 75 children to about 20 children, Abramowitz said.
A hands-on administrator, Abramowitz got out on the front lines at least once a month to work as a protective investigator, said Marilyn Munoz, a spokeswoman for DCF in Palm Beach County.
Abramowitz said he learned a lot as deputy administrator in Palm Beach County and enjoyed living in the area. He said he was excited about his new appointment.
"I wanted the opportunity to be a district administrator at some point and this was the opportunity," he said by phone while house hunting with his wife in Volusia County on Thursday. "I'm going to come here [the Daytona Beach area] with an open mind and we're going to do this together."
Before joining DCF, Abramowitz was assistant general counsel for the Department of Juvenile Justice's Orlando office for four years. He also has been a public defender, assistant state attorney and a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand.
Sam Tranum can be reached at stranum@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6522.
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