Head of embattled Florida children's agency resigns

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The head of Florida's embattled agency for children and families resigned Tuesday, four months after a 5-year-old girl in its care had been missing for more than a year.

Gov. Jeb Bush accepted Kathleen Kearney's resignation, effective Sept. 3.

The Department of Children & Families has been under fire since Rilya Wilson disappeared while in state custody. The girl has been missing since January 2001, and no caseworker had checked on her for 15 months.

Kearney's only mention of Rilya's case in the letter was to say her department had been aggressively working to improve tracking children.

Bush, who defended Kearney as child advocates called for her to be fired, praised her after accepting the resignation.

"All Floridians owe her a debt of gratitude for her public service," he said.

Kearney was a juvenile court judge in Fort Lauderdale presiding over child abuse and neglect cases when Bush appointed her in 1999.

While many applauded Bush's decision, Kearny came under fire as more problems at the agency were revealed.

Last month, a worker was arrested after police said she was passed out drunk in her car with a child in it. A Florida newspaper also tracked down nine children the department said were missing.