Gay couple's custody of sisters unresolved
Caseworkers are criticized for not working hard enough to adopt out two children whose foster parents are gay men.
By CURTIS KRUEGER, Times Staff Writer


LARGO - Foster care caseworkers did a poor job of seeking parents willing to adopt two sisters before the state gave long-term custody to two gay men, several people testified Friday.

"I was definitely shocked and disappointed," after reviewing the sparse documentation of efforts to find adoptive families for the girls, said Kelly Rossi, a staff advocate with the guardian ad litem office.

A complaint from a prospective adoptive family to the governor's office sparked the state to take a new look at the case, officials said Friday.

Now the question before Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Irene Sullivan is whether the state should try again to find adoptive parents for the two girls - a step that could pull them out of the home where they have lived for more than a year, where all sides agree they are flourishing.