ORLANDO, Fla. — Attorneys for Eyewitness News have filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Children and Families over failing to release public records.
It comes after Channel 9 spent more than a year investigating issues with a Department and Children and Families’ website millions of Floridians depend on for benefits like food stamps and medical coverage.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of WFTV, asks the state to enforce Florida’s Public Records Act and immediately release records to Channel 9.
It’s another attempt by WFTV to get answers for hundreds of Floridians who have struggled to get critical benefits they need to feed their families and cover their health care.
“Why is this not being fixed? Why is this going on way over a year. Why is it that they keep saying that the system works?” said Jodie Martinez, a Volusia County resident who’s struggled with the system.
From the website repeatedly down for maintenance, to tech glitches and documents disappearing after they were uploaded, Martinez is one of several Floridians who told Channel 9 she encountered issues.
Earlier this month, Channel 9 shared her story. She said she was both battling cancer and a growing pile of unpaid bills because the documents Medicaid needed to pay her bills would not upload via the system.
It’s an issue community advocate Vanessa Brito said she has seen multiple times.
Brito told Channel 9, since the new MyACCESS portal launched in December of 2023, she’s heard from nearly two-thousand people dealing with multiple technical issues.
“The ball is in their court to be honest with people, transparent with people,” said Brito.
Meanwhile Lynn Hearn, the Attorney and Advocacy Director with the Florida Health Justice Project also told Channel 9 this was a “common, ongoing problem.”
Her organizations has helped hundreds of Floridians navigate the Medicaid system which is already complex without the technical issues.
“Unfortunately, I am not seeing any signs of a systemic fix in the works and certainly that’s what we want to get,” said Hearn.
9 Investigates has been trying to get answers about perpetual issues with the MyAccess portal, sharing story after story of Floridians battling for benefits or not being able to get them in the first place.
Families have told Channel 9 they’ve gone hungry waiting for SNAP which uses the same portal.
However, DCF has declined Eyewitness News’ repeated requests for an interview.
Instead, the Department has sent statements blaming users for the errors - saying MyACCESS works 99.7% of the time.
Meanwhile, the public record request 9 Investigates filed over a year ago remains unfulfilled.
In February of 2024—Channel 9 asked the state for internal emails about their MyACCESS system.
In August, the state confirmed they received our payment for the records stating the request was being processed.
9 Investigates repeatedly followed up about the request, but by October, Channel 9 still hadn’t received the records and station attorneys got involved.
On Tuesday, attorneys for WFTV filed a lawsuit asking a judge to force DCF to comply with state public record law, and immediately produce the records.
On Wednesday a spokeperson for DCF sent us this statement in response to the lawsuit:
“The Department is working on finalizing the redactions in the more than 6,000 pages of records. We expect the general counsel’s office to complete this imminently and release the records.” DCF also told Channel 9 it was “in the final stages of redaction” of the records in late October.
Florida has broad public records laws that allow news outlets and the public to request information on state and local governments.
Since 2019, journalists and open government advocates have found that routine requests for public records take months or years to fulfill.
Channel 9 has also been waiting since July of 2023 for information on how much it cost to send state law enforcement to Texas to help with the border.
The Washington Post also sued Governor DeSantis for his travel records and won, but the paper reports they have not yet gotten exactly what they have asked for.
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