Standing Apart, Deborah O’Flaherty

Being great means trying your hardest and dedicating yourself to something fully. Florida Child Protection Investigations Supervisor Deborah O’Flaherty has been working for years in the field of Child Protective Services. She has dedicated herself fully to her craft and the children of the community in which she works. She has helped countless families and children in at risk situations overcome conditions, including neglect and child abuse. Clearly, these are very sensitive matters that incorporate the very nature and definition of what families are. Many times children are forced to live in very dangerous conditions as their parents are overwhelmed with personal issues that affect their family life. Through her dedication and focus, she has put together an impressive resume of experience in dealing with these matters. First of all she is very keen to putting the right assessment together about a case that comes her way, then she sees to it that it is as complete and thorough as possible. This way the right services can be matched with the appropriate conditions in order to get the children to a better place as soon as possible. Children affected by this blight are unable to perform in school, get a decent meal or live a healthy life so she is especially focused at all times on the ultimate welfare of the child. Throughout Broward County she has encountered many cases over the years and her massive network of skills and contacts within the state juvenile and local foster care systems are two of her greatest assets as she takes these complicated but necessary cases on. She truly stands apart from the crowd based on her knowledge, dedication and long-standing experience of excellence.

Changing Lives, Deborah O’Flaherty

There are many reasons to embark on a career. Some people clearly are after financial wealth, others dedicate themselves to clauses and careers that have more intrinsic rewards or better but they are more focused on those rewards than financial then there are many careers in between, many people find careers that they enjoy doing and satisfies their financial goals as well.

For Deborah O’Flaherty, she is focused on making a difference to people’s lives and she has been working in the field of child welfare for a number of years in association with the Broward County Sheriff’s Department. Her work couldn’t be any more important as they are often families and children that are in the midst of a precarious and difficult situation where the welfare of children has come into focus and these cases fall on her plate. Her first order of business is to assess all that she can about these conditions. This is possibly the most difficult and tedious aspect of the job. The more rewarding part comes after when she is able to match that child and that family of with the kinds of services that will ensure the health security of those children. During this portion, there may be a variety of things that come into play from assistance, to counseling and so on. The take away is that each case is matched with a situation appropriately and it is a port to be thorough and efficient as far as the conditions will allow. She feels a special connection through all of the subject in her casework and she has taken great comfort in the fact that she has changed many lives and give children a brighter future.

Deborah O'Flaherty: Credentialed Professional

Deborah O’Flaherty is a credentialed child welfare professional, having possessed her Child Welfare Protective Investigator certification, or CWPI) for quite some time. O’Flaherty was awarded this professional credential by passing the CWPI competency exam and completing the requisite work experience and supervision requirements in the performance of duties that are expected of a CWPI. A fully-authorized agent of the Child Protective Investigative Services, she continues to devote her time to the investigation of any reports of child neglect, abandonment or abuse; to gather all the information needed, as well as to apply the requisite critical thinking skills, towards the assessment of both family functioning and any present and impending danger to the child involved.

Deborah O’Flaherty is also in possession of a Child Welfare Provisional Certification, the initial mark of competency for a child welfare professional. This certification effectively demonstrates the professional’s ability to perform and function in a variety of areas, including under and in response to direct supervision. It also proves the individual has completed the education, testing and training requirements needed to achieve the certification that they are now employed in a role that requires such a certification and they have fully agreed to the terms and conditions of the CWP certification.

Deborah O’Flaherty has a real passion for what she does, something that is evident in her tireless work ethic and unwavering commitment to the protection, safety and well-being of every child, as well as the health of every family, in each individual case.

Deborah O'Flaherty: Goals of the DCF Child Welfare Program


Child Protective Investigator Supervisor Deborah O’Flaherty is a dedicated member of the Florida’s Child Welfare Community. As such, she is also dedicated to living up to the standards, and achieving the goals of, the Florida Department of Children and Families’ Child Welfare Program, which continues to partner with courts, tribes and local communities throughout the state to ensure the timely permanency, safety and well-being of children.

The services provided by the Department’s Child Welfare Program, as Deborah O’Flaherty knows, are directed towards the accomplishment of certain organizational goals, including:

  • The ongoing prevention of separation of children from their respective families
  • Children protection, particularly those alleged to be dependent children, which includes the provision of both long-term alternate and emergency living arrangements
  • Reunifying families whose children have been placed in institutions or foster homes
  • A permanent placement of children where family unification isn’t possible, or that wouldn’t be in the children’s best interests
  • A transition of older children into a state of self-sufficiency, those who are or have been in foster care during their adolescent years
  • Preparing young adults making an exist from foster care for the transition in self-sufficiency

Deborah O’Flaherty is committed to the welfare, well-being and safety of abused, abandoned or neglected children throughout the state of Florida. She is proud to be a part of the child welfare community, and to work towards protecting children from harm and neglect for many years to come. Her experience and expertise in the field of child welfare is substantial, and will prove to be an asset to her organization well into the future.

Deborah O'Flaherty - An Important Part of the Child Welfare Community

Deborah O’Flaherty enjoys the opportunity to help people, so much so that she is now a passionate and determined member of Florida’s child welfare community. A CPIS, or Child Protective Investigator Supervisor, O’Flaherty now pursues her interest in and passion for assisting families in a very important way, ensuring both children and families benefit from the most positive outcomes possible through careful assessment, evaluation and advocacy.

Deborah O’Flaherty strives to collaborate with social service organizations, law Enforcement and more to make accurate and comprehensive assessments of each particular situation, and to then utilize that assessment to develop the best possible solution and beneficial outcome of the particular investigation. As a dedicated child protective investigator, O’Flaherty is an integral part of the child welfare network, and maintains both an open mind and an open heart in each situation and with both the children and the families she must work with on a daily basis.

The position of Child Protective Investigator Supervisor (CPIS) provides O’Flaherty the opportunity to provide help where it’s needed most; to get families the resources they need to become more functional, productive and healthy. It also provides her the chance to work towards an end to neglect, abandonment and abuse for numerous children throughout the state, and to strive for a better and healthier situation for those kids who are the most vulnerable and at the most risk.

O’Flaherty understands the importance of having a strong and dedicated child services team working towards the maintenance of child safety for children throughout the state, and she is proud to be a part of such an indispensable team.