Facility Alert: 14-Year-Old Stabbed to Death at Florida Foster Care/Group Home Linked to ChildNet

On Monday, August 25, 2025, tragedy struck in Oakland Park when 14-year-old Jordan Dowdy was stabbed to death by another teen living in the same foster/group home. For more details, visit NBC 6 or read the Broward Sheriff’s Office press release.

According to a statement from the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), deputies responded around 5:00 p.m. to the 5400 block of Northeast Third Avenue after receiving a call about a stabbing. Upon arrival, they found Jordan suffering from stab wounds. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.

BSO’s Homicide Unit later determined that a 16-year-old male living in the same foster/group home was responsible for the stabbing following a verbal and physical altercation. The suspect was arrested the same day and now faces a charge of first-degree murder.

Jordan’s family described him as a loving, respectful teenager who had “a big heart” and loved football. His mother, Tiffany Simpson, said he was so motivated that he had even scheduled a job interview on the day of his death.

It was reported that Jordan had called the Broward Sheriff’s Office multiple times in the weeks leading up to the incident, saying he felt unsafe in the home. Despite these warnings, he remained in the facility until the fatal stabbing.

According to his mother, when she complained to ChildNet, the organization she said was tasked with caring for her son, her concerns went unanswered. 

ChildNet serves as the community-based care lead agency under contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, operating under multi-million dollar contracts to oversee foster care services.

Florida Statute § 409.986(3)(d) defines a "community-based care lead agency" as "a single entity with which the department has a contract for the provision of care for children in the child protection and child welfare system in a community that is no smaller than a county and no larger than two contiguous judicial circuits. The secretary of the department may authorize more than one eligible lead agency within a single county if doing so will result in more effective delivery of services to children."

In its recent tax filings, ChildNet described its mission as protecting “Broward and Palm Beach Counties’ abused, abandoned and neglected children, to ensure their safety and to promptly provide them with a permanent, loving home.” Jordan’s untimely death has prompted painful questions about whether those responsibilities were fulfilled.

Under Florida law, ChildNet’s responsibilities go beyond mission statements. Florida Statute § 409.988 imposes clear duties on all Community-Based Care Lead Agencies. Among these duties, a Community-Based Care Lead Agency must:

• Serve all children referred through the state’s abuse hotline, including those at high risk of abuse or neglect.

• Ensure that foster homes and group homes are properly licensed and staffed with trained caregivers.

• Provide accurate and timely information to the Department of Children and Families for oversight.

• Comply with state and federal child welfare laws and adhere to recognized best practices under 39.4087, 39.523, 409.1415, and 409.145.

In addition, Florida Statute § 39.001 makes clear that the health and safety of children are the “paramount concern” of the state’s child protection system. The statute requires that children in state care:

• Be provided with safe and secure custody in an environment that supports their healthy social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development.

• Be protected from abuse, abandonment, and neglect, with the prevention of such harm treated as a top priority.

• Have access to stable placements, adequate supervision, and essential supports such as education, healthcare, and emotional care.

• Be placed only in homes and facilities that provide safety, permanency, and stability, and not remain in foster care longer than necessary.

  
  

These statutory obligations exist because children placed in foster care and group homes are uniquely vulnerable and, therefore, must be afforded the highest level of care. Cases of foster care/group home deaths in Florida raise painful questions about whether these legal responsibilities are being met.

This heartbreaking case raises urgent questions:

• How was a vulnerable 14-year-old left in a setting where he repeatedly said he felt unsafe?

• What supervision and safety protocols were in place to prevent violence?

• What oversight did ChildNet and DCF exercise over this foster home?

At FIDJ, we extend our deepest condolences to Jordan’s family. No parent should ever experience the heartbreak of losing a child in a setting that was supposed to protect them.

This incident is not just an isolated tragedy; rather, it highlights a systemic failure: when foster care providers, group homes, and the agencies overseeing them ignore warning signs, neglect basic safety obligations, and provide inadequate supervision, children’s lives are put at risk.

At FIDJ, our mission is to stand up for those who can no longer stand up for themselves. We fight to hold foster care homes, group homes, and contractors accountable when their failures result in tragedies like this. If your child or loved one has suffered abuse, neglect, preventable injury, or death at the hands of a foster care or group home, contact the attorneys at FIDJ for a free, confidential, no-pressure case review.