Lee County, Fla. - The Department of Children and Families will overhaul their entire system, from how they respond to cases, to how they communicate with other agencies. The wide-reaching changes aimed at keeping children under state supervision safe, are being called "historic" by DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth.

WINK News Now sat down with a local girl who grew up in DCF's care - she says the changes couldn't come at a better time.

21-year-old Casey Heidkamp was in foster care her whole life. She describes her upbringing as "tough."

"I dropped out of high school at age 16 - got into the whole foster care persona, drugs, alcohol, and jail bird," says Heidkamp.

She says at times she felt like she was getting lost in the system, but instead of letting her life take a downward spiral, she decided to embrace the system.

Now, the Cape Coral woman lives on her own, is married, and going to school.

But she will never forget her roots. This is why she applauds Secretary Bob Butterworth and the DCF task force for recommending the changes.

The task force released their recommendations based on the report Friday. In it, they cited weak internal controls, poor documentation, and ineffective communication.

Their new communications recommendations go as follows: "DCF handle their cases with more urgency, better train their employees, and streamline their communication between other agencies."

Heidkamp is optimistic this will help the agency that raised her.

"I'm pulling through. I'm succeeding in life. That's all i want for the other kids in life, especially in the system."

Some of the changes outlined in Friday's report will take place immediately. Other changes the task force recommended will have to be approved by the Florida State Legislature before they can go into effect. They're hoping to do that in January.