Hollywood, FL– September 15, 2017 – WPLG Local 10- Lawsuit filed seeking records involving deaths of 8 Hollywood nursing home residents An emergency lawsuit was filed Friday morning, seeking “preservation and production of vital records, documents and surveillance” from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.
Hollywood, FL– September 13, 2017 – The Sun-Sentinel- Six dead at Hollywood nursing home where Hurricane Irma knocked out air conditioning Six people died in a Hollywood, Florida, nursing home that had no air conditioning after Hurricane Irma knocked out power.
Miami, FL– September 3, 2017 – The Miami Herald- New foster-care boss gets a laundry list of what needs fixing Our Kids, the organization responsible for the care and safety of foster children in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, has a new leader in place with an impressive resume.
Orlando, FL– August 30, 2017 – WFSU- This Year Marks 20th Anniversary Of Florida’s Child Protection Summit This year marks the 20th anniversary of Florida’s 2017 Child Protection Summit in Orlando. It’s hosted by the Florida Department of Children and Families. JoShonda Guerrier, DCF’s Assistant Secretary for Child Welfare, helped kick off Tuesday’s event.
Pensacola, FL– August 21, 2017 – The Naples Daily News- Florida day care with suspected ‘hot-car death’ has history of violations The Florida day care where a toddler died Friday in a suspected hot-car death has had four violations by the state Department of Children and Families over the last two years.
Orange County, FL– August 10, 2017 – WFTV ABC 9- 9 Investigates: DCF orders suspension of day care where toddler died in hot van Even though the Florida Department of Children and Families investigators noted five incidents of noncompliance at the Little Miracles Day Care within the last six months, 9 Investigates reporter Karla Ray uncovered DCF’s own rules prevented it from shutting the place down.
Jacksonville, FL– August 9, 2017 – The Florida Times Union- Foster Kids, Suicide; System Isn’t Working It is heartbreaking to learn that yet a third child in our state’s foster care system has ended her life by hanging herself within the last year.
Miami, FL– August 4, 2017 – WPLG Local 10- Miami-Dade County School Board sued after teacher accused of molesting students A former student of Miami Palmetto Senior High School has filed a lawsuit against the Miami-Dade County Public School Board, more than a year after her former teacher was arrested on charges of sexual battery on a minor.
West Palm Beach, FL– August 4, 2017 – CBS 12- Report: DCF employees overworked, understaffed An internal review by the Department of Children and Families highlights an overworked agency in need of help.
Miami, FL– August 3, 2017 – The Miami Herald- ‘Jason’s Girls:’ Palmetto High teacher accused of string of sexually charged relationships In 2008, someone e-mailed the principal at Dr. Michael M. Krop High School with a serious allegation: a creative writing teacher was having sex with current and former students.
Boynton Beach, FL– August 3, 2017 – ABC Local 10- 8-year-old girl from Boynton Beach dies months after drinking boiling water An 8-year-old girl from Boynton Beach died shortly after midnight Sunday, months after she drank boiling water after being dared to do so by her cousin, the Palm Beach Post first reported.
Orlando, FL– August 3, 2017 – The Miami Herald- Bullied girl is third Florida foster child to hang herself in year On her last night, Giulianna Ramos Bermudez repeatedly refused to take her prescribed medication and bickered with the mother of her Orlando foster care group home.
Pensacola, FL– August 1, 2017 – WPEC CBS 12- Man gets 30 years in prison for toddler son’s death A Florida man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his toddler son’s death.
West Palm Beach, FL– July 27, 2017 – The Palm Beach Post- Florida’s first responders to child abuse overwhelmed, inexperienced The first people the state dispatches to the homes of potentially abused and neglected children in Palm Beach County are overworked and in some cases cutting corners, data show.
Coral Springs, FL– July 26, 2017 – The Sun-Sentinel- Man, 25, had sex with boy, 14, in Coral Springs library, cops say After meeting the 14-year-old boy for a sexual tryst in a Coral Springs library last spring, the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea man was eager to do it again, police said.
Delray Beach, FL– July 15, 2017 – The Sun-Sentinel- Toddler dies after being trapped in hot car for two hours, police say A 23-month-old boy died Saturday after he was trapped inside a hot car for two hours. The BMW was parked outside a home in Delray Beach, police said.
Port St. Lucie, FL– July 12, 2017 – The Palm Beach Post- St. Lucie corrections deputy accused of raping child A St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy has been arrested on allegations that he sexually assaulted a child.
Tallahassee, FL– July 4, 2017 – WTXL ABC 27- Foster families can now visit Florida state parks for free Families hosting Florida’s nearly 13 thousand foster children can now visit any of the state’s 174 state parks for free, thanks to legislation passed during the 2017 session.
Fort Lauderdale, FL– June 19, 2017 – The Daily Business Review- Job Misfire Leads to Different Legal Career Path for Talenfeld As a salesman in college, Howard Talenfeld got used to getting doors to open and finding opportunities. It taught him tenacity.
Taunton, Mass.– June 16, 2017 – WSVN 7- Woman who sent texts urging suicide guilty of manslaughter A woman who sent her boyfriend a barrage of text messages urging him to kill himself when they were both teenagers was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter.
Bradenton, FL – June 15, 2017 – The Miami Herald- 28-year-old Florida woman charged with raping 6-year-old A Bradenton woman was charged with capital sexual battery after officials say she admitted to participating in and watching the rape of a 6-year-old victim.
Palm Beach County, FL – June 9, 2017 – WPTV News Channel 5- DCF sued after Palm Beach children burned with grease by guardian Vivienne Otero is suing the Department of Children and Families, and other agencies, for negligence. Otero claims DCF failed to protect her children, when they put them in the custody of a woman named Debra Galloway.
Jupiter Farms, FL – June 4, 2017 – The Palm Beach Post- 11-month-old boy dies; welfare workers fail, even on the basics Brayden Howard was alive Sept. 20 when a caseworker, alarmed by drug paraphernalia found in his family’s Jupiter Farms home, strapped the 5-month-old in her car and headed south to the home of an “aunt.”
Tampa, FL – May 10, 2017 – The Tampa Bay Times- Child abuse tips silenced for months by DCF computer glitch Hundreds of reports about potential child abuse may have been overlooked for months because of a Florida Department of Children and Families computer glitch.
Miami-Dade County, FL – May 3, 2017 – The Miami Herald- Miami’s foster agency recruiting new leader with long resume in Florida social services As a leader of Florida’s child welfare agency, George Sheldon often had to stand toe-to-toe with administrators of Our Kids, Miami’s privately run foster care agency. Soon, he may be one of them.
Miami-Dade County, FL – April 24, 2017 – Florida Politics- Florence Snyder: Why children die, Part 4 — Clues in the resignation letters In the wake of two suicides of teenage foster children in their “care,” the “leadership team” of Miami’s “community-based care” agency took their marbles and accrued benefits and went home.
Miami-Dade County, FL – April 20, 2017 – The Miami Herald- Foster care agency leaders quit amid teen suicides, other turmoil Beset by turmoil over the recent suicides of two foster children in their care — and persistent complaints that they were overly secretive and unresponsive — three of the top administrators of Miami’s Our Kids child welfare agency have resigned.
Broward County, FL – April 12, 2017 – The Sun-Sentinel- South Florida teens victimized by human trafficking, officials warn Human trafficking that ends with teens in sexual slavery is on the rise in South Florida, experts said Wednesday, warning that every family – regardless of income, education or location – could become a victim.
Florida Keys, FL – April 6, 2017 – The Miami Herald- How a suicidal Florida foster child fell through the cracks When Lauryn Martin-Everett hanged herself at a troubled Tavernier youth shelter, children’s advocates in the small island community began asking questions. The answers, they were told, were hundreds of miles away.
Jacksonville, FL – April 6, 2017 – News4Jax- DCF data shows spike in child deaths in Jacksonville Data from the Department of Children and Families reveals a sudden spike in child fatalities in the first three months of 2017, including one in January, three in February and seven in March.
Miami, FL – March 28, 2017 – Florida Politics- Did Florida DCF create media frenzy after foster child’s suicide to distract from agency errors? Naika Venant’s mother vehemently refutes narratives by the state agency in a March 13 report, including suggestion she ‘allegedly’ commented on Facebook Live thread taunting daughter while watching and did nothing; lawyer says agencies ‘abysmally failed’ Naika.
Medically Needy Child Dies Under DCF Care and Amid Provider Bickering
On Florida Child Advocate, we’ve advocated for attorneys and attorneys ad litem for developmentally disabled and medically fragile children and foster and at-risk children – and to put an end to their needless and senseless wrongful death, personal injury and physical abuse. We’ve admonished the Florida Department of Children and Families and their contracted community-based providers for not seeing that these citizens receive the critical and appropriate medical care they need, and we’ve lauded the legislature for funding that care.
So it’s saddening and frustrating to read that a young child under the watch of DCF and under the care of two such providers died as those providers debated who should handle and pay for her care. In brief, this young child should have had assigned to her a skilled child advocacy attorney to argue for her needs. Simply put, she died because no one skilled to do so was there on her side advocating for her very specific and necessary medical needs.
Read just part of her story to get a sense of her suffering, and now plain it would seem to an outsider that she needed someone to advocate on her behalf…
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