Florida Bar President Jesse Diner and FCF President Howard Talenfeld

They also represented the depth of the Florida legal community’s commitment to protecting society’s most vulnerable citizens.

FCF’s annual Broward event recognized attorney and Florida Bar President Jesse H. Diner for his support of legislation designed to obtain counsel children in foster care and the dependency system, and support for important recommendations of the Florida Bar’s Legal Needs of Children Committee.

Anchorwoman Kristi Krueger and FCF Exec. Dir. Christina Spudeas

Attendees heard how Mr. Diner has been a staunch champion of the passage of legislation to provide attorneys and zealous advocacy for foster children — and how such representation would effectively reduce or eliminate the powerlessness children face when entering the legal system.

He also has backed the Florida Bar Association’s effort to recruit and train pro bono lawyers to represent these children.

Honoree Jesse Diner, Adele Stone, and Broward Judge John Luzzo

Florida’s Children First is supported by sponsors Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate; Regions Bank; United Automobile Insurance Group; Boardroom Communications Inc.; White & Case; American National Bank; President’s Fest in the Park; among others.

To learn more, or to make a contribution, call the Broward office of Florida’s Children First at 954-796-0860 or send an email to fcf@floridaschildrenfirst.org.

Broward Judge Andrew Siegel, FCF Board Member Julie Talenfeld, and David Singer

From its Website, Florida’s Children First’s  staff, board members, volunteers and advocates devote their time to ensure that each child in care or in an at-risk situation will have a voice that is heard when decisions are made.  We use legislative and policy advocacy, executive branch education and advocacy, training and technical assistance to lawyers and Guardians Ad Litem representing children, public awareness, and filing of amicus briefs as strategies to improve child serving systems.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Florida’s Children First (FCF), the statewide legal advocacy organization focused on protecting the legal rights of at-risk and foster care children, honored Mr. Jesse H. Diner and several foster care success stories at its Child Advocate Awards and Reception in February.

The event, held in Fort Lauderdale, was attended by more than 300 attorneys, child advocates, elected officials, judges, community and business leaders, and others concerned about the future of Florida’s children, especially abused, abandoned and neglected children and youth. The event raised some $100,000 for the organization.

“As President of the Florida Bar, Jesse has utilized his position as Florida Bar President to advance the rights of foster children to legal representation in Florida,” said FCF President Howard Talenfeld. The other foster care honorees included Michael Lewis, who was honored as the Young Adult Honoree, and Linsey Brewster-Jenkins and Alexeve Jenkins, who were honored as FCF’s Foster / Adoptive Family of the Year. “They serve as a role models and inspiration for any of us who strive to improve how Florida’s vulnerable children are treated.”

FCF’s annual Broward event recognized Mr. Diner for his support of legislation designed to obtain counsel children in foster care and the dependency system, and support for recommendations of the Florida Bar’s Legal Needs of Children Committee. He has championed the passage of legislation that would provide attorneys and zealous advocacy for foster children to effectively reduce or eliminate the powerlessness children face when entering the legal system. He also has backed the Florida Bar’s effort to recruit and train pro bono lawyers to represent these children.

“Given the complexity of issues involved, we need to ensure that every child has quality representation from highly skilled guardians ad litem and well-trained attorneys,” Mr. Diner has written.

“This event reflected the support of our sponsors, guests and advocates from across the state, who are committed to both vulnerable citizens and organizations like Florida’s Children First,” said FCF Executive Director Christina Spudeas. “The success of our ongoing mission to help children statewide is linked directly to their ongoing help.”

Florida’s Children First is supported by sponsors Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate; Regions Bank; United Automobile Insurance Group; Boardroom Communications Inc.; White & Case; American National Bank; President’s Fest in the Park; among others. To learn more, or to make a contribution, call 954-796-0860 or send an email to fcf@floridaschildrenfirst.org.

Yet one girl felt none of these. At 7, she was placed by the Florida Department of Children and Families into an overcrowded foster home, shared a bed with another foster child, and ultimately was sexually molested by the foster parent. She lost more than her innocence. She lost her trust in others and a chance at a normal future.

Now 12, her adoptive mother is trying to help the girl regain her trust – and a normal life. A lawsuit filed against the Florida DCF and YMCA seeks to ensure normalcy for the girl – and future state wards.

In the St. Petersburg Times story of February 27, 2010, “Lawsuit Alleges DCF and YMCA Sent Girl into Sexually Abusive Situation,” it was reported that the first time the Florida woman took her adoptive daughter to the dentist, an assistant asked if the girl had been sexually assaulted.

“She just asked that because of how she reacted toward him,” the girl’s mother said.

The abuse, which occurred when the girl was 7 years old and in foster care, could have been prevented and should have been recognized sooner, according to a suit filed in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court that accuses the Department of Children and Families and the Sarasota YMCA of negligence and oversight failures — allegations that the DCF flatly denies.

Attorney Howard Talenfeld says the girl should have never been in the Oldsmar home of Brian and Antonia Starmer, who are also named in the suit.

Read the entire article here.

The most significant way Florida can improve the lives of at-risk children is to provide each of them with legal representation, something currently missing from our judicial system.

This spring, Florida lawmakers are expected to take up consensus legislation crafted by the Florida Bar and Florida’s Children First that provides attorneys to children with critical needs and to protect the rights of all children in dependency proceedings.

The Children’s Legal Representation Act, as it’s called, also gives the courts the ability and authority to appoint state-provided counsel for children, whether they be paid or not.

Providing children with their own attorneys will protect them from being further victimized by the system itself. The Florida Bar Commission on the Legal Needs of Children has identified several categories of children who are most in need of representation.

First are those children stuck in state care. Studies have found that children who are represented by counsel have a significantly reduced length of stay in foster care. The other categories are kids with disabilities, those on psychotropic medications, in residential treatment facilities, those who will age out of care at 18 or 19 without a permanent family and those with education concerns.

Additionally, Florida needs to adopt the national practice of attorneys and guardians ad litem working together in critical cases. This legislation recognizes that Florida needs to protect the Guardian Ad Litem program’s funding so that attorneys and guardians ad litem can work together in the child’s best interest.

We appoint attorneys for the parents of these children, and every other party to the juvenile-dependency process has state-funded legal representation, except the kids. These children deserve better; children in most other states in the nation get better; it is time for Florida’s children to get better as well.

Howard M. Talenfeld is president of Florida’s Children First, a statewide child advocacy group based in Coral Springs.

Biondo comments that Bitts “rightly calls attention to the lack of outrage over the deplorable comments by South Carolina’s Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer regarding the poor. Pitts’ piece is a well-reasoned call to action for the millions of people in this country who live in poverty.

“I was particularly struck by his salient question: Who speaks for the poor? Clearly, too few. Thankfully, there are organizations in South Florida that are committed to providing a voice for those who sit silent on the edges of our community. One bright light in our community is Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. (LSGMI).

“LSGMI is the largest provider of broad-based civil legal services for the poor in Miami-Dade. For more than 40 years, its staff attorneys have shunned lucrative jobs in private practice to successfully provide innovative and effective free legal services to poverty-stricken families throughout South Florida.”

Read his entire column here.

This year, the Governor has recommended $77.5 million to support a variety of Florida Department of Children and Families initiatives designed to protect current foster children and those graduating out of care.

Attorneys, guardians, advocates and others who provide legal representation for these citizens laud the governor for his recommendations.

According to a document from the DCF, the governor’s budget proposals are anticipated to protect critical services for vulnerable Floridians.

“We are grateful that Governor Charlie Crist places such a high priority on continuing DCF’s progress in increasing adoptions of children in foster care, keeping children and families together and safe from abuse, preventing domestic violence and homelessness, and providing treatment for mental illness and substance abuse,” noted DCF Secretary George H. Sheldon.

“At a time of great need for human services during the economic downturn, our Department employees are providing essential services,” Sheldon said. “As a result, Governor Crist is recommending a one-time $500 bonus for the 4,600 employees in DCF’s ACCESS program, who are helping the 2.5 million Floridians receiving food stamps.”

The proposed recommendation for Fiscal Year 2010-11 funds the following Department priorities:

Helping vulnerable children and youth who are leaving foster care:

Adoption Subsidies: $25.8 million for monthly subsidies to families who have adopted children from foster care. More than 10,000 children have been adopted from foster care in the last three years.

Independent Living: $5 million for services to young adults aging out of foster care at 18 to help their transition to adulthood.

Child Welfare Training: $1.1 million for training child protective investigators responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect. Providing critical services to help children and families achieve safety, recovery and self-sufficiency:

Cash Assistance to Families: $21.6 million to help the growing number of people who have lost jobs and have little or no income.

Domestic Violence Services: $4.9 million to provide services to families affected by domestic violence and expand domestic violence shelters at a time when deadly domestic violence incidents are increasing.

Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Family Safety and Preservation Services: $15.6 million to continue projects protecting children from abuse and neglect and keeping more families together.

Community Mental Health Programs: $7.5 million for treatment of children and adults with mental illness as an alternative to placement in more expensive treatment programs.

Substance Abuse Community Programs: $2.7 million to provide treatment to children and adults addicted to alcohol and drugs.

For additional details on the Governor’s recommended Fiscal Year 2010-11 budget, visit www.MyFlorida.com and click on “The People’s Budget,” or visit www.ThePeoplesBudget.state.fl.us

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Florida’s Children First (FCF), the statewide legal advocacy organization focused on protecting the legal rights of at-risk and foster care children, will honor at its upcoming Child Advocate Awards and Reception Mr. Jesse H. Diner, President of the Florida Bar, who has made advancing the rights of children a major emphasis in Florida.

FCF’s annual Broward event will recognize Mr. Diner for his efforts supporting legislation designed to obtain counsel children in foster care and the dependency system, supporting the recommendations of the Florida Bar’s Legal Needs of Children Committee. He has championed the passage of legislation that would provide attorneys for foster children, ensuring foster children receive “the same zealous advocacy adult clients expect of their lawyers,” he has written.

He also has supported Florida Bar’s efforts in recruiting pro bono lawyers to represent these children.

“Too often, children come to court powerless, with no one representing them at all. Given the complexity of issues involved, we need to ensure that every child has quality representation from highly skilled guardians ad litem and well-trained attorneys.”

“Jesse is a true friend of Florida’s most vulnerable children,” said FCF President Howard Talenfeld. “In words, leadership and deeds, his efforts have ensured that those in the best position to help the most needy are ready and able to do so. We at Florida’s Children First are honored to acknowledge his commitment to helping children across the state.”

Kristi Krueger, Local 10 Anchor, will serve as the event’s mistress of ceremonies. Also in attendance will be child advocates, elected officials, judges, and community and business leaders, and others concerned about the future of Florida’s children, especially abused, abandoned and neglected children and youth.

“The success of Florida’s Children First comes directly from our supports, sponsors, guests and advocates from across Florida,” said FCF Executive Director Christina Spudeas. “By supporting the mission of Florida’s Children First, they help foster children all around the state.”

Last year’s event was attended by more than 300 people, including judges, attorneys and, child advocates.

This year’s event will be held on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at The Tower Club (100 Southeast Third Ave., One Financial Plaza) in Fort Lauderdale. A $100 contribution is suggested, with all proceeds to benefit Florida’s Children First. To RSVP, call 954-796-0860 or send an email to fcf@floridaschildrenfirst.org. Florida’s Children First thanks its sponsors Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate; Regions Bank; United Automobile Insurance Group; Boardroom Communications Inc.; White & Case; American National Bank; President’s Fest in the Park; among others.

The Florida Bar’s Legislation Committee last month explored this issue — and a recommended Bar legislative position from the Legal Needs of Children Committee that suggested state funding for lawyers to represent select children in dependency courts.

After testimony from some involved, including judges and a former foster child, the committee recommended the proposal on a 5-1 vote.

It’s an important issue, said supporter Howard Talenfeld, chair of the Legal Needs of Children Committee. If the Legislature approves the measure, time spent by children in foster care could be reduced.

“Foster care is like being in the ocean,” Talenfeld was quoted in the Florida Bar News. “The longer children are there, the better the chance they’ll drown.” Read the Florida Bar News article here…

The touching images of Haitian children arriving on U.S. soil pulls at the heartstrings of many Americans, especially those who want to adopt children. But adoption experts say that compassion for the displaced children and the reality of child adoption – both in and outside of the United States – are two different things.

Even under usual circumstances there are enormous misconceptions about the intricacies of child adoption, experts say. And those misconceptions could explain the flood of offers to adopt children who have suffered immeasurable loss.

“People have to realize that there is often nothing fast-moving about the process of adoption, much less adoption of the children coming out of Haiti right now,” says Cabrey, a former senior attorney with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and board member of Florida’s Children First, a statewide child advocacy organization that seeks to serve foster, abused and neglected children. Read the entire article here…

The state of Florida Department of Children and Families has posted a variety of resources on its Website. Visit DCF Haiti Earthquake Relief (http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/haitiInfo.shtml) to learn more.

The U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services hosted a recent workshop for those Haitians interested in gaining Temporary Protected Status, with members of the Miami-based Haitian Lawyers Association in attendance. Learn more by visiting their site at http://www.hlaonline.org/.

University of Miami Law School lawyers and students helped those seeking TPS fill out forms. Read here to find out what’s needed to properly fill out the documentation.

Listen to this WLRN-FM radio story on the process of applying for TPS status. Applicants have six months to apply for TPS status, beginning on January 21, 2010. Officials expect more than 200,000 applications.

Attorneys and advocates can visit the Florida Bar Association Website to find out how they can help. Others can visit the Miami Herald’s database of charities.