I recently met with a young lady, R.J., who came into the Florida child welfare system in Miami at the age of 3 as a healthy child. R.J. exited the system at the age of 18 with very serious mental illnesses.
Even more appalling is that R.J. has eight brothers and sisters who each came into the system at roughly the same ages. Each spent roughly the same amount of time in the system. None were ever adopted. Despite having juvenile court judges, a guardian ad litem and many caseworkers, these nine children have endured this horrific and unacceptable result.
They are not alone.
Almost half of Florida’s foster children, or 9,321, have been in out-of-home care more than a year, despite state or federal requirements for permanency in less than one year. A quarter (more than 5,000) have been in out-of-home care more than two years. More than 2,500 children have been without a family for longer than three years. Read this Florida Bar News story on The Legal Needs of Children panel’s report. (more…)