Florida Child Advocate.com -- The Florida Foster Care Survival Guide -- is the one-stop resource for protecting the rights of children under the state’s care. We created this site for children, the families who love them, the caregivers who serve them, guardians who advocate for them, and the attorneys who counsel them in how to access resources and agencies, understand their rights, and address dependency, damages or disability claims.
Florida attorneys associated with Florida Child Advocate represent current foster children, former foster children and the physically disabled and developmentally disabled in negligence, abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse, civil rights and damages claims against the Florida Department of Children and Families, its lead agencies and community based care providers, and other child welfare providers. These attorneys have helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims in one of the largest and most successful Foster Care and Disabled Persons practice areas in the county.
This site is sponsored by the law firm Talenfeld Law. Attorneys involved with this site include Howard Talenfeld, Nicole R. Coniglio, Rayni A. Rabinovitz, Stacie J. Schmerling and office administrator Meredith Mishan Silver.
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If a Florida foster child, vulnerable person or concerned citizen makes a call to a state-sponsored abuse hotline, can he or she be assured help will come?
That’s the question citizens, child advocate attorneys and others are asking as revelations of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Abuse Report Hotline are going public.
At issue: The state’s admitted “screening” process that takes some calls seriously, while ignoring others.
“Hot-line calls are cries for help on behalf of a child,” said Howard Talenfeld, the Fort Lauderdale-based chairman of Florida’s Children First, an advocacy group. “Any call that is screened out is a cry that falls on deaf ears.”
More than 100 child advocates, lawyers, judges and politicians gathered at the Gunster Yoakley law firm offices in West Palm Beach recently to honor those in Palm Beach County who are making a difference in the lives of foster children.
“These individuals have proven that you can help change outcomes for foster children by simply getting involved in a foster child’s life,” said Howard Talenfeld, President of Florida’s Children First, and a partner with Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate PA.
The event raised more than $20,000 and honored local foster care advocates and Obadiah Payton, a young adult who successfully made it through the system. Read the Sun-Sentinel On The Scene coverage here…
Florida’s Children First will hold its Miami-Dade Child Advocate Awards and Reception on December 3, 2009 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
Child advocates, community and business leaders, and all other persons concerned about the future of Florida’s children, especially abused, abandoned and neglected children and youth are welcome. A $100 contribution is suggested; all proceeds will benefit Florida’s Children First, the leading child advocacy organization in Florida.
The event will honor three children’s advocates, including the Honorable Carlos Martinez, Andi Steinaker, and foster care “graduate” Julia Villamizar. (more…)
Two national reports failed the state of Florida with regard to preventing child abuse in the child welfare system, and they highlight the need for representation of children in the system.
Although Florida is making process in its child welfare system, the two reports still point out we have a long way to go.
“… the issue of providing more attorneys for children is being discussed statewide,” writes the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “The Florida Bar has a committee working on legislation for the upcoming session seeking more attorneys for foster children with special needs, such as the disabled, older teens and children being prescribed psychotropic drugs.”
“It only makes sense that Florida join the other 40 states that give these kids their own lawyer, ” Howard Talenfeld, chair of The Florida Bar committee, told the News-Journal.
Event Raises More Than $20,000 to Help Foster Children
Michael Carris, Howard Talenfeld, and the Hon. Mark Pafford
More than 100 Florida child advocates, lawyers, judges and politicians gathered at the Gunster Yoakley law firm offices in West Palm Beach recently to honor those in Palm Beach County who are making a difference in the lives of foster children.
FCF Board of Directors: Richard Filson, Denise Manning, Julie Talenfeld, Howard Talenfeld, FCF President and Alan Mishael.
Florida’s Children First (FCF) Executive Director Christina Spudeas and President Howard Talenfeld, a staunch child advocate and partner with Colodny Fass Talenfeld Karlinsky & Abate, led the event, which raised more than $20,000 and honored local foster care advocates and one young adult who successfully made it through the system.
“Even in a down economy FCF is fortunate to be supported by individuals who open up their hearts and their purse strings to support programs for our state’s foster children,” said Spudeas.
This year’s honorees included Nora Collins-Mandeville, Mari Frankel, and Rita and Les Gorenflo for their foster child advocacy work. Foster care “graduate” Obadiah Payton was also recognized for his successful transition into independent living.
Christina Spudeas and 2009 honoree Nora Collins-Mandeville.
“These individuals have that you can help change outcomes for foster children by simply by getting involved in a foster child’s life,” said Talenfeld.
Nora Collins-Mandeville was honored for her passion for children who have aged out of foster care, her natural ability to connect with young people and her search to find a better way for Florida’s child serving systems.
Pro Bono Lawyers, Advocates Sought to Help Southwest Florida Foster Children
In Florida courts for abused and neglected children, attorneys represent the Department of Children and Families, the Guardian ad Litem, and parents, but rarely is one there just for the child. Some have proposed changes to the system.
Howard Talenfeld, president of Florida’s Children First, a statewide advocacy organization, chairs the Florida Bar’s Legal Needs of Children group that is proposing the changes. “There are so many amazingly qualified guardians, but it’s time to recognize that the system is so splintered, so broken that these kids need more.”
Judge James Seals, who presides over Lee County’s dependency court, and Alicia Guerra, supervising attorney for the local guardian program, which provides court advocates for children, are trying to recruit pro-bono lawyers for children with complex legal issues and teenagers aging out of foster care. Read the entire article here…
Child Advocate Lawyer to DCF Dependency Summit: Reduce Risks & Damage Awards in the Child Welfare System
Attorney Howard Talenfeld, who focuses his practice on protecting the rights of vulnerable individuals in civil rights cases, personal injury cases and systemic reform litigation, presented at the Florida Department of Children & Families Dependency Summit on August 27 to DCF employee’s, lead agencies and other providers on Preventative Law and Early Risk Assessment.
Presenting with Talenfeld were DCF’s John Copelan, Esq., Karen Nissen of Vernis & Bowling of Palm Beach, and Derrick Roberts of ChildNet.
As an attorney and child advocate, Talenfeld has been involved in many of the significant and innovative child advocacy claims handled throughout Florida and the country. Talenfeld is perhaps best known in the child advocacy legal arena for his work as one of first attorneys nationally to utilize a federal civil rights damage statute to recover damages for injured foster children. In its 2001 case Roe v. Florida Department of Children & Family Services, the firm recovered a $5 million damage award – an amount in excess of Florida’s sovereign immunity limit of $100,000 – on behalf of six foster children.
To protect the developmentally disabled and the mentally retarded, the firm in Baumstein v. Sunrise Communities successfully argued in the Third District Court of Appeal to establish a private cause of action for damages based upon the violation of Florida’s Bill of Rights for the developmentally disabled. This decision was the first to recognize this approach which led to a significant settlement of this wrongful death damages claim.
Talenfeld represents children injured while in state care because he knows that after children in DCF custody turn 19, no one to help them get the care, treatment and support they need to face the future.
His role on this panel, though, blended both his litigation successes as well as his specialized knowledge of how to protect the rights of foster care and other children in the state’s care. (more…)
This article from the News Service of Florida reveals Florida Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon’s belief that the agency at the center of state foster care issues is changing its culture.
“Gov. Crist made it very clear that if you make a mistake, admit it and try to fix it,’’ Sheldon said.
“Despite recent critical reports, Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon said this week that he is convinced the beleaguered agency is beginning to change a long-engrained culture,” the article began. “A recently-completed internal report raises questions as to whether the agency has the right kind of employees who are willing to use common sense to avoid ongoing mistakes, such as one that came to light with the suicide of a 7-year-old child in South Florida.
“These mistakes wind up costing taxpayers millions of dollars because the state ends up settling lawsuits that accuse the agency of negligence.”
When the Associated Press reported that the state of Florida will pay more than $3 million to two foster children for not preventing them from abuse and starvation in their Hernando County home, Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon termed the case “horrific.”
John Joseph Edwards Jr., 19, and his half-sister, 15, received $700,000 and $3.275 million, respectively. Their foster parents, Lori and Arthur “Tommy” Allain, received 25 years in prison for child abuse and neglect in 2006. Not only were the kids put in a dangerous home, a DCF panel that investigated said countless child welfare workers missed or ignored signs of abuse and found they allowed it to escalate.
Putting foster kids in dangerous homes, with little follow-up, and then paying settlements when things go horribly wrong has become an expensive reality — one that Sheldon is trying to correct. (more…)
The Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF) has made strides of late, both in recognizing the need for — and furthering its protections of — children in the state’s foster care program.
But it has much to do and still farther to go. In a story, DCF Report Rips Way Kids Get Meds by the Fort Myers News-Press, Stan Appelbaum, chairman of the Local Advocacy Council for mental health, said “I’m not a happy camper with the way medications are being used. The first thing that I’d take away from this review is that it’s not a perfect system.” The article also called medicating children in state care an “unregulated, haphazard process in which drugs are prescribed to help caregivers calm difficult children instead of treating them,” according to an initial state review.
As the Miami Herald recently reported: A panel found that “Florida’s mental health system for foster kids relies far too often on drugs, with little oversight, according to a draft report on the suicide of 7-year-old Gabriel Myers.” Read the full article here. (more…)
Plantation lawyers Howard Talenfeld & Jesse Diner hope to improve legal representation of kids in state care.
Jesse Diner, left, and Howard Talenfeld are working together to help Florida’s foster care and vulnerable children.
Two Broward lawyers are hoping to work toward a major change for kids who have been taken from troubled homes.
Howard Talenfeld and Jesse Diner, both of Plantation, say they want to make sure every child in state care has a voice when moving through the court system. Both have taken on lead roles in recent months with the Florida Bar Association and one of their main priorities will be to improve the legal representation of children in foster care.
“I realized the single greatest improvement we can make in the child welfare system is to give every child a voice when they are taken away from their parents,” said Talenfeld, a longtime foster care and child advocate attorney.
Tracey K. McPharlin, a partner in Fort Lauderdale law firm Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate P.A., and specialist in foster children, foster care abuse, and damage claims, was elected 2009-2010 Chair of the Florida Bar Public Interest Law Section (“PILS”) on June 26 at the Florida Bar’s 2009 Annual Meeting.
McPharlin had served a statewide capacity as PILS Chair-Elect for the past year, during which she worked closely with outgoing Chair Maria Elena Abate, also a partner at Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate. Together, the two worked to build the PILS membership base through added CLE programming and awareness efforts.
Both Abate and McPharlin, who works extensively on the firm’s cases involving foster children, foster care abuse, and damage claims, chaired the PILS Legal Needs of Children Committee in successive terms. (more…)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 – 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.
