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Archive for the ‘Legislative & Regulatory Issues’ Category

Medicaid Reform Would Limit Families of Child Abuse, Injury, Death Right to Sue

March 30th, 2011   No Comments   Abuse, Advocacy, Damage Claims, Department of Children & Families (DCF), Legislative & Regulatory Issues, Medicaid

A Medicaid-reform effort has lawmakers seeking to limit the rights of poor people to sue doctors, hospitals and child-welfare companies. “In the midst of expanding HMO-style management in Medicaid, the Legislature is passing a raft of proposals that limit the liability of Medicaid doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and private community-based care companies,” writes the Miami Herald.

Backers of the legislation include doctors and hospitals, the paper writes. Because they’re working for the state (which itself is shielded from lawsuits and some damage awards), the Medicaid providers and child-welfare companies should receive the same protections.

Opponents of the proposed legislation, including Democrats, child advocates and trial attorneys, claim such legislation will hold no one accountable in such cases like Nubia and Victor Barahona. The two Miami children allegedly were abused by their adoptive parents. Such legislation also would help the insurance industry, the paper wrote. Read the entire story here.

Florida Bar News: Attorneys recognized for their service to the Florida Bar

July 20th, 2010   No Comments   Advocacy, Guardian ad Litem & Representation, Legislative & Regulatory Issues, News & Events

Outgoing Florida Bar President Jesse Diner recently recognized several attorneys for their dedication and service to the Florida Bar this past year.

Among the honorees included foster child and advocacy attorney Howard Talenfeld, for his work to build consensus on representation legislation as the Chair of the Florida Bar Legal Needs of Children Committee.

Read the entire story here

Florida Legislature: Time Limits Will End to File Sex-Abuse Cases

April 27th, 2010   No Comments   Abuse, Legislative & Regulatory Issues

Despite concerns expressed by the Roman Catholic Church, the Florida Legislature this week approved eliminating a statute of limitations on child-related sex-abuse cases, according to a Miami Herald story.

The Florida House of Representatives and Senate unanimously approved the measure to eliminate time limits and statutes of limitations for filing criminal and civil cases for sex crimes involving children. The effort has met resistance for years from the Roman Catholic Church, the Herald wrote.

The legislation (HB525), while too late for some victims, makes it easier for future victims to file suit, seek courtroom justice, and potentially to recover damages. Gov. Charlie Crist has said he would sign such a bill into law.

“This is one of the major undone pieces in regard to the state addressing the needs of sexual-violence victims,” Terri Poore, a lobbyist for the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, told the Herald. Read the entire story here.

Incest Report Raises Alarms About Florida DCF ‘Family Preservation’ Policy

April 9th, 2010   No Comments   Abuse, Legislative & Regulatory Issues

Recent news of an incest case raised alarms about the Florida Department of Children and Families’ child welfare policy. In the case of a man accused of sexually abusing his teenage daughter, child welfare advocates questioned keeping families together in a practice called “family preservation” – even when circumstances suggest greater caution.

The goal of family preservation, when secondary to a child’s safety, is a critical and fundamental mission of Florida’s child protection system.

However, in pursuing this goal, other preventative and protective measures must be utilized. Among them…

– Calls to the abuse hotline must be fully investigated.

– Recommended protective services, whether voluntary or mandated, must be monitored.

An article by The Miami Herald’s Carol Marbin Miller on April 8 has once again reported a tragic story that evidences that Florida’s policy shift in this direction has yet to be accompanied by the necessary commitment to protect child safety with appropriate, mandatory supervision of protective service cases.

We hope that DCF’s task force that is now studying this issue moves quickly and decisively in this direction.

Bill Could Protect Florida Disabled, Seniors, Day Care Kids

March 18th, 2010   No Comments   Legislative & Regulatory Issues

News that the Florida House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill requiring more strict background screenings for employees at its nursing homes and day care centers is an important step in protecting the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

Though the bill now goes to the Florida Senate, it has the support of Gov. Charlie Crist and foster and child care advocates statewide. He was quoted as saying, “Florida must continue making significant strides to ensure the safety of those individuals in our care.”

If signed into law, this bill will help shore up the state’s efforts — and reveal lawmakers’ commitment — to protect it’s vulnerable citizens. They are to be lauded for this effort.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, the bill would require “nationwide background checks and tighter restrictions on people with criminal histories… [the bill] was filed after a Sun Sentinel series in September found that Florida’s caregivers included convicted felons and career criminals with records for rape, child abuse and even murder.”

Read the entire story here…

Herald Column: Give Vulnerable, Foster Kids a Voice in the System

February 22nd, 2010   No Comments   Legislative & Regulatory Issues, Representation

By Howard Talenfeld

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. (more…)

Florida Children & Youth Cabinet Guides ‘Collaboration’ to Ensure Service Management & Delivery

October 29th, 2009   No Comments   Legislative & Regulatory Issues, News & Events

The Florida’s Children and Youth Cabinet was created to ensure that the public policy of Florida relating to children and youth promotes interdepartmental collaboration and program implementation.

The goal is for services designed for children and youth to be planned, managed and delivered in a holistic and integrated manner to improve the self-sufficiency, safety, economic stability, health and quality of life of all children and youth in Florida.

Its vision is for “All children in Florida grow up safe, healthy, educated and prepared to meet their full potential.” Its next regular meeting will be held on December 1 at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Learn more by clicking on any of the following links… (more…)

Florida Failure on National Report Highlights Need to Lend Voice to Foster Kids

October 17th, 2009   No Comments   Dependency, Guardian ad Litem & Representation, Legislative & Regulatory Issues

If Florida were a student, it would have earned a failing grade.

The state scored an F on a national report released this week that studied all 50 states’ protections of the legal rights of abused and neglected children. Florida was one of seven states to fail (the others were Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maine and North Dakota). A-plus grades went to Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Findings were based on the laws for legal representation for juveniles in the child welfare system. Among the criteria, as reported by the Tampa Tribune, were whether a state requires that attorneys represent abused and neglected children in court; whether those attorneys continue representing those children until their case is over, and whether those advocates receive specialized training.

The report was from First Star, a nonprofit group that litigates and advocates on behalf of children, and the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law. (more…)

Florida Governor, Legislature Must Curtail Use of ‘Chemical Restraints’ on Foster Children

August 18th, 2009   No Comments   Foster Care, Legislative & Regulatory Issues, Psychotropic, Rights of Foster Children

“It seems to be a prerequisite for foster children to be on medication.”

These words were spoken by the adoptive father of two 12-year Florida girls. And the reality he spoke of just shouldn’t be the case.

As Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was barnstorming the state discussing Florida’s successes in fostering adoptions, Mirko Ceska was telling the governor about the continued prevalence of psychotropic drugs in the lives of foster kids and others in the state’s care. Read the Miami Herald article here.

Powerful psychotropic should not be used as “chemical restraints” for minor foster children. But such use is widespread instead of behavioral approaches designed to address the real losses in their lives. (more…)

Florida DCF Making Strides In Foster Care Issues

August 17th, 2009   No Comments   Foster Care, Funding, Legislative & Regulatory Issues

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…)

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