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Fort Lauderdale Event to Celebrate Florida’s Foster Children and AdvocatesFebruary 22nd, 2016
 No Comments  Advocacy, Florida Youth Shine, Florida's Children First, Foster CareThis Thursday, dedicated South Florida child advocates who fight to protect the state’s most vulnerable foster children and at-risk kids will gather for the Broward Child Advocacy Awards & Reception supporting Florida’s Children First, the state’s leading child advocacy organization. The event will be held at The Riverside Hotel (620 East Las Olas Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, 33301) on Thursday, February 25 from 5:30pm- 7:30pm. Register here. Sponsorships are still available. Success Stories of Florida Youth Shine’s Former Foster ChildrenIn its 10 years serving Florida’s at-risk foster children, Florida Youth Shine has helped thousands of current and former foster children find their way – and serve as examples for other kids going through the state child welfare system. One such success story is Janice Goldsberry.
Though her feelings of emotional neglect and depression continue, Janice still is a success story. Florida Claims Bills Seek to Help Abused Children Who Wait Years for Damage AwardsFebruary 13th, 2016
No Comments Abuse, Advocacy, Court Cases, Damage Claims, Department of Children & Families (DCF)Children across Florida who have suffered rape, child sexual abuse, child abuse, and other personal injury often wait years to receive damage awarded by the court or juries – if they ever receive the money at all. Claims bills now before the Florida Legislature could make money available to help these victims receive the money they desperately need. In one example, a Wellington boy, 9, was sexually assaulted by a foster child his parents had agreed to raise, not knowing the boy had suffered sexual abuse and had become a child-on-child predator. A Palm Beach County jury in 2013 found that the Florida Department of Children and Families was negligent and awarded the boy $5 million for damages and what could be a lifetime of treatment and therapy. He’s yet to receive any money. “He’s living a life of paralysis,” said Howard Talenfeld, the attorney representing the now 22-year-old man. Florida’s Children First to Honor ‘Youth Advocate of the Year’ on Feb. 26 in Fort LauderdaleTiervondria “Tia” McCall is an amazing, and inspiring young lady, even though she struggled with stability and safety for most of her life. She will be honored as the Youth Advocate of the Year at the Florida’s Children First Broward Child Advocacy Awards & Reception. The event will be held Thursday, February 25, 2016, from 5:30pm- 7:30pm at The Riverside Hotel (620 East Las Olas Blvd.) in Fort Lauderdale. Click here to register or learn more. Tia and her brother lived with her mother and stepdad until the age of eight. After her stepdad died she was separated from her brother but eventually reunited in the care of her brother’s grandmother, until the age of 17. Throughout this time, Tia suffered from verbal and physical abuse often witnessing drug use in her home. She could have easily taken the wrong path but she focused her time and effort working hard in school for a better life for herself and her younger brother. Today, she is the model of success. For the past five years, Tia has grown to be an amazing leader in Florida Youth SHINE, having become the youngest president of a Florida Youth SHINE chapter at age 15. She has served as President of the Broward chapter for the past three years and has lead, recruited and impacted youth around the state. She is now 18 years old, a freshman at Broward College studying Criminal Justice, works part-time and interns at Florida’s Children First. Join Tia and other honorees who do so much for Florida’s abuse and injured children. Honorees include Champion for Children Dr. Frederick Lippman; and Child Advocates of the Year Stuart Singer & Carl Goldfarb with law firm Boise Schiller & Flexner. Florida Supreme Court Rules for Lawyers for Foster ChildrenWhen the Florida Supreme Court issued its Juvenile Rules Opinion this week on requiring attorneys for Florida foster children with special needs, it was the successful culmination of a 10-year effort by the state’s leading foster child advocates, including the Florida Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program and Florida’s Children First (FCF), as well as the Legal Needs of Children Committee of The Florida Bar. The Court ruled to implement legislation requiring legal representation for at-risk children facing administrative hearings. Read the ruling here. Since the 1990s, FCF, the state’s premier child advocacy organization, and the GAL have worked closely advocating the legislation. They two organizations jointly submitted comments to the court supporting advancement of state legislation providing for attorneys ad litem and other programs to require legal representation for children in the child welfare system. Florida Youth Shine Reaches 10 Year MilestoneFlorida’s Children First (FCF) proudly celebrates 10 years of Florida Youth SHINE Advocacy! After FCF was established in 2002, Florida Youth SHINE was formed so that foster children could tell their stories and advocate for legislative change. For the past ten years Florida Youth SHINE, a statewide organization now consisting of more than 200 former and current foster children, has been advocating around the state and in the Florida Legislature, for positive change to the system of care by using their experience and stories. In 2005, Florida’s Children First, a statewide group of child advocates (www.floridaschildrenfirst.org) created Florida Youth SHINE because it believed that the youth are the experts and when making decisions about youth and it is critical to have a youth voice at the table. Florida Youth SHINE empowers their members to identify and share the issues they experienced and work for solutions through advocacy. One of the ways they do this is by educating others about the issues and improvements that need to be made. Please join us for The Dylan Schopp Sunshine Foundation’s Sunshine at the ParkTalenfeld Law is a proud sponsor of The Dylan Schopp Sunshine Foundation’s Sunshine at the Park event. Join us March 5th to raise awareness for suicide prevention. Get your tickets today: https://sunshineatthepark.eventbrite.com/ #SpreadtheSunshine South Florida Judge Blasts Agency for Foster Kids Forced into CockfightsEvery South Florida child advocate and foster abuse attorney fights to prevent child abuse, personal injury and other harm or damages like those a Miami judge saw in a video this month. He called the events they endured the result of ineptitude and incompetence. The judge was responding to the violent “cockfights” and brawls children at a Miami group home for foster kids were forced to perform – with the encouragement of an adult supervisor. “I saw a cockfight … between foster kids,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said in court, according to news reports. The supervisor was “provoking and encouraging violence” as “these two boys battled it out and beat each other up.” The supervisor has since been fired. Fort Lauderdale Children’s Rights Attorneys, Advocates to Gather for Broward FundraiserLawyers, elected officials and advocates who fight for the rights of those harmed by child abuse, child sex abuse, or other personal injuries in the child welfare system will gather in February to help share a very important message. You are Invited to the Broward Child Advocacy Awards & Reception on Thursday, February 25, 2016, from 5:30 pm- 7:30pm at The Riverside Hotel (620 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale). The event will honoring the Champion for Children – Dr. Frederick Lippman; the Child Advocates of the Year – Stuart Singer & Carl Goldfarb; and the Youth Advocate – Teirvondria McCall. Phoebe Jonchuck’s Death Still Haunts Child Abuse AdvocatesJust about a year ago, Florida child advocates and attorneys who represent children who have been harmed by child abuse, sex abuse and other personal injuries were aghast at the story of Phoebe Jonchuck, the 5-year-old Central Florida girl whose father, John, threw her from a bridge into Tampa Bay. We all were left to wonder how a father could kill his daughter, what authorities might have known about Mr. Jonchuck’s and Phoebe’s lives leading up to this horrific event, and how it could have been prevented. The Tampa Bay Times recently wrote a compelling story that compiles police, court and Florida Department of Children and Families records to recreate the brief history of Phoebe’s life. Reporters spoke with Phoebe’s mother and other relatives; in all, 50 people helped paint the story of the little girl – “a happy child who helped her kindergarten classmates zip their jackets and brought out the best in everyone who loved her. And they knew her father, a violent and unstable man.” Lead Agencies Must Acquire Appropriate Insurance CoverageThe Florida Legislature requires that lead agencies obtain a minimum of $1 million per claim and $10 million per incident in general liability coverage. Yet, many of the state’s lead agencies have not acquired appropriate amounts of coverage to protect children who are harmed while in their care. Sadly, one West Palm Beach teen recently dealt with this issue when a now-defunct social service agency agreed to pay her to help overcome years of sexual abuse, but didn’t have enough insurance coverage to pay the claim. A lawsuit has been filed against the insurance company, claiming it did not make sure the agency had the proper coverage to compensate children who were victims of sexual abuse while in the care of the agency. While millions of dollars of insurance coverage is required, the agency reportedly held only $250,000 in coverage. Kan. Lawmaker Explores Ending State’s Private Child Welfare ProgramFlorida child welfare administrators have had a long, troubled history with privatization of foster care services provided to the state’s at-risk, harmed, abused, and needy children. Our children have suffered sexual abuse, child abuse, personal injury, and other harm for years. Florida, it seems, wasn’t the only state with issues. A lawmaker in Kansas, the first state in the U.S. to privatize such care, has written a report on that state’s failures with foster care privatization and now is seeking to rescind the state’s program. In what had been the first-in-the-nation privatized foster care system, the state legislator looked back on the program’s 20 years, only to see “increasing scrutiny and a record number of children in foster homes,” local media reported. In his report, “When Children Die We Must Act,” the lawmaker concluded that “the mid-1990s privatization wasn’t successful, the Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/1RxWskK ) reported. |
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