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Miami Herald: Florida seized a disabled mom’s 4-day-old son: ‘I didn’t think this could happen in America’

As reported by the Miami Herald, it was just two days after Alysha Princess Cesaire gave birth to her son when someone at Memorial Regional Hospital called the state’s child abuse hotline to express concerns that her physical disability — which causes her to use a walker and have difficulty speaking — rendered her an unfit mother.

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DCF Removes Four Children from Palm Beach County Couple After An Investigation Reveals They Physically Abused a 13-Year-old Adopted son.

February 11th, 2022   No Comments   Abuse

The Palm Beach County couple was arrested for child abuse by the police after discovery of the abusive, deplorable conditions the boy suffered in.

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Justin Grosz Appointed to Florida’s Children First Board of Directors

February 7th, 2022   No Comments   Advocacy

Florida’s Children First (FCF), a statewide advocacy organization focused on protecting the legal rights of at-risk and foster care children, is proud to announce the addition of Justin Grosz to its Board of Directors.

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Kelley Kronenberg Attorney Julianna Walo Selected for Inclusion as Rising Star in 2022 Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine

February 4th, 2022   No Comments   News & Events

Kelley Kronenberg, a multi-practice business law firm, and its Justice for Kids Division are pleased to announce Attorney Julianna Walo has been selected for inclusion as a Rising Star in the 2022 issue of Illinois Super Lawyers magazine. Julianna has been included in the publication since 2020.

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National Human Trafficking Prevention Month

January 31st, 2022   No Comments   Human Trafficking

The following letter to the editor was authored by Justice for Kids Partner Justin Grosz:

 

Human Trafficking is an incredibly important issue that demands our attention. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month; and as it comes to a close, we must continue to bring our awareness to this issue and how we can each do our part to prevent human trafficking. There are many misconceptions when it comes to human trafficking. While most think these events mostly take place abroad, this is a grave domestic issue. In fact, Florida ranks 3rd in the nation in terms of the number of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, the vast majority of which involve the commercial sexual exploitation of minors.  The average age that a trafficked victim is first used for commercial sex is between just 12-14 years old. These children are vulnerable and often lured into terrifying situations which they lack the resources to extricate themselves from.

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Miami Herald: ‘This is like a divorce.’ Shelters housing migrant kids caught between DeSantis, Biden

January 7th, 2022   No Comments   Uncategorized

As reported by the Miami Herald, Florida shelters that house migrant children on behalf of the federal government say they’re increasingly worried that a feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and President Joe Biden over his immigration policies will force them to relocate hundreds of children outside the state.

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WVLA: La. Department of Children and Family Services responds to lawsuit alleging “years of alleged sexual abuse”

January 4th, 2022   No Comments   Uncategorized

As reported by WVLA NBC Local 33, a human trafficking case has been filed regarding allegations of sexual abuse involving the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services.

Sadly, this is yet another example of sexual assault cases in our foster care system.

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3rd Annual Youth Anti-Human Trafficking Summit in Broward County on Jan 8

December 23rd, 2021   No Comments   Uncategorized

After Rilya Wilson, a foster child, disappeared in 2001, we knew there were 400 children missing from our child protection system on any given day. DCF used to post the names, dob, number and was required to take specific actions. Does anyone know how many children are missing from Florida’s Child Protection system today? Thank you to our Children’s Services Council of Broward County for shedding a light on this critical issue!

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Tampa Bay Times: Pinellas sheriff blasted foster agency, but his investigators removed children at a higher rate than any other county

December 21st, 2021   No Comments   Abuse, Foster Care

As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri in November announced a criminal investigation into Eckerd Connects after a child was injured and another overdosed at an unlicensed Largo office where foster children that the agency could not place slept in “deplorable conditions.”

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Kelley Kronenberg Expands Justice for Kids Division with the Addition of Kayla Riera-Gomez

December 16th, 2021   No Comments   Uncategorized

Kelley Kronenberg is excited to announce that Kayla Riera-Gomez has joined the firm’s Justice for Kids Division as a Partner. Justice for Kids is a national practice dedicated to providing legal services to abused, disabled, and catastrophically injured children harmed in foster care, shelters, residential treatment centers, group homes, and other child welfare settings, as well as all children harmed by the acts of others.

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South Florida Mother Fights for Greyson’s Law After the Tragic and Preventable Murder of Her 4-Year-Old Son

After living a parent’s worst nightmare for six months, Ali Kessler, along with an army of Family Court advocates and local politicians, finally received news that Greyson’s Law was filed in the state of Florida. Kessler has been fighting for legislation that would allow judges to remove a child from a home over concerns that one parent is threatening or abusing the other. Kessler said to MSNBC, “I have to fight for my son who can’t fight for himself.”

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Florida Today: Police investigation: DCF alerted at least 6 times before mother charged with manslaughter of infant son

As reported by Florida Today, a police investigation revealed the state Department of Children and Family Services had been called at least six times regarding abuse allegations in the case of a mother who now faces a charge of manslaughter in connection to the death of her infant son.

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