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Florida Child Abuse Attorney Named ‘Super Lawyer’

July 1st, 2015   No Comments   News & Events, Personal Injury

Howard Talenfeld, the premier child abuse attorney and child sexual abuse lawyer who represents abused, disabled and injured kids, has been named a South Florida “Super Lawyer.” Talenfeld won the award for the civil rights category and is recognized as among the top attorneys in Florida.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.
Super Lawyers Magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-accredited law school libraries. Super Lawyers is also published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines across the country. In the United States, Super Lawyers Magazine is published in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., reaching more than 13 million readers.

Since the 1980s, Talenfeld has focused his practice exclusively on protecting the rights of vulnerable individuals in civil rights cases, personal injury cases and systemic reform litigation. He has litigated cases that have resulted in multimillion dollar settlements and jury verdicts that changed how governmental and private institutions care for children and the elderly.

As one of America’s leading children’s rights, injury, and child disability attorneys representing the needs of abused and neglected children, especially in cases of foster child abuse, child sexual abuse, child rape, and other harm and abuse of children in the child welfare system, Talenfeld’s work has resulted in multimillion dollar damage awards and has created systemic change in how government agencies and private institutions care for those vulnerable individuals.

He began his career involving at-risk children, seniors and the developmentally disabled in the 1980s and 1990s, when he represented the state of Florida in its major class-action lawsuits dealing with the foster care system, children’s mental health system, juvenile justice system, state psychiatric hospitals and the provision of Medicaid services to the developmentally disabled, among others.

Florida Child Advocates Debate Foster Homes vs. Group Homes for At-Risk Kids

January 13th, 2015   No Comments   Uncategorized

When the Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability released a study in December on the price and value of placing the state’s at-risk, abused and troubled children in group homes versus foster homes, the findings were not surprising to some who fight to protect the rights and safety of at-risk youths.

The study found that group homes are more expensive than foster homes, yet only one in 10 kids removed from their families are placed with suitable foster situations, like with relatives, friends or foster homes.

Group homes can provide higher levels of professional attention, especially for the most troubled kids. Not all kids – or all kids’ needs – are the same.

The key is to find the balance and serve kids’ particular needs, as well as those of the foster parents who often struggle to provide a suitable, loving home, noted Christina Spudeas, executive director of Florida’s Children First. The organization is the state’s premier child advocacy group. Some kids are tough to place, even with caring foster parents willing to take on the task.

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Florida’s Children First 12th Annual Broward Child Advocacy Awards Featured in Weston Lifestyles

June 1st, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy

FCF Broward Awards 2014 - LifestylesFlorida’s Children First, the state’s premier organization that fights for the legal rights of foster care children and other at-risk and vulnerable kids, was featured in Weston Lifestyle magazine for its 12th Annual Broward Child Advocacy Awards & Reception.

The event was held earlier this year in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It was attended by hundreds of attorneys, judges, elected officials, and members of the business, legal and civic community – all of whom are dedicated to advancing the cause of protecting Florida’s at-risk youth.

Each year, the event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for kids statewide. To learn more, visit Florida’s Children First.org. We thank all those who attended the event this year – and support this vital cause every year.

Florida Department of Children and Families: Sexual Abuse by Accused May Be Far Reaching

July 24th, 2012   No Comments   Abuse, Department of Children & Families (DCF)

Kenneth Hagins apparently is an equal-opportunity abuser. In what is unfolding as possibly a horrific episode of ongoing sexual abuse of children and adults, the one-time Central Florida youth pastor, 40, is behind bars while investigators work to determine how many people – kids, adults, even the disabled – he might have victimized.

Hagins has worked at a children’s day care, a group home for the disabled and as a youth pastor at a church. Exposure of his alleged crimes began when a young child told his parents about the sexual abuse.

“From that point it simply unraveled,” Department of Children and Families spokesperson Carrie Hoeppner said, according to News 13.

Read the entire story here.

Florida Child Advocate Attorney: Sandusky Case Begs Questions Be Asked – and Answered

July 20th, 2012   No Comments   Abuse, Commentary, Court Cases, Sexual Abuse

As we’ve already seen and written on this blog, child advocates and foster child attorneys are taking some time to address fall-out from the Jerry Sandusky guilty verdict. As the Penn State University former assistant coach awaits sentencing on his conviction for child sexual abuse, the rest of us have our own lessons to learn. The simple lessons are to listen, act and change the way we view others.

In short, Listen to those who claim abuse. Act on what you hear. Remember, no one – from “trusted” football coaches to priests to neighbors, teachers and others in positions of trust or responsibility – can be beyond suspicion.

Child advocate attorney Howard Talenfeld wrote this essay for the Daily Business Review. Its lessons couldn’t be more clear.

 

‘It’s Just Sick’ South Florida Children’s Rights Attorney Says of Alleged Neglect

July 15th, 2012   No Comments   Abuse, Court Cases

Spanked with a spatula, locked in their rooms and not allowed to use the bathroom, not allowed to bathe for days – maybe weeks, this was the horror allegedly endured by the children of a Palm Beach Gardens mom and her boyfriend.

A 5-year-old girl allegedly was molested by the 34-year-old man. The children all have been removed by the Florida Department of Children & Families. A 1-year-old baby has been placed in a foster home. The three other children have been put in the care of a relative.

“This is a very sad situation that we see occur repeatedly in the county,” Florida children’s rights attorney Howard Talenfeld told the Sun-Sentinel. Such incidents are not rare or isolated, he added. “It’s very sick.”

Read the entire story here.

Florida Foster Child Advocate Attorney: State Agency Plan to Add 1,200 Foster Parents Could Harm Kids

July 13th, 2012   No Comments   Adoption, Advocacy, Department of Children & Families (DCF)

Although the Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary’s initiative to recruit 1,200 more foster parents is admirable, the plan to eliminate the rules could prove disastrous for some children. In repealing these rrules, Florida needs to remember the death of children like Nubia Barahona and Latiana Hamilton where foster and adoptive parents were directly responsible for the deaths of these children. The negligence of DCF and employees of private agencies were directly responsible for the deaths of these foster children.

According to a story in the Tallahassee Demograt, “On Thursday, Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins announced an initiative to help families care for kids temporarily taken from their families. The initiative, Fostering Florida’s Future, is a marketing campaign to recruit 1,200 new foster families and promote less-restrictive parenting rules that did little to protect children and much to discourage participation by foster parents.”

Florida had some 4,317 foster families in Florida in June, a 14 percent decline from the year before, the paper reported. “The department recruited 1,000 families last year, but more left for a variety of reasons. Some adopted the kids they fostered. Others chose not to continue as foster parents as they aged, Wilkins said.”

Read more…

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