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Archive for the ‘Abuse’ Category

Lessons Not Learned: Youth Facility Faces Trouble Again

September 14th, 2010   No Comments   Abuse, News & Events

Tampa Bay Academy has not learned that they cannot allow children to be sexually abused and continue to operate. Despite many warnings, damage claims and law suits brought by injured former patients and the prior warnings of the Florida Department of Children & Families, children at Tampa Bay Academy continue to be hurt and injured.

This article, by St. Petersburg Times staff writer Shelley Rossetter, reveals that three children were pulled from the Riverview mental health facility.

Amid reports of violence between patients, the state Department of Children and Families pulled three kids from a Riverview children’s mental health facility last month and plans to remove a dozen more, the Times reported. (more…)

Law Firm Lobbyists Convince Florida Legislature, Governor to Pass Claims Bill to Help Former Foster Child Raped by Foster Father

June 7th, 2010   No Comments   Abuse, Damage Claims, Foster Care, News & Events

Lobbyists and attorney advocates from the Fort Lauderdale law firm Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky & Abate, P.A. successfully convince the Florida Legislature and Governor Charlie Crist to pass a claims bill to help  a former foster child raped by her foster father.

According to the Naples Daily News, Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill that will release $1.2 million to the guardian of a mentally retarded woman who had a baby after being raped as a teen by her foster father in Immokalee.

The claims bill Crist signed Thursday afternoon was approved by the Legislature and releases the remainder of a $1.3 million settlement by the state Department of Children and Families to Darlene Achille, the guardian for her sister, Pierreisna, 26, and her 9-year-old daughter.

“The next step is obviously getting the money,” said attorney Richard Filson of Sarasota, who filed the lawsuit in 2002. “I talked to Pierreisna and she is very happy. … They’re living in a small apartment. It’s good news to them.”

Read the entire story here

Lead Agencies, DCF Seek to Cap Personal Injury Damage Suits By Foster Children

May 27th, 2010   No Comments   Abuse, Damage Claims, Foster Care, News & Events

MIAMI (AP) — A few months after a 10-year-old child was placed with eight other children in a Tampa foster home overseen by a single mom, a 13-year-old boy sneaked into his room and raped him in 2005.

But Hillsborough Kids Inc., a state contractor that placed the boy, says it’s not liable because it subcontracted with another agency which directly cared for the boy. They contend the state Department of Children and Families is ultimately responsible for overseeing its providers, according to court documents.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the boy has dragged on for three years and is the crux of an ongoing argument between DCF and the contractors it hires to place and monitor foster children: Who should be financially responsible when one of the children is harmed?

That question has major repercussions for both taxpayers and the children. If it’s the state, the contractors would be off the hook and a victimized foster child would be limited by law to receiving $200,000 in damages from the state unless the Legislature approves a higher amount. If it’s the contractors, an injured child could receive whatever damages a court awards up to a $3 million per incident and it would be paid by the contractor and its insurance company.

Child advocates say DCF and its contractors are trying to dodge responsibility and are wasting taxpayer money as discussions drag on. In the end, they say, it leaves abused children with little legal or financial recourse. The state spent more than $740 million this year on foster care, employing 21 contractors to oversee between 9,000 and 10,000 foster children.

“It’s sad and a complete waste of resources when we see each blame the other or duck behind technical defenses while the innocent foster child is suffering and waiting to get help,” said Howard Talenfeld, a child advocate and Broward County attorney.

Read the entire story here

Florida DCF Blasted By Task Force on Foster Child’s Suicide & Sex Abuse Issues

May 13th, 2010   No Comments   Abuse, Advocacy, Mental Health Issues

Florida’s child welfare system is taking heat for its handling of the care of Gabriel Myers, a 7-year-old Broward foster child who a task force says was inadequately treated for the sexual abuse he endured. The report also notes how the state failed to prevent Gabriel from sexually acting out against other children.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel covered this story, writing how the Gabriel Myers Work Group, which was appointed by Department of Children & Families Secretary George Sheldon, investigated Gabriel’s April 16, 2009, death. The Miami Herald received a copy of the report, which it says “identified scores of shortcomings in the state’s care of the boy.”

Howard Talenfeld, President of statewide advocacy group Florida’s Children First, presented recommendations to the Gabriel Myer’s Commission on January 7, 2010 and many of his recommendation were incorporated into the Task Forces Final Recommendations. Click here to view his presentation to the Commission.

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.

Innocence Lost: Florida Lawsuit Alleges DCF Sent Girl to Abusive Setting

March 1st, 2010   No Comments   Abuse

Children should know they’re beautiful and loved. They should feel safe, welcome and comfortable surrounded by family and friends.

Yet one girl felt none of these. At 7, she was placed by the Florida Department of Children and Families into an overcrowded foster home, shared a bed with another foster child, and ultimately was sexually molested by the foster parent. She lost more than her innocence. She lost her trust in others and a chance at a normal future.

Now 12, her adoptive mother is trying to help the girl regain her trust – and a normal life. A lawsuit filed against the Florida DCF and YMCA seeks to ensure normalcy for the girl – and future state wards.

In the St. Petersburg Times story of February 27, 2010, “Lawsuit Alleges DCF and YMCA Sent Girl into Sexually Abusive Situation,” it was reported that the first time the Florida woman took her adoptive daughter to the dentist, an assistant asked if the girl had been sexually assaulted. (more…)

Child Advocacy, Foster Care Attorneys Lauded for “Tenacity” in Case & $2.9 Million Settlement Against Florida DCF

December 9th, 2009   No Comments   Abuse, Foster Care, News & Events

Child advocacy and foster care attorneys Howard Talenfeld and Tracey K. McPharlin of Colodny Fass Talenfeld Karlinsky & Abate P.A., have been recognized as Finalists in The Daily Business Review’s fifth annual Most Effective Lawyers awards competition.

Every year, in what has become one of the most closely watched attorney recognition programs in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Daily Business Review highlights the work of private and public sector lawyers through the Most Effective Lawyers in South Florida.

The program recognizes more than 80 attorneys in 16 categories: real estate, pro bono, complex / business litigation, international, appellate law, public interest, class actions, criminal justice, personal injury, product liability, regulatory, medical malpractice, labor & employment, securities, bankruptcy / receivership, environmental law.

Talenfeld and McPharlin were recognized for having secured significant victories for their clients. Specifically, they were noted for the four years they invested in a case that led to a settlement with the Florida Department of Children and Families. The two attorneys represented the biological parents of three young children who were preschool-aged at the time of late-1990s sexual assaults by two teenage boys with a known history of sexual predation.

The DBR story recognizing Talenfeld and McPharlin begins below… (more…)

When a Florida Foster Child Makes a Call for Help Does Anyone Listen?

December 1st, 2009   No Comments   Abuse, News & Events

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.”

Click here to read the Miami Herald article.

Florida $4 Million Damages Paid to Former Foster Children a Step Toward Fixing the System

August 24th, 2009   No Comments   Abuse, Damage Claims, Foster Care

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…)

Though Renewed, ChildNet Must Reduce Re-Abuse of Kids in System

June 27th, 2009   No Comments   Abuse, Foster Care

Once troubled ChildNet foster care agency signs 5-year contract with Broward

By Jon Burstein: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The private nonprofit agency running Broward County’s child welfare system seemed on the verge of chaos — FBI agents raided its main office, the state threatened to pull funding and the group’s board fired the chief executive officer. All of those woes engulfed ChildNet within a matter of hours April 13, 2007 — a day dubbed “Black Friday” by some local child welfare advocates.

On Thursday, the same Fort Lauderdale building where FBI agents once draped crime scene tape was the scene of another significant day in ChildNet’s history, this time a happy one. The group’s president signed a $333 million contract with the state Department of Children & Families to continue managing Broward foster care for the next five years.

Read Full Article Here

Howard Talenfeld, president of the advocacy group Florida’s Children First, commended current ChildNet President and CEO Emilio Benitez’s efforts in improving child welfare services, but said he’s still seeing a disturbing trend of children who after entering the ChildNet system are placed in situations where they are abused again.

In addition, it would have been unusual for another company to be chosen to take over ChildNet’s contract, Talenfeld said.

“The nature of the system is structured in such a way that it’s virtually impossible for a new agency to come in and compete with the holder of an existing contract,” he said.

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