What is FCA?

Child Advocacy Blog

Search

Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category

Foster Child Injured, Killed by Foster Parents Highlights Outdated Laws

November 7th, 2014   No Comments   Abuse, Advocacy, Court Cases

In a case of egregious physical abuse of an injured foster child, a girl taken from her parents and handed to foster parents, who then fatally injured her, represents a horror story for any family facing outdated and dangerous laws. This case was in Texas, but it could have been anywhere. Alex Hill was 2 years old when she was taken from her birth parents for their marijuana use while the child slept in her bed. Her foster mother, whose husband had a long rap sheet for a variety of crimes, including drug use, recently was sentenced to life in prison for murder.

“By all accounts, towheaded Alexandria ‘Alex’ Hill, was a healthy and happy toddler, living with healexhillr parents,” wrote the Houston Press. “But [once she was removed from her home], Alex’s parents began to notice red flags about the conditions in the first home during visitations with their daughter…Alex had noticeable bruises, and the couple also found mold & mildew in the little girl’s bag.”

The case exemplifies not only how outdated drug laws that some states still have on the books and put foster children in jeopardy of physical abuse and wrongful death. But more importantly, as in Florida, the relationship between the state and its contracted community-based care providers raised ample questions.

(more…)

Broward Residents: Our Kids Need You to Vote YES Nov. 4 for the Children’s Services Council

October 24th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy

Talenfeld of CSC

 

On November 4, Broward voters will have a chance to cast a vote that can change the lives of kids countywide. The vote is whether to reauthorize the Children’s Services Council. This vote is required by law to ensure electoral oversight on how taxpayers’ dollars are used and to justify themselves to voters.

From early childhood education and truancy prevention programs, to tutoring and independent living, the Children’s Services Council delivers outreach that dramatically improve the lives of kids countywide.

Vote YES to reauthorize the Children’s Services Council. It’s a vote for Broward’s kids – and Broward’s future.

 

Florida’s Children First to Host Annual Palm Beach Fundraiser and Awards Oct. 29 Honoring Child Advocates of the Year

October 17th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, News & Events

Florida’s Children First (FCF) will recognize Palm Beach County individuals for their tireless efforts to advocate for the state’s most vulnerable citizens at its annual Palm Beach Reception on Oct. 29 at the National Croquet Center Point Club in West Palm Beach. FCF is a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting foster children and other at-risk youth. The event begins at 5:30 p.m.

Dozens of Palm Beach County’s prominent business and community leaders, as well as people concerned about the future of Florida’s children, especially abused, abandoned and neglected children and youth, will be in attendance.

This year, the Honorable Ronald V. Alvarez, recently retired Juvenile Court Judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit and his wife Mrs. Elaine Webb Alvarez will be honored as Child Advocates of the year. Judge Alvarez has long championed the children that come before him in both delinquency and dependency. He also served on virtually every committee to improve the justice and services provided for children.  As an example, he was a member of Unmet Legal Needs of Children Committee, the recommendations of which have finally led to increasing the access of certain categories of foster children to their own lawyers (FCF’s Counsel for Kids Bill).

(more…)

For Florida Foster Kids, Lawyers Can ‘Change the Outcome’

October 17th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy

Ninety seconds – to change the lives of the 300,000 kids who enter the foster care system nationwide each year. That’s all we ask you to spend – 90 seconds – to watch this video about the important difference lawyers can make in the lives of foster kids nationwide. Produced by the American Bar Association’s Children’s Rights Litigation Committee, this could be the most important video you’ll watch today. You could Change The Outcome.

.

Noted Children’s Advocate Attorney Howard Talenfeld Starts New Firm Representing At-Risk, Foster Kids

October 16th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, Department of Children & Families (DCF), News & Events

Howard Talenfeld, one of the nation’s preeminent children’s rights attorneys, has launched Talenfeld Law. The law firm will be the first in Florida to focus exclusively on protecting the rights of physically and sexually abused, medically fragile, foster and other at-risk children.

Talenfeld is known throughout the legal community and national media as having established the nation’s premier children’s rights practice. His work on behalf of at-risk individuals has earned multimillion dollar awards and resulted in sweeping judicial and legislative reforms.

“This practice will provide a loud and clear voice for children who cannot speak or themselves in the state and federal courts and state capitals – Florida’s most vulnerable abused, medically fragile and developmentally disabled children,” said Talenfeld, who will be joined at the firm by children’s rights attorneys Stacie J. Schmerling, Rayni A. Rabinovitz, and Nicole R. Coniglio. “The time is right to leave Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky ,Abate, & Webb, P.A. after 34 years as the firm became a nationally renown insurance regulatory, litigation and lobbying powerhouse with plans to expand.”

(more…)

Children’s Deaths Live On As Political Talking Points In Governor Campaign

October 15th, 2014   No Comments   Abuse, Advocacy, Commentary

Any child advocate, guardian ad litem or attorney who protects foster children and at-risk kids physically or sexually abused, harmed or otherwise a target of personal injury know discussions of their care and protection are delicate matters. So it is frustrating to those same advocates, guardians and attorneys to see candidates in the Florida governor’s race discussing the fate of at-risk kids in the highly charged and politicized campaign for the state’s highest office.

The Associated Press reported this week that Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been telling the state’s voters that children neglected or abused in Florida are more safe with him as governor than when Charlie Crist was in Tallahassee.

While the two sides disagree about the statistics, and media reports are questioning the figures, one point remains: kids are not fodder for candidates for public office.

To be sure, children die, even those under the watch of or known to be at possible harm by the Florida Department of Children and Families. The Miami Herald investigative series, Innocents Lost, revealed some 477 kids known by Florida DCF have died over the past several years.

That they die is bad enough. That they’ve become fodder for the campaign trail is disheartening and disturbing.

(more…)

Agency, Senator Team Up to Help Foster Care Young Adults In Need

October 7th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, Department of Children & Families (DCF), News & Events

In a previous article on this website, entitled When is a Florida Foster Child Not a Foster Child?, we answered that question with a simple response: When the foster child is a young adult, is disabled and is in need of care. For foster abuse attorneys and lawyers who advocate for victims of neglect and oversight, the argument long has been that Florida’s disabled foster “children” aged 18 to 22 are not foster kids in the eyes of the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

Those children are caught in a catch-22. Officials at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities have believed the Department of Children and Families or Medicaid are responsible for paying for the extended care of disabled individuals in foster care. DCF and others felt ADP should be footing the bill.

With the issue getting nowhere, finally advocates and legislators stepped up.

Working together, ADP director Barbara Palmer and state Sen. Nancy Detert finally agreed fixed some legal language in a 2013 law. As a result, those Florida foster residents aged 18 to 22 who opt to stay in care will soon be able to do so. The bill will be picked up by the state.

(more…)

The Spirit Family, the Florida DCF and the Nagging Question: When is Enough Not Enough?

October 5th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, Commentary, Department of Children & Families (DCF)

When is enough not enough? In a case of rampant and reported child abuse, personal injury and continual poor care and physical harm to six children – who all lived amid horrible squalor – the lives and deaths of the Spirit children at the hands of their grandfather should have been no surprise to the Florida Department of Children and Families. The case has child advocates and children’s rights attorneys wondering what went wrong.

Dating back to 2008, the calls to the state’s abuse hotline began and grew numerous, as did the investigations. Mother Sarah Spirit, daughter of Don, the grandfather who killed this grandchildren and Sarah before turning the gun on himself, was the subject of ongoing reports and attempts to intervene.

The children were burned, beaten, poorly supervised, starved, suffered medical and dental neglect and were sent to school to teachers who also questioned their treatment and care.

Child advocates and children’s rights attorneys who protect at-risk kids and families from personal injury, wrongful death and physical and sexual abuse learned through the media the horrors that went on in the Spirit home in Bell, Florida.

(more…)

Mark Your Calendar: Jacksonville Child Advocacy Awards & Reception on Nov. 6

September 24th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy

Florida’s child advocates and children’s rights attorneys, Mark Your Calendar: Join Jacksonville’s finest children’s advocates and outstanding youth advocates at the Jacksonville Child Advocacy Awards & Reception.

The event will be held on Thursday, November 6, 2014, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the The Haskell Building (111 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, 34236). Attire is business casual. Refreshments will be served. Entry is $100.

RSVP Today.

Florida’s Children First, Inc. (FCF) is the leading state-wide advocacy organization for children in the child welfare system. FCF does amazing work statewide and when advocates learn about FCF’s accomplishments, they often become part of making a substantial, positive change for Florida’s foster kids.

(more…)

When is a Florida Foster Child Not a Foster Child? When Disabled and Needing Care

September 24th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, Department of Children & Families (DCF), Rights of Foster Children

When is a disabled foster child not really a foster child? Apparently, Florida’s disabled foster “children” aged 18 to 22 are not foster kids in the eyes of the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities, whose officials believe the Department of Children and Families or Medicaid are responsible for paying for the extended care of disabled individuals in foster care between ages 18 and 22.

For advocates and attorneys who champion and represent foster kids who face potential abuse, personal injury and other harm, this is another issue of key importance, especially for those whose daily life is a caregiver’s struggle.

It was a situation the Florida Legislature thought it had resolved in 2013, when it passed a law ensuring disable foster persons were allowed to stay in state care until they reached age 22. The new law lacked one key element: Direction as to which agency would pay for the care.

In an effort to provide guidance, Sen. Nancy Detert (R-Venice) is pushing for a solution. She has discussed the issue with children’s advocates and service providers. It’s a critically important issue for Florida’s disabled foster persons.

(more…)

DCF Alerted Two Weeks Before Fatal Bell Murder Suicide

September 23rd, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, Department of Children & Families (DCF), News & Events

Child advocates and children’s rights attorneys who protect at-risk kids and families from personal injury, wrongful death and physical and sexual abuse learned through the media the horrors that went on in the home of Don Spirit in Bell, Florida. Apparently the Spirit family and the Florida Department of Children and Families were familiar with one another, too.

Child welfare investigators had visited the family’s home in North Florida just outside Gainesville earlier this month, according to news reports. What DCF personnel found was a continuation of the life Mr. Spirit, his daughter, Sarah, and her six children had lived for years.

The grandfather, who had served jail time and had been reported for physical abuse, was there with Sarah, who also served time for various criminal offenses, including drug use. They suffered extreme poverty with little hope.

Then, last week, Mr. Spirit erupted in a violent outburst, killing Ms. Spirit, all her children, and then himself in a horrific episode that has child advocates and children’s rights attorneys puzzled as to what went wrong.

(more…)

Broward Businesses and Children’s Rights Advocates Push Re-Authorization

September 14th, 2014   No Comments   Advocacy, Legislative & Regulatory Issues

The work of the Children’s Services Council of Broward County cannot be overstated. The organization oversees spending of some $60 million annually into county-wide programs that help children in need. Efforts include everything from after-school programs and family counseling to swimming lessons and other important services. According to a Sun-Sentinel article, such programs “help parents work easier, youth become productive and the business climate stronger.” In all about one in four Broward kids benefit.

It’s a role not lost on businesses throughout Broward County. The business community is gathering forces to ensure funding continues. Their efforts will come to a head on Nov. 4, when county voters will decide whether to re-authorize a property tax that funds the council.

Those who back the group are household names. JM Family Enterprises and Castle Group property management support a Yes vote, as does the Broward Workshop of county CEOs.

Such “front-end” services can help avoid foster care and juvenile detention for the county’s most vulnerable youth, said Howard Talenfeld, a leading children’s rights attorney and founding president of Florida’s Children First. The organization is the state’s premier children’s advocacy group. The result: families remain unified, kids stay in school, summer jobs are more common, and Broward’s children get the counseling they need, he said.

Vote Yes for re-authorization of the Children’s Services Council on Nov. 4. Success will prove beneficial to more than just the county’s businesses. Citizens throughout Broward will realize the positive results.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »