Florida Child Advocate.com -- The Florida Foster Care Survival Guide -- is the one-stop resource for protecting the rights of children under the state’s care. We created this site for children, the families who love them, the caregivers who serve them, guardians who advocate for them, and the attorneys who counsel them in how to access resources and agencies, understand their rights, and address dependency, damages or disability claims.
Florida attorneys associated with Florida Child Advocate represent current foster children, former foster children and the physically disabled and developmentally disabled in negligence, abuse, physical abuse and sexual abuse, civil rights and damages claims against the Florida Department of Children and Families, its lead agencies and community based care providers, and other child welfare providers. These attorneys have helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims in one of the largest and most successful Foster Care and Disabled Persons practice areas in the county.
This site is sponsored by the law firm Justice for Kids. Attorneys involved with this site include Howard Talenfeld, Stacie J. Schmerling, Justin Grosz, Nicole R. Coniglio, Lisa M. Hoffman, Lelia Schleier, Jillian E. Tate and Julianna B. Walo.
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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.
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.”
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration suspended the license of the doctor who prescribed a combination of three psychiatric drugs to 12 year old autistic child Dennis Maltez when he died of serotonin syndrome.
The Miami Herald wrote about the case in the article, “Florida suspends Miami psychiatrist in boy’s overdose death.” The paper noted that “red flags were overlooked in the 12-year-old’s prescription drug death, and how a second report blamed the system in the tragic case of 7-year-old Gabriel Myers’ suicide.”
State regulators wrote that Kaplan committed medical malpractice, and that he posed “an immediate, serious danger to the health, safely, or welfare of the public.”
The real question that has yet to be answered by the state of Florida is how many other physicians in the state of Florida who prescribe dangerous combinations of psychotropic medications to disabled persons and foster children which are paid for by the state’s Medicaid program will be allowed to ignore the letters and visits from the AHCA children’s pharmacy management program that red-flag these combinations of medications as potentially dangerous? How many more children like Denis Maltez and Gabriel Myers need to die before the state will do something?
Florida Foster Child Advocacy Attorney Howard Talenfeld Receives the Lawyers for Children America Award.
Talenfeld received the 2010 Policy Advocate Award Friday at the 11th Annual John Edward Smith Child Advocacy Awards at a Miami luncheon.
Howard Talenfeld
The award was given in honor of Talenfeld’s work in founding Florida’s Children First, a statewide advocacy organization, in 2002. The award also recognizes his work at Chair of the Florida Bar Legal Needs of Children Committee this year. During his tenure, Talenfeld has fought to ensure legal representation for dependent children.
The event honors South Florida lawyers, law firms, and other advocates who have donated their time, talent, and resources to assisting abused, neglected, and abandoned children. Read the rest of this entry »
Great attorneys understand what makes time precious is what they can do with it. Florida Legal Services released its ONE Campaign. This PSA reveals the satisfaction attorneys received from their pro bono legal services provided to those who can repay attorneys only with their gratitude.
One Client, One Attorney, One Promise: This is the oath of Florida Legal Services. Learn more at OnePromiseFlorida.org.
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.
Although Florida is one of the top states in the number of foster children who are adopted, thousands of foster children lose their childhood by spending three or more years in care.
“We still have far too many foster children who spend years in the system instead of with their permanent families,” said Howard Talenfeld, founder of Florida’s Children First (FCF), an organization based in Coral Springs that works for children in foster care and those at risk.
“Florida is at the bottom of the states when it comes to providing foster children an attorney in their own foster care case,” Talenfeld said. “As a result of shrinking revenues, we are now fighting threatened budgetary cuts to Florida’s independent living program, adoption subsidy appropriations and to the Guardian ad Litem Program.”
The closely watched story of Denis Maltez, the 12-year-old Autistic boy who the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner said died of “serotonin syndrome” after being prescribed several psychotropic drugs, took a new turn this week as the prescribing psychiatrist was dropped from Medicaid’s rolls as a medical provider serving the state’s insurance program for disabled and needy children.
More importantly, the Agency for Health Care Administration needs to monitor all physicians who blatantly ignore their “red flag” warning letters, said Howard Talenfeld, attorney for the boy’s mother, Martha Quesada.
“Unfortunately, Florida has no procedure to protect the patients of physicians who write behavioral healthcare prescriptions that exceed thresholds and who ignore the letters from the University of South Florida Medicaid Drug Therapy Program,” Talenfeld told the Miami Herald.
“Nor does the state tell the parents or guardians of mentally disabled persons or foster children that these drugs prescriptions may be dangerous or monitor whether or not the physicians obtained informed consent from them.”
As the Herald reporter wrote, “The death of 12-year-old Denis Maltez raises troubling questions about the state’s safety net for disabled kids. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office attributed the death to a life-threatening side effect of over-medication.”
Attorney Howard Talenfeld urged healthcare and disability administrators in a letter to better protect disabled children, “who are powerless to protect themselves from being unnecessarily drugged for the convenience of staff. . . . Without proper oversight and action by your respective state agencies, these individuals will continue to be in harm’s way.”
The area of adoption, foster child, vulnerable persons, and guardian ad litem law is dynamic and fast-changing. With the guidance of the Florida Guardian Ad Litem Program – the Voice for Florida’s Abused and Neglected Children – Florida Child Advocate has gathered some important links and resources to help advocates learn more about the process.
Foster Care Reform Litigation Docket, a publication from the National Center for Youth Law provides basic information on 71 child welfare reform cases nationwide that are currently in active litigation, a pending settlement agreement, or are significant in some other respect.
The Legal Resource section of the Florida Statewide Guardian ad Litem Website offers searchable case summaries and library, archived Legal Briefs Newsletter (2004-present), archived Practice Bulletins, the Guardian ad Litem Dependency Practice Manual, audio recordings of past attorney training calls (2006- present), legislative updates, links to helpful websites, and Chapter 39 Florida Statutes. On this page you can also sign up to have the Legal Briefs Newsletter and Practice Bulletin delivered to your in-box.
For more resources, review the “Blogroll” to the left of this entry. If you discover any additional resources that might help others navigating child welfare and advocacy, feel free to send them to us by submitting a Comment on this post.
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.
News that the Florida House of Representatives today unanimously passed a bill requiring more strict background screenings for employees at its nursing homes and day care centers is an important step in protecting the state’s most vulnerable citizens.
Though the bill now goes to the Florida Senate, it has the support of Gov. Charlie Crist and foster and child care advocates statewide. He was quoted as saying, “Florida must continue making significant strides to ensure the safety of those individuals in our care.”
If signed into law, this bill will help shore up the state’s efforts — and reveal lawmakers’ commitment — to protect it’s vulnerable citizens. They are to be lauded for this effort.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, the bill would require “nationwide background checks and tighter restrictions on people with criminal histories… [the bill] was filed after a Sun Sentinel series in September found that Florida’s caregivers included convicted felons and career criminals with records for rape, child abuse and even murder.”
Yorkville, IL – August 12, 2025 – Fox 32- Illinois lawmaker, DCFS dispute legality of intern investigators in child abuse cases An Illinois lawmaker is accusing the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) of breaking state law by allowing uncertified interns to conduct child abuse and neglect investigations, while the agency says all investigators meet legal certification requirements.
Springfield, IL – April 25, 2025 – Capitol News Illinois- Illinois community-based foster homes face insurance ‘crisis’ Insurance companies are reducing the scope of coverage for some community foster agencies in Illinois, leading to higher costs, diminished coverage and fewer options for agencies who say a continuance of the trend could lead to closures.
Cook County, IL – March 24, 2025 – WCBU- Illinois’ child welfare agency failed to produce critical reports after child deaths The state agency responsible for keeping Illinois’ most vulnerable children safe has failed to produce legally required public reports after examining what went wrong in hundreds of cases of child deaths and thousands of serious injuries, the Illinois Answers Project reports.
Chicago, IL – March 22, 2025 – ABC 7 Chicago- Illinois child welfare agency’s reporting on abuse and deaths scrutinized The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is now under scrutiny for its lack of proper reporting on child abuse and neglect cases, according to a report from the Illinois Answers Project.
Tallahassee, FL – March 9, 2025 – WFSU- Two Florida state agencies announce new tools for combating human trafficking Two state agencies are working to identify kids vulnerable to sex trafficking before they’re victimized. The Florida Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have announced an enhanced screening tool and new grant funding for law enforcement.
Chicago, IL – January 31, 2025 – NPR Illinois- DCFS launches new app for caseworkers and families The state of Illinois is rolling out a new app to help parents of abused and neglected children better communicate with their Department of Children and Family Services [DCFS] caseworkers and with other service providers.
Broward County, FL – January 30, 2025 – The Sun-Sentinel- Broward Sheriff’s Office will stop staffing juvenile detention center in May Blaming staff shortages and an unsafe building to work in, the Broward Sheriff’s Office will no longer send deputies to work at the state’s Department of Justice’s Juvenile Assessment Center.
Chicago, Il – November 8, 2024 – CBS News Chicago- Troubled teen who escaped DCFS caseworkers was not placed into secure facility after being found A 17-year-old with a violent history escaped from his caseworkers in Chicago last month, and it turns out the foster child in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was not placed in a secure facility recommended to the state after being brought back into custody.
Miami, FL – September 3, 2024 – Miami Herald- Rising costs of care could strain funding for Florida program for brain-damaged kids Facing withering criticism from parents, advocates, lawmakers and insurance regulators, Florida’s compensation program for children born with catastrophic brain injuries opened its bank account three years ago and improved the lives of some of the state’s most disabled children.
Austin, TX – July 18, 2024 – WPLG Local 10- Largest housing provider for migrant children engaged in pervasive sexual abuse, US says Employees of the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. repeatedly sexually abused and harassed children in their care for at least eight years, the Justice Department said Thursday, alleging a shocking litany of offenses that took place as the company amassed billions of dollars in government contracts.
Homestead, FL – May 16, 2024 – WPLG Local 10- Homestead couple accused of murdering their 6-month-old baby girl Two 24-year-old parents brought their 6-month-old to Homestead Hospital in cardiac arrest Sunday afternoon; doctors found that the baby had no pulse and signs of severe child abuse, according to police.
Brevard County, FL – May 16, 2024 – WESH 2 Orlando- Family sues Brevard County day care for alleged child abuse and negligence An incident at a Brevard County day care involving a child and teacher has led to more allegations of child abuse and negligence after the Department of Children and Families studied surveillance video.
Wildwood, FL – May 4, 2024 – Fox 35 Orlando- Florida DCF worker accused of abusing 11-year-old foster child A Kids Central employee was arrested after he aggressively threw an 11-year-old foster child onto a couch and hurt her, according to an arrest affidavit from the Wildwood Police Department.
Tallahassee, FL – May 3, 2024 – The Tampa Bay Times – Nearly 600,000 Florida kids shed from government health care, study says Nearly 600,000 Florida children lost their government-provided health insurance last year after the federal government ended the national COVID-related health emergency, more than any other state except Texas, according to a newly released report by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families.
