When the Florida Department of Children and Families responded to a records request by the media regarding the suicide of Lauryn Martin-Everett with the line, “We remain deeply saddened by the tragic loss of this child,” some could argue the admission itself was a reflection of the state’s failed experiment with privatization... View Article
Attorneys, advocates, psychiatrists and healthcare providers who work with foster children under the care and watch of the Florida Department of Children and Families have learned through the years the perils of prescribing powerful psychotropic medications. Several years ago, Gabriel Myers, a 7-year-old boy also under the care of DCF,... View Article
Pioneering child advocacy attorney Howard Talenfeld, who fights for the rights of children harmed, injured, physically and sexually abused, or who have died while under the watch of Florida’s child welfare system, recently spoke with WLRN to discuss the need to end Florida’s tragic, failed experiment with child welfare privatization.... View Article
A Miami judge overseeing a case related to a child’s January suicide that was streamed from her foster home on Facebook Live threatened a Florida Department of Children and Families lawyer to jail for reportedly misleading the judge. The judge is exploring whether other children in the foster home may... View Article
When a 14-year-old girl used Facebook Live to live-stream her suicide, the world came to discover the help she desperately needed and never received from Florida’s social services agencies, notes her attorney. Her destructive behavior and long stint in foster care should have been sufficient warning. But as with other... View Article
The Florida’s Children First 15th Anniversary Celebration of the Broward Child Advocacy Awards and Reception, held this Thrursday at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Riverview Ballroom, was a remarkable success in raising awareness and funds in the pursuit of protecting the rights of foster and at-risk children. The event... View Article
How important are foster families to Florida’s kids? Statewide, more than 6,000 children have found homes and adoption through Florida’s foster families. That’s an important figure. But their stories tell a more rich tale. Statewide, foster children, and others face unknown futures and possible harm on the streets or in... View Article
Florida’s Children First, the state’s premier organization helping protect the rights of foster and at-risk children, will hold its 15th Anniversary Celebration of the Broward Child Advocacy Awards and Reception in February. The event will be held at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Riverview Ballroom (201 SW 5th... View Article
Florida child advocates and attorneys who represent children raped and abused in the child welfare system are struggling to comprehend how and why a 14-year-old girl, who reportedly had been sexually abused while in state care, hanged herself while streaming the event on Facebook Live this week. “I have to... View Article
A study from the Children’s Bureau, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has found that the Florida Department of Children and Families is underperforming related its care of foster children in several critical areas. HHS reviewed 80 such cases and has given the state 90 days to deliver a... View Article