As reported by the Miami Herald, “Eleven children and seven staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in Florida’s largest group home for foster children.” Read more from the Miami Herald here.
Sadly, many of the challenges we are all facing during this pandemic are similar to what children in foster care experience every day. Hear firsthand from Florida Youth Shine advocate Jessica Overstreet in this op ed from Fostering Families Today magazine. Click here to read more.
Tragically, children in foster care are raped and physically assaulted at shelters like Youth Haven that are not equipped to address the individual therapeutic needs of children. The Fort Myers News Press has started a five-part series that offers an up-close look into the world of Anber, “who drifted in... View Article
As reported by the Associated Press, the foster care programs meant to provide migrant children with care while authorities work to connect them with parents, relatives or other sponsors may actually be harming them. A review of 38 legal claims obtained by the Associated Press — some of which have... View Article
On November 13, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released Fostering Youth Transitions, a report with the most comprehensive data ever collected across all 50 states to help illustrate how young people ages 14 and older are faring as they transition from foster care to adulthood. This first-of-its-kind report examines how... View Article
Talenfeld Law Founder Howard Talenfeld shares insights on the deficiencies in our state’s foster care program in this article from the Orlando Sentinel, “‘Baby steps’ made to protect kids 20 years after Kayla McKean, 6, was murdered by father.” According to Talenfeld, privatization of child-welfare services has resulted in more state... View Article
Read about needed changes to South Florida’s foster care program in the article “South Florida’s Foster Care Program Urgently Needs to Change” by Talenfeld Law Founder Howard Talenfeld in the May 7 issue of the South Florida Legal Guide. Click here to view the South Florida Legal Guide.
The following is an opinion piece from Howard Talenfeld, President of Florida’s Children First and the founder of Talenfeld Law. When Senators Orrin Hatch and Ron Wyden, the Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, released findings from a two-year investigation into foster care privatization, it did... 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
Florida’s Children First (FCF), the statewide advocacy organization focused on protecting the legal rights of at-risk and foster care children, had a very successful Miami-Dade awards reception last week. Dozens of community and business leaders, and all other persons concerned about the future of Florida’s abused, abandoned and neglected children,... View Article