Physically Abused Children
Far too frequently, foster children are placed with foster or adoptive parents who abuse these children far more seriously than they were neglected or abused by their natural parents. When these children need help, attorneys at Justice for Kids will protect them and seek damages on their behalf.
- Firm Sues Florida Dept. of Children & Families, Settles Negligence Case for $14.26 Million. Child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld filed a civil rights complaint in federal court on behalf of 19 children against nine Florida Department of Children and Families employees who were responsible for the children’s adoption and/or investigations of the abuse allegations. The children were allowed to be adopted and lived in various locations with her between Orlando and Gainesville, FL even though there had been a prior verified abuse report against the mother. The children were victims of bizarre punishments and beatings throughout their childhood. The State of Florida settled all of the Plaintiffs’ claims, including a negligence claim in Alachua County against DCF, for a total of $14.26 million. Read the case here
- Civil Rights Win Brings Sexually Assaulted & Neglected Siblings $5 Million Settlement. Child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld prevailed in this precedent-setting federal civil rights claim brought by six siblings (collectively called “John Roes” to protect the minors’ identities) who were egregiously physically, sexually and emotionally abused and neglected in a foster / adoptive home in Broward County, Florida.
- Watch Howard discuss the case on 20/20
- Law Firm for Eight Abused Former Foster Care Children Settles With NYC, Child Care Agencies for $26 Million. Eight developmentally foster care children who were placed in what one judge called a “house of horrors” foster home have settled with New York state adoption and child welfare agencies and their state-contracted providers for $17.5 million. The settlement brings the total paid by the defendants to more than $26 million. The 2014 New York settlement follows a $9.7 million settlement in 2013 for two of the plaintiffs in what became known as the Leekin case. It was so named for Judith Leekin, the New York foster mother who took on 22 foster kids and pocketed $1.68 million in adoption subsidies. She went on to live a lavish lifestyle while keeping the kids locked up, underfed and uneducated. Leekin is serving a lengthy prison sentence. “This was a horrifying case of failed oversight by state agencies and their providers contracted to protect the needs of society’s most vulnerable,” said Howard Talenfeld, the foster care, child abuse and disabled persons attorney who represented the plaintiffs. “Although the settlement cannot replace the family these kids, who now are adults, should have had,” he continued, “the money from the settlement will ensure the plaintiffs have a safety net protecting them for the rest of their lives .” The case stems as far back as the 1980s, when Leekin systematically took what eventually were 22 foster children into her New York home. She created at least four fictitious identities to adopt the disabled children. Leekin imprisoned the kids, some of whom were profoundly mentally disabled in cages or with handcuffs and zip-ties. She physically abused, threatened and starved them and denied them any outside interaction, education or even medical care. When Leekin sensed New York officials were on to her in 1998, she moved to Florida with 10 of the children. Her fraud was discovered in 2007 when she reportedly tried to abandon an 18-year-old foster child at a local Publix Super Market. Attorneys for the children fought a long and arduous federal court battle. They claimed that officials in New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and its contracted care providers failed to properly screen Leekin and uncover her rouse. Through the case, plaintiffs’ attorneys overcame unfavorable court rulings. In the end, the plaintiffs prevailed in the legal system, but they still suffer medical and behavioral issues. All require expensive, long-term educational, medical, psychological, and sociological care and treatment. “As children, they suffered the most horrific abuse and neglect that have followed them into adulthood. They have no life skills and need assistance with the most basic care,” Talenfeld said. “This settlement won’t give them their childhood back.”
- Lawsuit Against Private Community-Based Lead Agency and Subcontractor for Failing to Protect Foster Child From Physical and Emotional Harm in a Group Home. Child abuse attorneys Howard Talenfeld and Stacie Schmerling represented a former foster child in a case in Miami-Dade County, FL against a private community-based lead agency and its subcontractor for failing to protect him from physical and emotional harm in a group home when he was the victim of a “cockfight” encouraged by a group home employee. The dependency judge criticized the Florida Department of Children and Families, its former lead community-based agency in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, and its subcontractors for operating a system of care which “deprives children and families of needed services” and “allows for lack of accountability, with each ‘entity’ pointing the finger at one another when the ball is dropped.” The case resolved for an undisclosed amount. Read more from the Miami Herald.
- Children Drowned, Abused by Foster Mother. In 2003, one-year-old Latiana Hamilton was drowned in a bathtub, and her three-year-old brother was horribly abused by foster mother Lena Cumberbatch with a belt and ironing cord. Justice for Kids attorney Howard Talenfeld was instrumental in filing civil rights complaints for her and her brother, paving the way for many other children to recover for their injuries. Substantial recoveries were made on behalf of these children. Read more from The Ledger Ray v. Foltz, 370 F.3rd1079 (11 Cir. 2004). www.scholar.goggle.com/, www.scholar.google.com/
Florida Offices of Kelley Kronenberg:
Fort Lauderdale Child Abuse Law Firm
Jacksonville Child Abuse Law Firm
West Palm Child Abuse Law Firm