Results
The attorneys with Justice for Kids have spent decades fighting for abused, disabled and injured kids in foster care and other child welfare settings in personal injury and damages cases. Below is a sample of some of our most successful results.
Disclaimer: Most cases result in a lower recovery. Results may not be typical and reflect awards before deduction for attorneys’ fees and expenses. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.
Jacksonville Jury Awards $13.5 Million in Negligent Adoption Case
The adoptive parents of a young boy with special needs have been awarded $13.5 million in damages against Jewish Family and Community Services, Inc. (JFCS) for negligently misrepresenting and failing to disclose material facts related to his history during the adoption process. The jury found that JFCS acted with wanton and willful disregard for the human rights and safety of the family and adoptive child.
Jury Awards $15 Million to Brain Damaged 8-Year-Old Child in Damages Case Against DCF for Negligent Investigation
In one of the largest jury awards in Florida history, a young girl has been awarded a $15 million verdict against the Florida Department of Children & Families (”DCF”) for negligently investigating abuse reports that her mother had abused drugs endangering the child. The eight-year-old girl who is referred to as H.H., was tortured and suffered permanent traumatic brain injury and quadriplegia from repeated episodes of abusive head trauma and is now completely dependent on others for all aspects of her daily functioning.
Jury Awards Father $4.5 Million in Damages in Wrongful Death Case Involving Broward Sheriff’s Office
Christopher Nevarez, the father of Makenzie Nevarez, a 6-month-old baby girl who suffered catastrophic injuries and later passed away from blunt force trauma, has been awarded $4.5 million in damages in a wrongful death case involving the Broward Sheriff’s Office for failure to protect his daughter.
School Settles Violent Child-On-Child Rape Claim for $4 Million
At the eve of trial, attorney Howard Talenfeld successfully negotiated a $4 million settlement on behalf of a child repeatedly raped in a residential facility. Administrators at the center were ignorant of systemic abuse, repeated reports by and from state officials, and even the admission of the child aggressor. This case was successfully concluded after our investigator obtained the statement of the perpetrator who explicitly described how he was able to evade staff of the facility who were watching a football playoff game instead of protecting the children.
South Florida Jet Ski Tragedy Settles Confidentially
AD was tragically killed while riding a jet ski on a lake in Miami. He was only 15 years old. Justin Grosz, through an investigation on behalf of AD’s parents, discovered that the events which led to his death actually started in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, over 15 years earlier. An Australian pine tree, over 80 feet tall, had been knocked down in the storm at the bank of a privately owned lake.
$10 million Dollar Verdict Upheld on Appeal for Young Apprentice Jockey (Miami)
David Ashcroft, a 20-year-old apprentice jockey, suffered catastrophic injuries when his horse veered across the racecourse toward a negligently placed exit gap, which caused his horse to attempt to leave the track. Ashcroft lost control of the horse and fell to the ground where he was run over by another horse, rendering him a quadriplegic. The case was tried before a jury, which rendered a $10 million verdict.
Governor Scott Signs $5 Million Claims Bill for Child Sexually Abused by Foster Boy Living in the Home
On Friday, March 23, 2018, Governor Rick Scott signed CS/HB 6509, a claims bill that directs the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to pay more than $5 million awarded by a Florida jury to C.M.H., a victim of sexual abuse by a child in foster care. This marks the largest known recovery in Florida for one child who was emotionally and sexually abused against a governmental defendant, DCF. Children’s rights attorney Howard Talenfeld served as co-counsel for C.M.H.
Law Firm for Eight Abused Former Foster Care Children Settle With NYC, Child Care Agencies for $26 Million
Attorneys representing eight developmentally disabled foster children who were placed in what one judge called a “house of horrors” foster home settled with New York state adoption and child welfare agencies and their state-contracted providers in 2014 for $26 million.
Florida DCF Hit With $5 Million Verdict in Child-On-Child Sex Abuse
Florida child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld earned a $5 million jury verdict in 2013 against the Florida Department of Children & Family Services on behalf a child repeatedly raped by a foster child and known child-on-child sexual predator who had been placed in the plaintiff’s home.
Foster Kids Abused in Horrific New York Case Settle for $9.7 Million
Foster child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld in December 2012 represented several former-foster kids in a horrific abuse case one judge called a “house of horrors.” The City of New York, a defendant in the case, agreed to pay $9.7 million to settle the lawsuit. The money will help the former foster kids, some of whom were destitute and homeless at the time of the settlement.
Florida Department of Children & Families Hit With $5 Million Verdict in Child-On-Child Sex Abuse
Florida child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld earned a $5 million jury verdict in 2013 against the Florida Department of Children & Family Services on behalf a child repeatedly raped by a foster child and known child-on-child sexual predator who had been placed in the plaintiff’s home.
State Care Provider Settles Violent Child-On-Child Rape for $4 Million
Child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld successfully negotiated a $4 million settlement on behalf of a child repeatedly raped in a residential facility. Administrators at the center were ignorant of systemic abuse, repeated reports by and from state officials, the testimony of another minor child who was raped while there, as well as a psychiatrist and the child aggressor.
DCF, Care Provider Settle Over Child Left Brain-Damaged After Near-Drowning
Howard Talenfeld, on behalf of representatives for Angela, a 2-year-old foster child left brain-damaged after a near-drowning, brought suit in Pinellas County, Florida, against the Department of Children and Families, and foster parents Ronald and Joyce Bryson, and private care providers Help a Child Inc., and Family Continuity Program, Inc. The parties settled to ensure Angela would receive the skilled medical care her doctors said she would need for the rest of her life.
Girls Sexually Abused by Mother Earn $2 Million Settlement from ChildNet and Florida Department of Children and Families
Child sexual abuse attorney, Howard Talenfeld, negotiated a $2 million settlement with a community-based care provider for two young girls who were repeatedly sexually abused by their mother, even after experts warned she was a threat to their safety. The case became an example of threats and warnings ignored and responsibility denied.
Unreported Child-On-Child Sexual Abuse Leads to Settlement for Two Developmentally Disabled Boys
Florida child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld represented two developmentally disabled, minor boys who were placed in a series of group homes and left to suffer repeated physically, emotional and sexual abuse by other children and staff. Attorneys negotiated a settlement with the facility’s owners, and then worked with experts who formulated life care plans for the sexually abused, developmentally disabled children.
Abuse of 4-Month-Old Child Leads to Settlement With Community-Based Care Provider
Florida child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld represented the family of a 4-month-old girl who brought suit against a community-based care provider for placing the girl at “substantial risk” for continued abuse and for failing to offer voluntary protective services (“VPS”) to prevent such further risk.
Wrongful Adoption Case Leads to Civil Rights, Negligence Claims and Settlement With DFC and Private Providers
A 2012 settlement negotiated for an undisclosed sum negotiated by child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld against the Florida Department of Children and Families and various private providers settled a horrific wrongful adoption, negligence and civil rights case. Talenfeld argued the defendants were deliberately indifferent to and neglected the child’s essential needs after he was removed from his parents by state child protection agents.
Firm Earns Consent Decree Leading to Reforms, Increased Budget in Broward County Foster Care System
In 1998, Howard Talenfeld instituted a class action with the Youth Law Center against the Department of Children and Family Services (“DCF”) in the case of Ward v. Kearney. The case led to a consent decree, significant institutional reforms and a near-tripling of the budget for the Broward County, Florida, foster care system.
Firm Sues Florida Dept. of Children & Families, Settles Negligence Case for $14.26 Million
Child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of 19 children in the Southern District of Florida in Miami 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 State settled all of the Plaintiffs’ claims, including a negligence claim in Alachua County against DCF, for a total of $14.26 million.
Abused Florida Foster Children Win $2.9 Million in Landmark Civil Rights Decision
Sexual abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld argued before the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta, which let stand an action brought by three young boys sexually abused by two older boys in the same Florida foster home. The Court agreed in this significant civil rights case that the state had violated the children’s Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process rights to physical safety and to be free from an unreasonable risk of harm. Lead counsel Howard Talenfeld won his clients a settlement of $2.925 million – and a change in how the state must treat foster children.
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.
Firm Establishes Precedent For Civil Statutory Damages Claim for Developmentally Disabled
Child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld argued this ground-breaking decision, in which the Third District Court of Appeal’s decision was the first to establish a private cause of action for damages based upon the violation of Florida’s Bill of Rights for the developmentally disabled under § 393.13, Florida Statutes. As a result, this led to a confidential settlement of this wrongful death damages claim.
Attorneys Establish Standard Used to Determine Eligibility Based Upon Mental Retardation in State of Florida
In this important case, Howard Talenfeld established the standard used to determine eligibility based upon mental retardation in the State of Florida when, for more than 20 years, the state of Florida arbitrarily denied eligibility to persons who met the threshold established by the Florida Legislature. Webb established the law that the Agency for Persons with Disabilities cannot pick and choose between available full scale IQ scores to defeat eligibility, but rather must consider all scores in making its determination and then look to the persons adaptive or survival skills in determining eligibility.
Kelley Kronenberg Child Rights Attorney Locations:
New Orleans Child Abuse Law Firm
South Fl Child Injury Law Firm
North East Fl Child Injury Law Firm