As reported by the Gainesville Sun, ” two Gainesville children — ages 8 and 10 — who fled to safety last week say they were repeatedly hit, fed only bread and water along with table scraps, ‘drowned’ in a bathtub, and burned or shocked by their adoptive parents.” Read more... View Article
Firm founder Howard Talenfeld weighs in on this latest report and the failure to prioritize the safety of children in this story from Local 10 news Click here to read more from Local 10.
Three people were arrested Friday after beating a foster child with a jump rope, belt, clothes hanger and charging cord for not finishing his or her homework, police said. Read more from WPLG Local 10 by clicking here.
For children, especially those with developmental disabilities, neurological disorders, and other special needs, school should be a safe place. For several children with autism in North Florida, school became a place of physical, emotional, and for one autistic child, sexual abuse that went unreported. New reports this week revealed allegations... View Article
The Associated Press recently reported that a 13-year-old Orange Park boy told police that his grandmother and his aunt beat him, locked him in a box and chained him to a couch for days without food. According to Local 10 News, “Orange Park police said the boy was treated in... 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
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... View Article
A letter to the editor from preeminent foster child rights attorney Howard Talenfeld was published in the Miami Herald and the Naples Daily News this week regarding the tragic deaths of teens like Giulianna Ramos Bermudez, Lauryn Martin-Everett and Naika Venant. Their suicides prove again that privatization of the child welfare... View Article
Many think of “child abuse” as a physical act of abuse being committed upon kids who are emotionally, physically, or sexually harmed by others. The harm they face, whether as young children or teenagers in households with their families, living in the system, or enduring life on the streets, often... View Article
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