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
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
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
Children’s rights attorney Howard Talenfeld, who exclusively represents children abused, disabled and injured in foster care and other child welfare settings in personal injury and damages cases, recently had a letter published by the Florida Bar. In his letter, Talenfeld, who also is the founder and president of Florida’s Children... View Article
In a case where it appears state child protective officials had a chance – and failed – to save the life of an at-risk child under their watch, attorneys who fight for the rights of at-risk children are watching as the matter unfolds in state court. According to news reports,... View Article
As a children’s rights law firm representing Florida foster children and others at risk of child abuse, child sex abuse, and other harm, Talenfeld Law is aware of the perils society’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens face. But developmentally disabled adults are not immune from physical harm. In Pembroke Pines,... View Article
Howard M. Talenfeld, the preeminent children’s rights attorney whose firm exclusively represents at-risk children and developmentally disabled adults who are the victims of physical abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, and other harm by state agencies and private contractors, was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers... View Article
When a Plantation soccer coach was arrested this month on multiple charges of sexual battery on a minor, the case revealed again how parents must be alert to the sexual abuse even “trusted” adults can perpetrate on young victims. The victim was in her teens when the alleged sex occurred several times... View Article
When a judge admits that a case of suspected child sexual abuse is “by far one of the worst allegations I have ever seen in my career and it greatly disturbs this court,” it should raise alarms among child advocates, South Florida child abuse lawyers, and Fort Lauderdale foster child supporters.... View Article
A Miami-Dade Circuit Judge chastised the Florida Department of Children and Families Broward County office for not following more closely the case of a toddler whose mother now reports the child has died. According to news reports, after Judge Cindy Lederman learned that Broward DCF was not monitoring the family, whose children had... View Article