Are Abused, Neglected Children Getting Adequate Representation?

Art Levy | 12/1/2009

The Guardian ad Litem program has seen its budget shrink by $5 million the past couple of years.

In a report issued this fall by the Children’s Advocacy Institute and First Star, groups that litigate and advocate on behalf of children, Florida and six other states got an “F” for the legal services it provides to abused and neglected children. The state failed, the groups say, because Florida law doesn’t specifically require that children who are the focus of various court proceedings be represented by an attorney. The report comes at an advantageous time for Howard Talenfeld, chairman of the Florida Bar’s legal needs of children committee, who is pushing for legislation to require that children in the state’s welfare system have an attorney.

Talenfeld

“Very few of these children have lawyers, and yet their entire life is on the line,” Talenfeld says. “Clearly, we’re at the bottom of the country in terms of representation. That’s why we fail.”

Assertions that children in Florida aren’t being adequately represented in the courts, however, leave Theresa Flury “really upset.” Flury, executive director of Florida’s Guardian ad Litem program, says her program, with a client base of 26,000 abused and neglected children in Florida, has 150 attorneys on staff, along with 7,000 volunteers guided by the staff attorneys.

“There are people who philosophically believe that every child, no matter if they are competent or regardless of their age, have their own attorney,” Flury says. “My argument to that is the Guardian ad Litem program represents children’s best interests in dependency court — and we do that through volunteers and through legal advocacy. There is a huge misconception that the guardian program does not provide legal representation.”

Flury

This year, the Legislature cut the Guardian ad Litem’s budget by 7.5%, bringing the program’s total budget cuts over the last two years to $5 million. On the job since January, Flury says she hoped to hire another 120 staff attorneys this year, as well as 24 specialized attorneys to focus on education, master trust issues, developmental disabilities, immigration and independent living. Now, she’s just hoping the program’s $30-million budget doesn’t get cut again. Even fully funded, she says, the program wouldn’t have the capability to provide every child in the system with an attorney.

Still, Talenfeld hopes lawmakers can come up with legislation that would ensure attorneys for children but wouldn’t harm funding for the Guardian ad Litem program. The Children’s Advocacy Institute and First Star groups are hopeful, too. Even while giving Florida an “F” in the report, the authors cite the work being done by Talenfeld’s committee as a promising sign. “Over the years, the Legislature has not wanted to fund the children having a voice,” Talenfeld says. “This year, we finally think we’re going to reach consensus legislation.”

Tags: Politics & Law, Government/Politics & Law