Experts: Better child care will cost

Eperts: Better child care will cost
Child advocates told state lawmakers: We'll think big if you agree to
pay big.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER



Florida child advocates took the day off from their often depressing
jobs Friday and wrote a collective letter to Santa Claus -- in the
form of the state Legislature.

About 600 judges, prosecutors, public defenders, agency officials,
teachers and lawmakers met at Florida International University for the
Florida Children's Legislative Summit, an informal brainstorming
session designed to generate ideas for new laws that can improve the
lives of Florida's abused, neglected and delinquent children.

The brainchild of state Rep. J.C. Planas, a Miami Republican, and
hosted by The Children's Trust, the session was an opportunity for
South Florida children's advocates to think big -- regardless of the
price tag.

''Be bold,'' Planas implored the participants. ``We'll figure out how
to pay for it.''

For much of the day, participants took Planas at his word. Panel
members and guests wrote a shopping list that included perhaps
hundreds of additional court-appointed guardians for foster and
delinquent children, and lawyers for children caught up in the court
system.

''Each child is entitled to a lawyer in dependency and delinquency;
that is a right,'' said Alfreda Coward of One Voice Children's Law
Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Statewide, only 60 percent of the abused and neglected children in the
child welfare court system are represented by guardians ad litem --
volunteer lay guardians appointed by judges to advocate for the best
interests of children -- said Angela H. Orkin, director of the
Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office.

Said attorney Howard Talenfeld, a Fort Lauderdale children's advocate:
``The single most important thing we can do is make sure every child
has a guardian, and children with complex legal needs, such as
disabled children, have an attorney.''

One of the recurring themes of the summit was the state's inability to
provide services -- including such things as speech therapy for
disabled foster kids and mental health treatment for delinquents -- to
children who end up in court.

As high-ranking officials from at least two state agencies listened,
participants blasted the state, sometimes quite harshly, for failing
to provide better care to foster children and delinquents.

''It is wonderful to have the ability to make referrals for
services,'' said Lester Langer, a Miami juvenile court judge. ``But if
there are no services, then you are really just sending people to
waiting lists. If you're sending children out into empty air, you are
not accomplishing anything.''

Miami attorney Alan Mishael urged participants to rethink their role
as champions for children, suggesting that too often lawyers fail to
put the needs of children first.

''Every adult should accommodate the needs of children, rather than
children accommodating the needs of adults,'' Mishael said. ``We say
that is the case, but we know it isn't the case.''

One of the workshops, led by Mishael and the head of Miami's
Guardian-ad-Litem Program, Joni Goodman, recommended that lawmakers
hold a separate revenue-estimating conference just to measure the true
needs of the state's child welfare system -- and set aside adequate
money for the fledgling private foster care agencies.

Another panel suggested earmarking additional money to help troubled
teens and runaways who are not yet caught up in the delinquency
system. And one group urged lawmakers to help 18-year-olds who ''age
out'' of the foster care system with few skills to survive, by
providing money for housing and medical care.

The speaker who drew perhaps the greatest applause, Florida Supreme
Court Chief Justice Barbara Pariente, was one of several participants
who wanted lawmakers to know that the summit's best ideas and
proposals would be falling on deaf ears if the Legislature failed to
beef up spending for the programs.

Addressing herself to Planas, she said: ``You said we needed to bring
a blank sheet to figure out our priorities. But I also hope you want
us to have a blank check.''
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