Florida's child welfare system

Florida's child welfare system

Florida's "failing grade" on a national report card should serve not as a sign of defeat, but a commitment to improve the way the state serves juveniles in the state welfare system. The grade ranked all 50 states on the protections of the legal rights of abused and neglected children. Florida, the study found, needed improvement in its requirement that attorneys represent abused and neglected children throughout the court cases, and the level of training those advocates receive. Authors found that thousands of children didn't receive a guardian ad litem, and even those who had one didn't have representation from initial detention until they were permanently placed.