Legal Aid Receives $250,000 Grant from Children’s Services Council
Funding to increase in the number of legal aid attorneys
representing children in dependency system
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (February 15, 2017) – Legal Aid Service of Broward County (LAS) is pleased to announce that they have been successfully awarded a grant of $250,000 from the Children’s Services Council (CSC) to expand the current legal services provided for children in the child welfare / dependency system. Recognizing a need for advocacy that leads to permanency, the CSC initiated this program which supports legal aid attorneys representing children.
The funding will enable a team of three attorneys, a managing attorney, social worker and a paralegal to advocate for shortened lengths of stay for children in foster care, address systemic issues in the Broward child welfare system, and continue community wide efforts to make improvements. The team will follow models that have been successful on the national level, making sure that the focus remains on the child. Through collaboration with community stakeholders, the program team will advocate for timely, safe and appropriate permanency options, which are either reunification, placement with a relative, or adoption.
“Our goal is permanency for the child, and this project focuses on achieving that goal in a timely manner. By minimizing the time that a child is in the dependency system we help stabilize Broward County on all levels and most efficiently use the monies spent on the child welfare system,” explains Walter Honaman, Supervising Attorney for the Children’s Advocacy Unit at LAS.
Annual sponsors of LAS include CopyScan Technologies; Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman, PL; Florida Power & Light; Kelley/Uustal; Kim Vaughan Lerner, LLP; Law Offices of Evan M. Rosen, P.A.; Scott D. Owens, P.A.; Talenfeld Law; US Legal Support; Valley National Bank and Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L.
For more information about the work of LAS visit www.browardlegalaid.org.
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Legal Aid Service of Broward County is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit law firm established in 1974. Our mission is to provide high quality free civil legal advice, representation and education to the poor of Broward County so as to improve the lifestyle and living conditions of the low-income community and to encourage self-sufficiency.
Legal Aid Service of Broward County is a 501(c)(3) corporation registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services #SC-02337. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling toll-free 1-800-435-7352 within the state OR VISITING WWW.FRESHFROMFLORIDA.COM/DIVISIONS-OFFICES/CONSUMER -SERVICES. Registration does not imply endorsement, approval or recommendation by the State.