Leadership, to me, is humility in service of a mission: lifting others, sharing power, and building institutions that outlast you.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Howard Talenfeld.
Howard Talenfeld is one of the nation’s leading children’s rights and disability attorneys, with more than 40 years of experience advocating for abused, neglected, and at-risk children. He is the co-founder of Justice for Kids®, the children’s rights practice at Kelley Kronenberg, and the founding president of Florida’s Children First, a nonprofit dedicated to legislative and systemic reform in child welfare. His landmark cases and advocacy efforts have resulted in multimillion-dollar recoveries for survivors and sweeping improvements in foster care and disability systems.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Growing up with a sister, Bess, who lived with disabilities, gave me sensitivity to the needs of people with developmental disabilities, before representing the state of Florida in disability and foster care class action litigation. These systems failed the needs of the most vulnerable people in Florida and this country, and I had the privilege of working with leaders who wanted to improve these systems. I learned a critical lesson: systems only improved when government made protecting our vulnerable citizens a priority. Unfortunately, when leadership changed, priorities shifted, and the protections evaporated because there was no pressure on leadership to continue to prioritize our society’s most vulnerable constituents, children, and people with developmental disabilities. I learned that litigation alone wasn’t enough without grassroots pressure on leadership to protect these populations who did not vote or have lobbyists. That realization led me to create an advocacy organization, Florida’s Children First, which built a constituency for these groups to engage in legislative and executive branch advocacy and youth empowerment so the needs of children in foster care and children with developmental disabilities are on the public agenda, no matter who is in office.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
I’d have to say the most unforgettable chapter was our work on the New York case of Judith Leekin, one of the most shocking child abuse scandals in child welfare history. Using four phony aliases, Judith Leekin adopted 11 special needs children from foster care who endured years of bizarre punishments, deprivations and torture while she collected almost $1.6 million in adoption subsidies. Building that case and unraveling that story meant digging through mountains of records from the Marisol A. v. Guiliani New York City foster care class action, overcoming statute-of-limitations hurdles, and coordinating with lawyers and advocates in multiple jurisdictions. In the end, we secured a landmark global settlement that gave the child survivors some of the resources to begin building their lives. Importantly, this case inspired me to understand that very few children who were re-abused by the foster care systems that were supposed to protect them can actually be represented by attorneys who are willing to fight for the resources that they need to survive when they age out of foster care systems nationally.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson did you learn?
Early on in my career, my passion for helping kids and people with developmental disabilities led me to defend class action lawsuits for the state of Florida. I thought that I could fight to improve Florida’s foster care and disability systems from inside the system by representing the Governor and the Secretary of the Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services. I was compensated at a far lower attorney fee rate ($70 per hour) than the rest of my business, and my partners joked with me about the rate and my naïve belief that I was working so hard at this rate because I thought that I could really make a difference. My career representing the state of Florida abruptly ended seven years later when I resigned after the Florida Governor no longer prioritized helping children because of the politics relating to his reelection.
My billing over the previous seven years of work for the state of Florida was then subjected to an inspector general audit of my bills, from which the only significant question that emerged about my bills was how I billed 24 hours on a particular day for my work. After struggling with great difficulty for about a week to remember how I could work 24 hours straight and bill for it, I was greatly relieved to find a secretary who reminded me that we were up all night, wearily drafting a settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit for the very same Governor.
Fortunately, the secretary had her overtime records, which coincided with my billing, so I easily passed the audit. I learned very quickly that “No good deed goes unpunished,” and later recognized that I could do so much more good by representing children directly as their attorney and advocate and not by defending Florida’s child welfare and disability systems.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
We operate on three complementary fronts. First, we provide zealous legal representation for individual children injured in foster care, residential treatment, and group-home settings — securing both compensation and accountability. Second, our litigation is impactful because it has created legal precedent, it publicly exposes agencies that do not prioritize protecting children and disabled persons, and our settlements and judgments expose agencies to financial losses and higher insurance premiums. Third, through the not-for-profit I founded, Florida’s Children First, we volunteer our leadership, financial support, and our pro bono work to build a durable political constituency by recruiting advocates, educating legislators, and training young people to speak for themselves. The combined effect of our work is helping children one at a time with an additional focus on larger, systemic changes that improve safety, services, and long-term outcomes for thousands of children.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
One case that stays with me is J. F., a child in the foster care system who was developmentally disabled and who entered the system without a stable parent and experienced sexual abuse while living in a group home for adults with disabilities. J. F. was later adopted by a parent, T.F., who contacted my firm to file a civil rights damages case on J.F.’s behalf because of his sexual abuse.
On the eve of trial, we were fortunate that J.F. was offered a seven-figure settlement, which J.F.’s adoptive father, T.F., authorized me to accept. One week later, T.F. passed away. Although this caused T.F. even more serious trauma, because of the settlement, T.F. had enough money to put into a trust, so he has been able to survive and have resources for therapeutic care for the last 20 years.
From the lessons we learned from the case, we have fought and continue to fight against placing foster children in adult group homes. Representing T.F. and children like him motivated me to fight for legislation that provided attorneys for all persons who are developmentally disabled in foster care in the state of Florida.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Every child needs a lawyer. States need to appoint counsel for every child in dependency and related proceedings so that a child’s voice and rights are directly represented. Studies have also documented that children in foster care with lawyers get out of foster systems much more quickly and have better outcomes. Additionally, there are financial savings for the state and federal government when the average length of stay in foster care is reduced.
Properly fund the entire foster-care systems by 1)providing better recruitment and support for quality foster parents, 2) funding more highly trained and experienced case managers by reducing turnover, 3) increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to attract quality health providers and therapists trained in trauma care, and 4) implementing long-term support for adopted children who carry trauma is desperately needed.
Creating a constituency for children in foster care to advocate for improvements to foster care by creating youth advisory bodies, funding youth advocacy programs like we have done with Florida Children’s First, and amplifying the voice of youth in budgeting and policy decisions.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership, to me, is humility in service of a mission: lifting others, sharing power, and building institutions that outlast you. Practically, it means recruiting and mentoring attorneys and advocates nationwide, empowering survivors to tell their stories to policymakers, and building multidisciplinary coalitions and constituencies that can change law and practice. Simply put, a leader’s job is to make the next leader, as well as design systems so that progress is not only personal but also institutional.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
- Foster care is still an experiment. There are class actions in twenty-nine states alleging that children are harmed and treated below constitutional standards. There are far too many deaths and children physically and sexually abused in foster care systems.
- Social scientists have never proven that foster care produces better outcomes for abused, neglected, and abandoned children.
- Class action litigation was an insufficient vehicle to ensure systemic improvement of child welfare and disability systems of care. We must build political constituencies and legislative strength to sustain reforms.
- We must hold states and agencies accountable for keeping children and people with developmental disabilities safe.
- Child welfare systems must address the compounded trauma that children face with quality mental health services. Children rarely suffer a single, isolated injury; policies and mental health services must address cumulative trauma with a system of qualified mental health counselors with training in helping children cope with trauma.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.” — Nelson Mandela
For me, that’s a reminder that we should invest our experience and influence into systems that protect and prepare young people — because when youth is squandered by institutional failure, the human cost is lifelong. It motivates work that channels seasoned legal skill into opportunities and lifetime support for children. The history books need to record our indifference to foster care unless we realize that it is time to change the system, stop the daily tragedies, and value the lives of our abused, neglected, and abandoned children.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Donald Trump. I’d like to explain to a president, the person who shapes national policy and all corresponding budgets, to understand why child welfare systems are failing nationally and should be a sustained national priority.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I hope I am already inspiring a movement that guarantees a lawyer for every child and transforms foster care into a rights-based, well-funded, trauma-informed system. That movement would marry legal advocacy, public funding, youth leadership, and a national recruitment push for skilled, compassionate caregivers and caseworkers.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Readers can follow my work through https://justiceforkids.com/ and https://www.floridaschildrenfirst.org/ where policy initiatives, youth advocacy programs, and legislative victories are posted.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Howard Talenfeld Of Justice for Kids Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.