Assisting Foster Children with Special Needs Transition to Adulthood

Children entering the dependency system face myriad challenges, but innovative attorneys and judges are implementing old and new ways of improving outcomes for children who often have more problems than abuse, abandonment, or neglect. As medical and educational targeting of children with special needs improves, integrating probate and other civil remedies can broaden the array of resources available to assist these children. In Central Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit, a new guardians ad litem program and the attorneys appointed to represent parents in dependency actions are working to expand the roles of attorneys in the ad litem program early in the case.