Kids are going back to school throughout South Florida, and the rest of the country will soon follow. Keeping our children safe is any parent’s number one priority, and the attorneys at the law firm of Balkan & Patterson work hard to keep our communities safe and our laws strong. There are a number of resources available on our website and on the Internet for parents, including safety tips and methods for helping keep your children out of danger.

One measure parents can take is to make sure they have up-to-date information on their child. This information helps greatly in the event on an emergency, and our law firm can provide you with a free child identification kit. The child identification kits assist parents in creating a private and extremely comprehensive record of their child’s personal and medical information, for use in an emergency. The kits allow parents to make fingerprint and dental records, along with a complete and accurate description of the child. In an emergency where a child is missing, the first few hours are critical to a safe recovery. These kits help police and other emergency personnel in finding lost or missing children.

To request a kit, please contact us online at www.balkanpatterson.com or call 561-750-9191.

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network has started a petition to send to members of the Florida Department of Education to promote change that will prevent and protect students, especially special needs students, from abuse through aversives, restraint and seclusions.

Currently, the Department of Education is prosposing regulations on the “Use of Reasonable Force” in the classroom. The regulations are not sufficient or appropriate for children and students of all ages and needs.

To sign the petition, please click here.

The National Autism Association (NAA) along with 12 other organizations launched a campaign this week to spur letter writing and raise awareness about dangerous restraint and seclusion practices in schools. For more information, click here to visit the blog for Families Against Restraint and Seclusion.

To download the letter and take action, visit www.nationalautism.org.

The law firm of Balkan & Patterson is an advocate for stopping restraint and seclusion in schools and protecting all students. For more information about us, please visit www.balkanpatterson.com.

The personal injury law firm of Balkan & Patterson settled a lawsuit this week against the St. Lucie School Board on behalf of a family whose child was abused by his behavioral analyst at Oak Hammock K-8 school. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

The child, now age 10, was a special needs student and required additional help in school. He was working with a behavioral analyst when he was dragged down a hallway in the school, violently restrained and roughly handled. This treatment caused him to suffer physical injuries. The abuses he received required medical treatment, and his health care providers predict that he will require medical treatment in the future for the long term emotional and mental effects. In addition, the behavioral analyst had a questionable record that was not fully investigated by the school before he was hired.

“Our client trusted that the teachers and staff of Oak Hammock K-8 school would instruct her child, providing him with a safe and healthy  institution for learning,” said attorney Adam Balkan. “However, this was not the case, and a helpless child was severely mistreated by the people who were entrusted to help him. On top of that, the school board has a duty to fully investigate the backgrounds of their employees to ensure they are qualified to work with special needs students.”

“Thankfully the school board settled the case without having to put the family through the ordeals of a trial, but it does not excuse the treatment the boy received. It is all too common that we see these types of cases, and it is absolutely inexcusable that public schools are treating their students – especially special needs students – in this manner,” Mr. Balkan added.

Rafael Katz from the Katz Law Group acted as co-counsel on this case. Adam M. Balkan is a partner in the law firm of Balkan & Patterson, LLP. Additional information about this case can be found on our website, www.balkanpatterson.com.

Every day, it seems there are more cases of abuse and mistreatment of students by their teachers and peers, regardless of whether it’s a private or a public school. Yesterday, a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was released that found there have been more than 20 deaths and hundreds of cases dealing with abuse of special needs students in schools. The report was published on the same day the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing that included student testimonials regarding this abuse. The abuses include improperly restraining children or using seclusion rooms as punishment.

To view the full story from the Associated Press, please click here. To view video from last night’s news story on NBC Nightly News, please click here. The law firm of Balkan & Patterson is currently handling a number of local cases in Florida that deal with special needs students who have been abused or mistreated by their teachers in schools. For more information about the types of cases our personal injury and accident law firm works with, please visit our website.

The firm was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, at 601 S. Federal Highway, Suite 302. Mr. Balkan can be contacted at (561) 750-9191. Additional information about Balkan & Patterson, LLP may be obtained from the firm’s website at www.balkanpatterson.com.

Social networking is a double edged sword - it exposes us and our families to new technologies, information and brands, but at the same time, it puts our personal information and safety at risk if it is not used intelligently and carefully. Too frequently, we hear about young children being victims of sexual offenders and predators - many times through online venues. Whether it is through a chat room, message board or MySpace, it increasingly easy for our  children to become victims.

Last week, it was released that MySpace has removed and canceled the accounts of more than 90,000 registered sex offenders. MySpace has identified these users over the past two years and has taken proactive steps in keeping these convicted offenders off the popular social networking site - a source of concern for many parents.

For more information about MySpace’s actions please visit www.pcworld.com. For information on consumer fraud, personal injury and resources for keeping your children safe online, please visit our website at www.balkanpatterson.com. The personal injury attorneys of Balkan & Patterson are experienced in cases dealing with child and sexual abuse.