Jay & Campbell, PLLC

Jay & Campbell, PLLC At Jay & Campbell, PLLC, we guide clients through the adoption process with expertise and compassion

06/18/2026

She flew across the country for years just to see her grandchildren.
She asked for a few phone calls a month. The answer was no.
Now the case is on appeal, and these are your tax dollars at work in the foster care system.
When a child has a loving family member ready to show up, why is staying connected treated as too much to ask? Family bonds shouldn't be the first thing the system is willing to cut.
Follow along for more on what's really happening inside foster care and adoption, and what it takes to keep families together.
This content is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Engaging with this post does not create an attorney-client relationship. Consult a licensed attorney about your situation.

Trusting the process is fine — until the process stops making sense. Five signs it's time for a second opinion.Here's a ...
06/17/2026

Trusting the process is fine — until the process stops making sense. Five signs it's time for a second opinion.

Here's a pattern we see too often: you request your MOA, and then... nothing. Weeks pass. You follow up. "It's in review." More weeks. Nobody can tell you why, and nobody can point to a legal reason for the delay.

A document you're entitled to doesn't get less yours because the agency is slow to produce it. Delay without explanation isn't process — it's a sign.

If the graphic above reads like your last three months, it might be time to call: 844-624-2361.
Not legal advice; every situation is different.

A child welfare case plan is a roadmap with deadlines hiding in plain sight. Here's how to read the five parts that matt...
06/16/2026

A child welfare case plan is a roadmap with deadlines hiding in plain sight. Here's how to read the five parts that matter most.

Most people read a case plan as a to-do list for parents. It isn't. A case plan assigns tasks and services to everyone — the parents, yes, but also the Department, the caregivers, and the providers. If a service was supposed to be offered but wasn't, that's not a footnote. That belongs on the record.

Swipe for the five sections worth reading twice — including the deadlines nobody circles for you.

Read it like the legal document it is, because that's exactly what it is.
Educational only; not legal advice. General information, not about any specific case.

Same three words, very different outcomes. A look at why "best interest" is more complicated than it sounds."Best intere...
06/12/2026

Same three words, very different outcomes. A look at why "best interest" is more complicated than it sounds.

"Best interest of the child" is the standard in every dependency and adoption courtroom in Florida. Same statute. Same factors. So why can the same set of facts produce opposite results in different rooms?

Because the words don't weigh themselves. Someone decides how much a years-long bond counts. Someone decides whether an agency's committee vote outweighs what a judge heard from the witness stand. And increasingly, the question isn't just what's in the child's best interest — it's who gets to decide: the judge who heard the evidence, or the agency that wrote the recommendation.

Same words. Different rooms. Make of that what you will.

Educational commentary on systems and patterns — not legal advice, not about any specific case.

06/11/2026

Every child deserves a permanent home. Not a placeholder. Not a waiting room. 🏠💙
One of the most overlooked steps in the foster care process is the relative search — and when it's incomplete or skipped altogether, children pay the price with more delays, more uncertainty, and more instability.

If you're a foster or adoptive parent and you're not sure whether a proper relative search was conducted, you have the right to ask questions. Don't assume it was handled. Don't wait to find out later.

Advocating for a child's permanency starts with knowing the process — and holding the system accountable when it falls short.

Save this. Share it with someone navigating the system. 🔖

The R family fostered their daughter from infancy. Years of appointments, hearings, and tucking her in every night. Then...
06/10/2026

The R family fostered their daughter from infancy. Years of appointments, hearings, and tucking her in every night. Then, just before adoption, a distant relative — several degrees removed — applied. And DCF approved that application over theirs.

Why? An administrative rule that treated relative applications as automatically more valuable than the people who'd actually raised the child.
So we didn't argue the rule. We challenged it.

The Division of Administrative Hearings agreed: the "kinship preference" rule — used for 20+ years to uproot kids from long-term foster parents — is invalid. Not bent. Not waived. Gone.

The R family adopted their daughter. And the rule that almost stopped them became a distant memory.

Full case info is on our website: flfamilyformation.com

Details changed to protect privacy. Educational; not legal advice. Every case is different — past results don't guarantee future outcomes.

06/10/2026

If you're a foster parent in Florida, this is important to know.
Intervention rights aren't automatic — and the law surrounding foster parent participation in dependency proceedings is still developing in our state. What that means for your case depends on the specific facts, the judge, and the stage of the proceedings.
Too many foster families go into this process assuming they have more (or fewer) rights than they actually do. Getting the right guidance early can make all the difference.
Have questions about where you stand? We're here to help. ⬇️

Hot take: "everyone nodded" is not a rule of evidence.Here's how reports end up "admitted" with no foundation, no authen...
06/09/2026

Hot take: "everyone nodded" is not a rule of evidence.
Here's how reports end up "admitted" with no foundation, no authentication, and nobody objecting — and why that should make every parent and caregiver nervous.
When a report just gets waved through:
📋 No one establishes who wrote it or how
📋 No one verifies the source of the statements inside it
📋 Hearsay within hearsay goes unchallenged
📋 The record gets built on paper nobody questioned
Due process isn't a technicality. Objections exist for a reason — and silence isn't a substitute for foundation.
⚖️ Disclaimer: This post is illustrative and educational only. It is not legal advice, does not reference any specific case, party, or proceeding, and should not be relied on as a substitute for consulting a licensed attorney about your situation.

06/08/2026

After 20 years of practice, what's the #1 mistake I see new attorneys make? Performing instead of arguing.

Judges want facts. Clean logic. A clear narrative. Not drama. Not attacks. Not filler.
Master the basics, and you'll outperform 90% of the room.

Raising a family member and ready to make it permanent? You might be able to skip the most grueling part of the adoption...
06/07/2026

Raising a family member and ready to make it permanent? You might be able to skip the most grueling part of the adoption process. 📉⚖️

When a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or sibling steps up to care for a child privately, the path to legal adoption looks very different than traditional placement. Under Florida law, close blood relatives can often completely bypass the expensive and invasive "Home Study" requirement.

This cuts down on months of administrative delays and saves your family thousands of dollars in unnecessary fees. At Jay & Campbell, we specialize in streamlining relative adoptions so you can focus on what matters most: your family's stability. 🛡️💼

🔗 Visit www.flfamilyformation.com to learn more about relative shortcuts.



Legal Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique; please consult with a qualified attorney regarding your specific situation.

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1 SE Ocean Boulevard
Stuart, FL
34994

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(844) 624-2361

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