In just over 2 months after our first dependency training in 2012, over 350 hours of legal services were contributed by Crossroads pro bono attorneys. In 2013, over 3,500 pro bono hours were contributed, and in 2014 the number of pro bono hours contributed rose to close to 4,000. Advice, counsel and advocacy for over 100 children in dependency, delinquency and criminal divisions has meant better outcomes for them. As they experience success in their lives, the children we represent gain confidence in themselves. They realize they have viable options from which to choose, and brighter futures within their reach. Moreover, Crossroads attorneys receive enormous satisfaction knowing they have provided their young clients with significant, even life changing, legal remedies. One of our lawyers called her pro bono service “the most rewarding aspect of being an attorney.”
On April 24, 2014, at the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Awards Ceremony, Crossroads For Florida Kids received the Outstanding Pro Bono Service by an Organization Award. And, Crossroads attorney Sara Alpert received the Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Young Lawyer Award, and Elizabeth Hapner received the Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer Award. Ms. Hapner won her award for pro bono service as a Crossroads attorney as well as her service as part of another pro bono program. Wesley Tibbals won the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s Jimmy Kynes Pro Bono Service Award for his representation of young clients in delinquency as a Crossroads attorney.