Deep cuts to Florida's already struggling child welfare effort will ''sentence many children to a childhood in foster care'' and leave the state in violation of federal programs that pay for the bulk of state services, a coalition of children's advocates warns.

In a letter to state lawmakers who will vote on a proposed $66.2 billion budget this week, Florida's Children First warns that about $100 million in cuts to child welfare funding ``will leave many children at home with abusive parents and many more in serious jeopardy of never being able to exit Florida's foster care system.''

SPECIAL NEEDS

One of the rollbacks, nearly $14 million in subsidies to parents who adopt children from foster care, most of whom have significant special needs, threatens hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants that are tied to the state's performance in child protection, says the letter, written by Executive Director Andrea Moore.

''The combined effect of the budget cuts gives rise to the very serious concern that Florida's child welfare system will no longer comport with the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution because it will harm many foster children and virtually imprison them in the foster care system,'' the letter states.

``It may also violate the federal law that requires states to fund adoption assistance in order to receive . . . foster care payments from the federal government.''

Moore, a Coral Springs attorney, said the advocacy group has not ruled out suing the state to restore the $13.8 million in subsidies. ''All of the options are still on the table,'' she said.

As negotiations over the budget progressed Wednesday, though, state Rep. Aaron Bean introduced an amendment to a large child welfare bill that would give Gov. Charlie Crist new authority to move money from state trust funds into the adoption and child protection programs -- with approval from the Legislative Budget Commission.

Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican who chairs the House Healthcare Council, called the cuts to adoption subsidies, which were identified by both Crist and DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth as a top priority, ``an oversight.''

`IT IS CRITICAL'

''It is critical to child welfare that we have the ability to make families,'' Bean said.

Georgina Herbert, a Pembroke Pines nurse who is caring for three small children in foster care with serious medical needs, is hoping the money is restored. She had been planning to adopt 7-year-old Kaydrin, who suffered brain damage when his mother shook him violently.

''He will never walk, talk, or lead a normal life,'' said Howard Talenfeld, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who is representing Herbert.

Kaydrin was severely injured when he was only 2 weeks old, Herbert said. His brain was ''crushed'' like an egg. Ribs were broken. The bottom of one of his feet was badly cut. He broke a tibia and a fibula. And his back and kidneys were damaged.

''They thought he was not only shaken, but his mother also threw him against something,'' Herbert said.

Herbert is paid $475 per week for Kaydrin's round-the-clock care, and an additional $525 per month in housing assistance. If Herbert adopts the boy without a subsidy, and he exits foster care, she would not have enough money to pay for his medical care, she said.

''I would really like to adopt Kaydrin,'' said Herbert, 62. ``But I told them I cannot do it. I need the subsidy.''

''I love this baby,'' she added. ``He's a very sweet boy, but he needs care for everything.''

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