Nelson F. Hincapie, President and CEO of Voices For Children Foundation, was featured today in an opinion piece written to The Miami Herald.

Don’t hurt foster kids
BY NELSON F. HINCAPIE
voices4.org

Nelson F. Hincapie, Voices For Children President and CEO

Imagine you live in a home where you are abused or neglected. Then you are moved into foster care until you turn 18 years old and can “take care of yourself.” It is a severe way to grow up quickly, so it is no surprise that many of our foster-care children in Miami-Dade need help to make the transition into adulthood, in order to become successful members of society.

Until now, these kids have been able to get some help through the state’s Road to Independence program, which offers help with housing and living expenses, health and mental health assistance, and school.

That assistance is in danger. During this year’s legislative session, Florida House Bill 5305, cutting the financial help these young adults in Miami-Dade receive nearly in half, came close to passing. Thankfully, it didn’t, but budget pressure in our state is certainly not over.

If this kind of cost-cutting is implemented in the next session, these young men and women, who have been disadvantaged their entire lives, would be given even less of a chance to succeed. Many would be forced to quit school in order to make enough money to survive, and by doing so make themselves ineligible to receive any aid at all. Dropping from the program would further isolate them and strip away the resources needed for them to make it.

Erasing their best chance to finish school is clearly not the right way to help these children become productive members of our community. Frankly, it’s setting up our foster-care children to fail. It’s a tragedy that should not be allowed to happen.

The ill-conceived House Bill 5305 calculated that the “state average” stipend for a foster-care child in the Road to Independence program is $737 a month, and proposed capping the stipend at $675. The problem with that is quite obvious — taking a statewide average produces a result on which no one in our community could live. Living on $737 a month in Tallahassee is equivalent to about $1,100 in Miami.

The truth is that the current average Road to Independence stipend for a child in Miami-Dade is $1,138. Can an 18-year-old transitioning from foster care in Miami-Dade go from $1,138 to $675 without quitting school and going to work? Not likely. Miami-Dade’s cost of living has increased 18 percent in the past five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a faster rise than other parts of Florida.

Protecting the Road to Independence program is more significant for Miami-Dade than anywhere else in Florida. Not only is the cost of living here higher, but we have by far the most children in the program. More than 24 percent of all Road to Independence recipients in the state live here. The next closest county is Broward with 12 percent.

Think of the unreasonable burden cutting this program would put on our transitioning foster children, who are not only working to become successful young adults, but are having to do so on a meager stipend that is expected to pay for schooling, housing and other living expenses.

These are difficult economic times, and our state legislators looked for ways to tighten the budget, as they should have. But this is a matter of fairness, not just cost. It’s also a trap of being penny-wise but pound-foolish; we can help these children now and benefit Miami-Dade for years to come, or we can neglect them now, as they have been neglected their entire lives, and pay for it later with an adult population ill-equipped to succeed without government help.

The foster care children in our community need us now to be their voices. Contact your state representative and voice your support for the Road to Independence program. The Florida legislature needs to create a better process for evaluating its funding. A “state average” calculation for stipend provisions results in unequal and unjust distribution of funds across the state. Without vocal community support, the Road to Independence will stop short for Miami-Dade.

Nelson F. Hincapie is President and CEO of Voices For Children, which raises funds to support the 11th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem Program.

There comes a time in every man and woman’s life when a crucial decision must be made – to bowl, or not to bowl?  On May 6, 2010, over 200 people answered that question by donning their best game faces and stylish bowling shoes to participate in Voices For Children’s Strike Out Child Abuse event.  Friends gathered to enjoy cocktails and appetizers of sushi, quesadillas and pizza and to support the end of child abuse and child neglect in Miami-Dade County.

Twenty-nine teams competed for trophies which were given to the first and last place teams.  Team Appelrouth, which was led by board member Gail Appelrouth, received a trophy for receiving a score of 366.  Team Tennis Terrors, led by team captain Robin Connell, received a score of 939 and took home the trophy for first place. 

The real winners of the night, however, were the children.  The event not only gave awareness to the important issue of child abuse within our community, but also raised over $12,000. 

A special thanks to all of those who participated in the evening. In particular, Voices For Children would like to thank board member Andrea Steinacker, for her hard work in conceptualizing the evening, generating awareness of the night and Being A Voice.

Enjoy some photos of the evening, and stay tuned for more…

Update: For more photos of the bowling event, please visit our Facebook page, or visit our Shutterfly page!

Mother’s Day is a long-standing celebration in the United States.  It officially became a holiday in 1914 under the authority of President Woodrow Wilson.  However it was originally heralded by just an ordinary citizen, Anna Jarvis, who wished to set aside one day out of the year to honor her mother, Ann Marie. 

Her extraordinary efforts remind us all that it only takes one person to make a difference that can affect nationwide and communitywide change.  She also reminds us that it only takes one mother to do the best she can, in order to make life better for her children.

Unfortunately, not all mothers are as successful parents as Ann Marie was to Anna.  They can be poor role-models to their children, lack the proper finances to ensure for their children’s basic needs, or have mental issues that prevent them from being the parent they want to be.  There are parents who struggle each day with the temptation of substance abuse and have difficulty balancing the stresses of work and finances, and consequently struggle to provide for their children. 

The cycle of abuse that is perpetuated by these sad circumstances is a vital issue in our community.

Florida has one of the nation’s highest per capita rates of child deaths through child abuse.  In 2008, the Department of Children and Families recorded at least 201 child deaths from verified child abuse or neglect.  Our state also has many mothers who are incarcerated, in hospitals or simply missing in their children’s lives.  For them, Mother’s Day is not the same as it is for mothers across the nation - nor is it the same for the many children who are missing those mothers.

This coming Sunday, as we celebrate the mothers and children in our lives, let us also remember those who are without a mother due to abuse and neglect.  Those who don’t have a mother figure in their lives to speak for them and represent their best interests.  From the Voices For Children family to yours, we wish you a fulfilled and joyous Mother’s Day.

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May is National Foster Care Month, a time designed to raise awareness about what foster parents do and why they’re needed. According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, there are more than 19,000 children in foster care across the state.  In Miami-Dade County alone there are 2,600 children foster care system that are in need of loving and safe homes.  This May, Voices For Children encourages everyone to think about what we can do to Be a Voice for these children, and ensure that every abused and neglected child in Miami-Dade County has a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem. 

There are many reasons children are victims of abuse and neglect.  According to a recent report  cases of shaken baby syndrome have jumped sharply during the recession, further fueling worries about the link between economic stress and the deadliest form of child abuse.  We all know that times are tough, and that financially speaking as individuals, we might be struggling to make ends meet.  However, the economy should not be an excuse to allow our children to suffer.

Please make a choice this May to stand up for children that are victims of child abuse.  Be A Voice for the children of Miami-Dade County by learning more , volunteering to become a Guardian ad Litem, or donating  to Voices For Children Foundation.