Being a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) is oftentimes not easy. Exposure to the neediest citizens of our community – abused, abandoned and neglected children – can take an emotional and spiritual toll. Ana, a GAL Volunteer since 1994, can attest to these facts, but also speak to the emotional and spiritual rewards. She has volunteered on over 25 cases in her time as a volunteer and her compassion for the vulnerable children of Miami-Dade is unwavering.
  
Over the course of her time as a volunteer Ana recalls one particular case that is a cherished memory. “The child,” Ana says, “was born to a hard working father and a drug addicted mother.” It was a unique case where Ana found that the father actually desired to be a part of the child’s life.

“While living with his mother, the boy lived a chaotic life. His mother was entrenched in bad habits and the situation developed into incidents of domestic violence,” recalls Ana. Culminating on a dark evening at midnight, a good-Samaritan neighbor found the mother and boy together, the mother heavily intoxicated, and called the police.

Visiting regularly with the child, Ana found that the father was protective and loving of his son, and although his mother’s demons eventually brought an end to her life when the boy was just 14, “the boy persevered and lives a good life today,” she smiles.

“I give credit to the strong foundation he had due to his father’s dedication…but I also feel that my monthly visits made it a little easier for the boy to have a steady person in his life whom he could rely on during that difficult time. The story, this boy, will forever be a part of my mind, my heart and my soul.”

Ana is an exceptional GAL Volunteer and is extra vigilant for the younger children she represents, as they are not yet able to speak or voice their own opinion. Ana, thank you for 16 terrific and dedicated years as a Guardian ad Litem and congratulations for being selected as the August GAL Volunteer of the Month!

Follow Voices For Children Foundation on Facebook for more important updates and stories of GAL success.

Agnes, July GAL Volunteer of the Month

Initially becoming involved with the Guardian ad Litem Program over six years ago, Agnes, first heard about the vital work of GAL volunteers while reading the Neighbors for Neighbors section of The Miami Herald.  The article focused on a volunteer and his fulfilling experience as a Guardian and after reading it Agnes felt compelled to get involved. “The rest is history,” states Agnes. 

As a resident of the Miami area for 14 years, the GAL Program has given Agnes an opportunity to give back to the community while fulfilling a critical role to BE A VOICE for our community’s neediest members – our children.  The experience has been “extremely enriching for me,” says Agnes, “and has validated the strength of the mother-child bonding relationship.”

While every case and each child Agnes has encountered has been unique, there are commonalities among them that stand out to her.  The love, the dedication and the commitment from each and every mother towards their children – regardless of race, educational background, or ethnic origin – is a fundamental aspect of human nature.  In the cases with which she has been involved, Agnes comments, “The mother’s never made the case about them personally, but made it about the children.”   

When asked about a case that stands out in Agnes’s memory, she tells the story of a mother in her early twenties, who had three children each from a different father.  As is often the case with the cyclical nature of abuse, the mother had been sexually abused as a child and now her children were in trouble as prey of domestic violence.  As someone who had experience with ‘the system,’ the mother was incredibly leery of GAL involvement in the case.

“When I was finally able to sit down with her and have a heart-to-heart, she realized I was there as a neutral representative for the best interest of the child, and not ‘the system’,” recalls Agnes.  The outcome could not have been better for both the mother and the children.  Through advocacy, parental classes and appropriate court determination, the three children were able to safely remain with the mother.  Further, the mother was able to advance her earning power and ability to care for her children by completing a technical education course to enhance her career.     

Judges, attorneys, child welfare workers and parents overwhelmingly report that volunteers make a difference with the children they serve*, and this is just one case where a GAL volunteer has made a real difference. 

Agnes, thank you for your past and future commitment to BE A VOICE for the abused, abandoned and neglected children of Miami-Dade County and congratulations on being selected as the July GAL Volunteer of the Month.

To receive future updates on our GAL’s of the month, subscribe to our eNewsletter.

*Dr. Pat Litzelfelner (2003). CASA Consumer Satisfaction Survey. University of Kentucky.

There is nothing quite like a father’s advice.  Somehow he always has the thoughts and words to know just what to say at the right time.  While biologically capable of fathering children, not all fathers are able to be dads to their children, or speak for them. Some are mentally and emotionally unfit to be parents, while others struggle constantly with substance abuse. 

As we celebrate fathers and their advice in our lives, let us today remember those that are not as fortunate to have a father figure in their life - due to abuse, abandonment and neglect. 

In honor of Father’s Day, the Voices family has compiled some words of wisdom they have received from their fathers and father-figures:

A Father’s Advice

“Stay true to your word.”

“If you’re going to hoot with the owls at night, you need to soar with the eagles in the morning.”

“Stand up straight, shake hands firmly, and always look people in the eye.”

“An education is one thing people cannot take away from you.”

“Don’t swing if it’s not in the strike zone.  If it is, swing harder.”

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

“Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.”

“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”

What advice has your father given you over the years?

We have all heard the economy is bad and the United States is in a major recession – but just how major, is major?

In a new report released today by the Brookings Institute, South Florida has suffered more during the recession than almost any other place in the country.  The report studies the 100 major metropolitan areas across the nation comparing housing markets and job loss rates.  Taking into account our shrinking economy and collapsing real estate prices, South Florida ranks low, in the bottom 20.

This is a revelation that might not be novel to us, as residents of the area.  We have seen the evidence downtown and across Miami-Dade County of vacant buildings and foreclosed homes.  We have had friends ask us to open our rolodex in an effort to find companies that are hiring.  And most recently, we have seen the Florida government attempt to tighten its budget through the reckless slashing of funds for a portion of our most needy citizens.

It is difficult in a recession to look beyond the impact the economic climate is having on one’s own family, but the impact is there and it is very real.  Those hit hardest in a recession are those that were already struggling before the economy took a nosedive.  Families that were already under pressure to provide food for their children and a roof over their head find themselves without a stable source of income and caught in cycle of abuse and neglect due to uncontrollable financial stress.

Nationally, 27% of the homeless population has spent time in Foster Care.  As the housing market in South Florida is one of the most volatile in the country, one can only imagine a higher percentage for our region.  Through your support of Voices For Children Foundation, together we can work to ensure that Miami-Dade’s foster children are given a real chance at success, even during these difficult economic times. 

Please consider a donation today to BE A VOICE for the abused, abandoned and neglected children in our community, so that they do not have to question their future.

Diane, June 2010 GAL Volunteer of the Month

Diane has lived in Miami for over 30 years.  As a long-time resident, Diane felt compelled to become involved in something greater than her own self-interest and decided to become a Guardian ad Litem (GAL).  Since 2000 she has worked on many cases, some difficult and some less challenging.  However, the children have always served to remind her of why she became a GAL and why she loves Being A Voice.

When asked to recall a memorable case, Diane tells the story of a newborn baby boy, recklessly abandoned in a dumpster.  He still had his umbilical cord attached when he was found.  The baby was placed in a foster home where the foster parent felt an immediate connection with the child.  “On my first home visit,” says Diane “she expressed the desire to adopt him.”

With every home visit Diane made, she was elated with joy to see the love the foster mother expressed for this child, who while still so young had already had such a difficult life.  She noticed the home slowly filling up with a car seat, a bouncer, toys, books and baby clothes.  “When I held the child during my visits, I was often dumbfounded,” Diane recalls, “how could a person literally throw this child away?”

Diane continued to visit with the child and foster parent while the court completed diligent searches to locate the unknown mother and father.  In observing the foster parent with the baby, Diane believed that the foster parent could give him all the necessary tools to eventually become an asset to his family and the community.  “This was the opinion I voiced to the court,” explains Diane.

Every effort was made to reunify the baby with the parents but as the department completed its diligent searches, the parents were still unknown.  The foster parent filed for adoption of the child and his adoption date was set. “The judge’s chamber was full of everyone who was involved in the case and there was not a dry eye in the room.”

Voices For Children, in conjunction with the Guardian ad Litem Program, is proud to name Diane as the June 2010 GAL Volunteer of the Month.  Her commitment to the program and strong sense of duty are exemplary, and it is the commitment of volunteers like Diane that allow our program to thrive. 

For more information on Voices For Children and the Guardian ad Litem Program, please visit www.BeAVoice.org.

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.

On Thursday, April 22, supporters of the Guardian ad Litem Program gathered in Coral Gables to recognize the outstanding volunteers for 2010.  The reception was sponsored for the second year in a row by Citibank who has proven to be an institution that values not just the well being and satisfaction of their customers, but also the welfare of their community.

“Volunteers are the soul of the Guardian ad Litem Program,” said Sonia Ferrer, Executive Director of the GAL Program.  “We are so grateful for these dedicated citizens who commit so much of their time, as well as their hearts, to ensure that each of these children has a voice in court.”

The awardees recognized are as follows:

Division 01 Award – Maria Frederick
Division 02 Award – Ana Crucet
Division 03 Award – Pamela Alvarez
Division 08 Award – Michael Suarez
Division 09 Award – Elsa Damas
Transitioning Youth Project – Kimberly Sorondo
Outstanding Community Advocate Award – Rosi Alvarez
The Joni Goodman Timeless GAL Award – Alina Unzueta Lorraine Munroe Spirit of Excellence Award – Rudolph Baboun

Voices For Children commends the 2010 Awardees for their commitment to the GAL program and extraordinary excellence they display in being leaders of the community.  It has often been said that our children are our nation’s most precious resource.  Volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem is just one way we can protect that resource and ensure that every child has a voice.  Congratulations volunteers, and thank you!