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Eckerd Kids shuts down troubled out-of-hours teen center

The agency that runs child welfare in Hillsborough County is closing a troubled out-of-hours teen center.

Eckerd Kids announced Wednesday that it will terminate its contract with subcontractor Camelot Community Care to run the Ybor Heights center, which is used to temporarily house and supervise children entering the foster care system until they are placed with foster parents or in a group home.

Eckerd officials declined to state why they were unhappy with Camelot’s performance. Efforts last month to find another provider were unsuccessful. No firm other than Camelot bid for the job.

“Eckerd Kids has made numerous attempts to improve the performance of Camelot’s Teen Center,” said spokeswoman Adrienne Drew, in a statement. “We believe this move will provide the best environment for our foster children, which is our number one goal.”

The Tampa Police Department has responded to 13 disturbance calls and 57 runaway reports at the center this year, records show. Last weekend, a case manager was injured and a teenager was arrested, Eckerd said.

In addition to supervision, Eckerd’s $500,000 contract with Camelot covers the transportation of foster children to and from school and day care centers.

In January, a Camelot driver mistakenly dropped a 4-year-old foster girl at the wrong home in Tampa. The contract for transportation has also been put out for bid.

Concerns about the center were raised at a regular meeting of child welfare stakeholders held this week at the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County.

Children are allowed to stay for up to four hours at the center outside of regular working hours until they are placed. But in some cases children ended up there longer because they did not want to go to certain foster or group homes.

“There are a variety of reasons children won’t go to some places,” said Robin Rosenberg, deputy director of Florida’s Children First, a statewide advocacy organization focused on children’s rights. “They may not feel safe or the place is not respectful to them.”

Contact Christopher O’Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @codonnell_Times.

 

Eckerd Kids shuts down troubled out-of-hours teen center 05/10/17 [Last modified: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 6:35pm]
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Alexia Nechayev

FYS Events & Meeting Chair
(Palm Beach/Miami)

Alexia Nechayev, from Miami, Florida, is a dedicated advocate for youth with lived experience in foster care and with homelessness. After being placed in foster care as a teenager, Alexia experienced firsthand the stigma surrounding the system, as well as the challenges of navigating a system that didn’t provide support for her to advocate for herself. This experience motivated her to create change, ensuring that other youth in care have the tools and resources she lacked.

She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Florida International University, and upon graduation worked as a Hope Navigator with the Department of Children and Families which allowed her to assist clients through individualized care plans, further deepening her commitment to improving the lives of marginalized youth. Alexia is now applying to law schools with the goal of advancing her advocacy work through a legal career. As the Events and Meetings Chair for Florida Youth SHINE (FYS), she creates opportunities for foster and homeless youth to collaborate and push for meaningful change. She is also an active member of the Policy and Initiative Team for Florida Youth SHINE, where she helps create and shape policies that directly impact youth in foster care. One of her proudest accomplishments is helping to develop the Foster Care Bill of Rights, a law that she feels would have made a difference during her own time in care.

In addition to her work with FYS, Alexia serves on the Board of Directors for the parent organization of FYS, Florida’s Children First. In this role, she contributes to strategic decision-making while advocating for the rights and welfare of children statewide.

Every year, she travels to the state capitol to advocate for bills she and her peers have helped shape, including key pieces of legislation that benefit foster and homeless youth. However her advocacy extends beyond her state, as she represents Florida Youth SHINE at national conferences such as the National Leaders 4 Change Conference.

Through her internship with the National Foster Youth Institute, Alexia continues to refine her advocacy skills, preparing for a future where she can contribute meaningfully to both policymaking and the legal system. Guided by the belief that “the blue sky is always there,” she remains committed to ensuring that every youth in foster care has the power and support to advocate for themselves.

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