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Former foster child leads advocacy group to support Florida youth in care

 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Serenity Miller was in foster care as a baby and was adopted by a wonderful, loving family.

She is now a leader with Florida Youth SHINE, a group that advocates for others in the foster care system so they can receive support, including to continue and to complete their education.

 

Serenity considers herself very blessed with all the love and support that came with her adoption.

“So, I really just want everyone to kind of have my experience, have a good experience with foster parents, whether they get adopted or not, that’s kind of my goal,” she says.

She is a leader and volunteer with Florida Youth SHINE, which provides advocacy and support for teens who grew up in foster care.

“Serenity is an amazing young person. She’s working as legislative chair,” says Geori Berman with Florida’s Children First.

“I still can kind of relate to them on some level because I was in the system, I was taken away from my biological parents,” Serenity explains. “They trusted me more because I kind of have relative experience to that and a personal stake.”

And it has also helped her personally, ensuring she receives a tuition waiver.

“Because I spent more than a year in foster care, that waiver really helped me be able to just go to college, get that degree, not have debt,” she says.

“The tuition exemption is an amazing program that’s available to our young people. They’re able to get free college tuition in the state of Florida for Florida public institutions through the age of 26,” says Geori.

Florida Youth SHINE has also advocated for these credits not to be limited so that bright young people like Serenity can really shine!

“They’re 16 years old and they’re like, how can I go to college? I don’t have someone to pay for that, or I don’t have bright futures,” Geori says. “But they do. And they can use that for law school, for med school, for graduate school, in addition to college, vocational programs.”

To find out more about the Postsecondary Tuition and Fee Exemption for youth who spent time in foster care, visit myflfamilies.com; and for more Forever Family stories log onto ForeverFamily.org in partnership with ChildNet.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12)

by Liz Quirantes 

Tue, October 28, 2025 at 10:32 PM
 

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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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