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No more Nubias: Tougher child-protection laws should be the priority

THE MIAMI HERALD | EDITORIAL

No more Nubias

OUR OPINION: Tougher child-protection laws should be the priority

BY THE MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL

HERALDED@MIAMIHERALD.COM

If state lawmakers really want to prevent any other child in the state from meeting Nubia Barahona’s tragic fate, then they will do everything possible to toughen child-welfare laws before attaching her name to them in her honor. So far, it’s been a mixed bag, legislatively speaking. Some proposals bring a dose of accountability and common sense to make the system better. Others, however, show that some lawmakers need to get real.

One bill in the state Senate would increase the salaries of child-protection investigators. These employees are on the front lines. They labor in high-stress environments confronting troubled families, putting in long hours and making what turn out to be life-and-death decisions. They are expected to get it right every time. When they don’t, the horror stories reveal themselves, as in the case of Nubia, 10, allegedly tortured to death by her adoptive parents, and her twin brother, Victor, barely rescued from a similar horrific fate.

Senate Bill 2044 includes a salary increase for child-protection investigators. Their current starting salary is only $34,000, low enough to qualify a worker, depending on his or her personal circumstances, for food stamps. The bill would raise it to $38,000, a move backed by David Wilkins, secretary of the Department of Children & Families. Good.

Despite the budgetary needs in so many other areas, this proposed increase is not simply throwing money at a problem. According to state Sen. Nan Rich, the pay hike will help (1) stem turnover among investigators, which stands at 37 percent. That’s a lot of experience heading for the door. And (2) attract better qualified workers.

The last thing Florida’s abused and neglected children need are poorly qualified investigators brought on board and making more money. Missing from the bill are specifics regarding credentials and training that would go a long way toward raising the standards of who can — and can’t — be entrusted with this sensitive job. It’s not too late to add tougher criteria. Perhaps the work group established by Mr. Wilkins to make recommendations can weigh in here.

On another front, community-based child-services agencies, charged with responding to the unique needs of their communities around the state are under attack in a misguided attempt to consolidate monitoring and services in Tallahassee. We’ve been down this road before — remember another tragedy: the disappearance, and likely death of Rilya Wilson? — that provoked lawmakers to push responsibility down to the local level, where committed and involved people who knew their community best could serve.

Agencies in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties are doing a superb job of carrying out their mandate. However, there are attempts to eliminate the special taxing districts that keep these agencies funded. In addition, there was an attempt to get rid of the community alliances that provide oversight to the community-based-care agencies, helping them work smarter, more efficiently. It’s another layer of needed accountability and, fortunately, the alliances have been restored.

Some errant legislators are waking up to the grim facts. Many failed to connect the dots that show smaller caseloads help improve child protection. But they got back on board after trying to wriggle out of the standards set by the Child Welfare League of America. The League recommends that investigators be given no more that 12 new cases each month. This provision has been restored. It should stay that way.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/12/2635387/no-more-nubias.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

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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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