As DCF Considers Changes, Former Foster Youth Speak Out
By REGAN MCCARTHY The Department of Children and Families’ recent troubles took center stage at the group’s Child Protection Summit this week in Orlando. The event
We believe that all children have the right to food, clothing, housing, education, medical care, property and personal privacy.
Florida’s laws, policies and practices respect, prioritize and protect children and youth impacted by the child welfare, juvenile justice, and disability systems.
By REGAN MCCARTHY The Department of Children and Families’ recent troubles took center stage at the group’s Child Protection Summit this week in Orlando. The event
Amid lawsuits and negative publicity, facilities accused of delivering inadequate care to sickly children are shutting down their pediatric units. ********************************* BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
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Florida”s Children”s First Executive Director Christina Spudeas, Florida Youth Shine Member Brandon Burke and Forever Family Founder and CEO, Gia Tutalo-Mote talk with Host Joe
By NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA Credit Emily Michot / Miami Herald STAFF Department of Children and Families interim Secretary Esther Jacobo (middle, speaking) has previously
By: Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald Published: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 Miami-Dade County”s entire child welfare bench presided over a virtually unprecedented hearing Tuesday
By: Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch, Miami Herald Published: Sunday, August 18, 2013 On the day before she died, Jewel Re”nee Howard sat
By: Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch, Miami Herald Published: Sunday August 18, 2013 Aliyah Marie Branum spent much of her two years
In January, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri owned up to his office””s failures after a 5-year-old Clearwater girl died days after investigators pulled her
by: Margie Menzel News Service of Florida Published: August 9, 2013 As the state”s child welfare system rolls out what it callss a “transformation” to
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A young man who had a tough life growing up learned to not let his past control his future. Today, he works
When state child welfare administrators first spoke with Cierrah Raphael in early 2013, they reported she was a 21-year-old prostitute and drug user who had
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER, The Miami Herald Published: Monday, July 29 2013 Summer Stiles had no idea her toddler son had been missing for much
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER CMARBIN@MIAMIHERALD.COM Like so many before her, Esther Jacobo’s ascension to the top of Florida’s long-troubled child welfare agency was forged in
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.