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June is National Hunger Awareness Month
If you are having
trouble viewing the newsletter, please view the online version.
Governor Scott has signed the Florida
Families First budget, providing funding that will allow DCF to continue our mission
of helping those most in need and transforming our agency into a world-class
service organization. Following are a few highlights of the $74.1 billion
budget:
- $4.16 million more for substance abuse
and mental health services
- $54.7 million more toward protecting our youngest Floridians
- $32 million more to implement
efficiencies in the ACCESS program
- Nearly $5.1 million toward new fraud
fighting initiatives
- Salary increases for all state
employees – employees making less than $40,000 annually will receive a pay
increase of $1,400 and employees making more than $40,000 will receive an
increase of $1,000 (effective October 1st)
For more information
on the budget, go to the Governor’s budget message here.
Secretary and Mrs. Wilkins recently traveled
to Washington, DC, along with Sen. Nancy Detert, to share with members of Congress
Florida’s successful efforts to bring normalcy to the lives of foster families
and foster youth. They testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means
Committee, Human Resources Subcommittee, on the state’s efforts to allow foster
parents and foster youth to make reasonable decisions about the youth’s
participation in everyday events and activities. Titled, “Letting Kids Be Kids:
Balancing Safety with Opportunity for Foster Youth,” the presentation was well
received and appreciated by the committee members. View the entire testimony here or the shortened version on Youtube.
The close out period for
the current performance evaluations is set for June 30. Employees are
encouraged to talk with their supervisors about how the evaluation closeout
will work. The due dates for evaluations have been extended to allow more time
to complete the evaluation process, but all will need to be completed no later
than Aug. 29, 2013. Go to the Human Resources Performance Evaluations Intranet
web page for more information. Human Resources
Performance Evaluations web page. Information about the new Performance Management system
is also available on the Intranet home page.
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Campers at Fiddler's Cove in Tampa Bay |
As one of our newest Partners for
Promise, The Mosaic Company, gave foster children from the Tampa Bay area a unique
camp experience through their Coastal Education Center at Fiddler's Cove. Fourth
graders experienced an outdoor classroom like no other to learn about the
environment and also gain knowledge that helps them on FCAT testing. Through
hands-on experiences, our foster kids developed an appreciation and
understanding of why Tampa Bay is important to the ecosystem and how we can
protect it. The kids spent the day along the shoreline identifying different
classes of shells, checking out mangroves, digging for fiddler crabs and
exploring the water with nets to catch different kinds of fish and other sea
life. Afterward, each child was sent home with a picture of themselves
exploring nature as a way to always remember their day at Fiddler's Cove.
"Where the River Meets the Bay" is a curriculum approved by
Hillsborough County Schools and taught by Mosaic employees trained in the
program's specifics. Special thanks to Florida’s Foundation and the SunCoast Region for making the partnership with Mosaic such a
success.
DCF Success Stories
 At dual press conferences held in Tallahassee and Orlando, DCF Secretary
David Wilkins and Deputy Secretary Suzanne Vitale rolled out the department’s
groundbreaking public assistance fraud fighting initiatives. Florida is the
first state in the nation to implement aggressive front-end fraud prevention
technology to ensure benefits go to Floridians who are in need. Earlier this
year, DCF was granted a waiver from the federal government to implement
first-of-its-kind technology to ensure that individuals applying for public
assistance benefits online are who they say they are. More than 90 percent of
the five million annual benefits applications are received online through the
DCF ACCESS system. The new technology is currently being piloted in the Orlando
area. The pilot began in March and has demonstrated three times the fraud
prevention value anticipated. The project will be implemented statewide by
August 31. For more information, visit the website and
be sure to watch a short YouTube video.
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The Piñeiro family (left) with Hiram Ruiz (Second from right) and Pete Digre at the Refugee Services Conference
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More
than 350 refugee service providers, faith-based organizations, policy makers
and refugees from across Florida and the nation gathered recently for the
statewide Refugee Services Consultation in Orlando. Fifty speakers and
presenters discussed national, state and local refugee issues that affect the
Department's refugee clients. Several workshops and a film helped to highlight
the event theme, “Welcoming. Belonging. Integrating Refugees in Florida."
Presenters encouraged participants to undertake local projects aimed at
fostering welcoming communities.
Featured
were two Orlando refugee families that personify successful resettlement and integration,
including that of 15-year-old Walfrank Piñeiro (see photo) who arrived in the
United States less than two years ago speaking little English. He has not only
made the Honor Roll each semester since starting school here, he recently earned
his high school’s highest honor, the “Prepare for Greatness Award” for the
student who reaches the highest standards of academic and personal success. Walfrank
is also a gifted baseball player who is already drawing the attention of a
number of colleges and was voted 2012 “Pitcher of the Year" by his high
school baseball team.
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Awards presented at the
Symposium (L-R Elisa Cramer, Award recipients: Darryl Watson, Jean Costa,
Bobbie Badonski Ceglecki, Ola Lasisi , Kelly Kelley -Accepting Award for
Mimi Odunewu, Theresa Russell, Katherine Ross, and Robert Anderson)
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Nearly
300 participants attended the Adult Protective Services conference, “Transforming
Through Collaboration,” in Orlando May 22-24. Secretary David Wilkins and
Statewide Prosecutor Nick Cox kicked off the event that featured an intense
schedule of workshops and forums focused on collaborative efforts to confront
abuse and enhance service delivery for adults with disabilities and the
elderly.
Representatives
from partner agencies, advocacy groups, law enforcement, attorneys, national
experts, and researchers mingled with Department staff and leadership, sharing
strategies and initiatives to address the needs of Florida’s ever-growing
vulnerable adult population.
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Employees participate in mock disaster exercise to test equipment and processes. |
On
May 16-17, DCF successfully completed a two-day training and test of the Department’s
Food for Florida program. More than
100 employees participated in a mock disaster exercise in Tallahassee to test
equipment and processes that will be used in the aftermath of a disaster. DCF
staff traveled from all over the state to participate in the training exercise.
Find out more about the Food for Florida program on their Intranet website.
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Foster youth paints a horse at Freedom Ride in Orlando. |
On May 19, Freedom Ride, DCF, Community Based Care of Central
Florida and the Orlando Police Department’s (OPD) Mounted Patrol had a fun day
with 15 children at a therapeutic horse riding program in Orlando known as
Freedom Ride. Many of the children have profound developmental and medical
needs, but that did not stop them from enjoying a day learning how to care for
horses, painting the horses, making horse treats and interacting with OPD’s
Mounted Patrol. The children explored
new relationships with their equine friends and built some confidence along the
way.
Children invited for this special
adventure reside in medical foster homes. The wonderful volunteers at Freedom Ride
made it possible for these youth to enjoy an up-close-and-personal experience
with the 1,000-pound gentle creatures. This was only the first in a series of special events for local
children in foster care as Freedom Ride was recently awarded a $25,000 grant to
work with children victimized by abuse.
Nine
World Refugee Day events are taking place statewide June 14-27. Here is a full list of all the events,
including a brief description of the type of event, as well as contact
information for the Refugee Services Community Liaison in each region. All the
events involve our contracted providers and refugees themselves, and some
include citizenship ceremonies conducted by the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Service, which are inspiring occasions that everyone should witness
at least once. Many former refugees
are remarkably dedicated to helping newly arrived refugees in their
communities. Here is a listing of just a
few we would like to recognize for their outstanding service.
According
to the Florida Department of Health, two thirds of drowning deaths occur during
the summer months between May and August. DCF employees can help promote swim
safety and prevention tips in their community. Together with the Department of
Health, DCF is spreading the word on swim safety by distributing swim safety
postcards. DCF employees can help distribute materials themselves, or
encourage local organizations to order materials and make them available to
customers and members. To request free postcards, go to: www.flpartnersforpromise.com/SwimPostcards.shtml.
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ACCESS/ESS Program employee recognition |
When
the employee recognition plaques arrived in the Headquarters Economic
Self-Sufficiency Program office, just for fun, Director Jeri Flora began
counting the years of service. She was astounded at the number of long-timers.
Cumulatively, there were 1,240 years!
She was equally astounded to discover that most of them had additional
years above the award increments of 5-10-20, etc. What a testimony to
dedication and commitment! Thank you to our ACCESS/ESS Program staff for your
years of service!
DCF Champions
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David
Abramowitz (second from right) presents award to Masco Contractor Services in Daytona Beach.
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Northeast Region Managing Director David Abramowitz presented the Secretary’s
Visionary Award to the leadership of Masco Contractor Services in Daytona
Beach. The company strongly supports their employees in community service and
giving. In the Northwest
Region, Managing Director Vicki Abrams recently shadowed Caprice Blizzard,
Independent Living Counselor, and then surprised her by presenting her with the
Secretary’s Visionary Award at the Lakeview Board Meeting. Caprice really makes
a difference in the lives of the youth and young adults she is involved with. See these and other Visionary Award winners, here.
Each year, the Gator Exchange Club honors an outstanding DCF
employee as part of its mission to help prevent child abuse. This year, Cynthia
Lawrence, a Child Protective Investigator in DCF's Starke office, is being
honored for her outstanding commitment, passion and dedication to protecting
children from abuse. Also, thanks to Lawrence’s advocacy, the Gator Exchange
Club is awarding DCF $3,000 to assist the agency in its efforts to prevent
child deaths. The money will be used to fund the purchase of portable cribs for
DCF Child Protective Investigators who encounter families in North Central
Florida that need them. Congratulations Cynthia!
Congratulations to Paul Sexton, Chris Meadows, Greg Garner and Tim
Parson, who are taking on new roles within the Department. Paul Sexton has
moved from the General Counsel’s office to head up the Contract Services office
as Director. Chris Meadows will also be moving from the General Counsel’s
office to work with Paul in Contract Services. Greg Garner moved from the
Contract Services office to work directly with Assistant Secretary for
Administration Scott Stewart. Tim Parson transitions from Deputy Director to
the Legislative Affairs Director position.
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