What is value of an endangered child in Manatee County? Unfortunately, not enough | Opinion
People often ask what the work of child welfare entails. The simplest explanation is that child welfare agencies exist to strengthen families so children can receive the care they need and be provided with a safe and stable home. Child welfare services work to prevent child abuse or neglect. In cases where there are warning signs that all is not well, agencies provide services to ensure that children who have experienced neglect or abuse are never subjected to it again. In cases where the situation warrants, agencies facilitate the removal of the child(ren) from the home and placement into what is hoped to be temporary care.
Locally, Safe Children Coalition serves Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, working to protect children, strengthen families, and build community. Services include fostering, adoption, prevention, protective services, diversion, out-of-home case management, and more. Protecting children and working toward healthy outcomes costs money — a lot of it — and, in Circuit 12, our work has been profoundly underfunded for far too long.
There are 20 circuits in Florida with set funding; the last contract for our circuit was “negotiated” 10 years ago. According to the State of Florida, children in our region are apparently worth approximately 33 cents on the dollar compared to the highest-funded areas. Our circuit is 25-30% under the state average for funding.
Yet removals in our area have skyrocketed. For nearly 15 years, Safe Children Coalition assisted with 30-40 child removals per month. But at the end of 2014 and into 2015, the opioid crisis took hold. In 2015, Manatee County was first in Florida for overdose deaths, triggering child removal rates into the 80-100 children per month range. More than half of all children who enter the state care system are 5 years of age or younger.
The removals in our territory are two to three times the state average yet our community’s funding is significantly below other areas. This past year, there were 700 removals in Circuit 12, while there were 550 in the highest-funded circuit. Yet, for fiscal year 2020-2021, our circuit received $23 million in state funding while the highest-funded circuit received over $74 million.
Over the last five years Safe Children Coalition has ranked at or near the bottom in funding. In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, out of the 19 community-based care agencies serving Florida, we ranked 18th in state funding for children entering care ($32,255 per child) compared to the highest circuit ($131,174 per child). We ranked 17th in funding for children exiting care ($35,912) compared to the highest circuit ($90,493 per child). In the highest-paid circuit, there was funding of $22,000 for each child served, whereas in our region, each child served was deemed worthy of just $6,795.
Interestingly, the former secretary of the Florida Department of Children & Families presented a new, more equitable and reality-based funding model to the state House and Senate last year but the proposal went nowhere this legislative session. This despite the fact that Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis have been focused on child welfare issues, as evidenced by their vocal support and the governor’s eventual signing of the DCF Accountability Act in 2020.
In order to cover our budgetary shortfalls, toward the end of our fiscal year, we are forced to apply for funding through the state’s legislative risk pool, which takes an incredible amount of time and effort — which we’d prefer to focus on caring for kids.
We believe it’s time for a change. A demand for equitable funding is to insist that the state make an appropriate investment in the future of our region’s children.
In recent years, we have been forced to seek county and foundation funding to make up for being underfunded by the state; we’re also building our own fundraising capacity — with the support of a local foundation — to support infrastructure needs and enhance vital services not funded by our state contract.
Meanwhile, we have continued to leave important staff positions vacant. We find planning for the year — much less long-term strategic planning — is impossible from a deficit position.
The state of Florida has an obligation to help care for and cover the costs of protecting children. In our area, we do not believe they are appropriately meeting that obligation.
We encourage you to call or write our local and state elected officials, asking them to demand more funding for child welfare services. The health and future of our most at-risk kids are worth it.
Ken Alexander serves on the board of directors of Safe Children Coalition. He is the former executive director at Bayside Center for Behavioral Health.
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 11:36 AM.