Date Published: April 28, 2008
Carolyn Battle would never call herself an extravagant person. Middle class, hard-working, energetic, sure - but definitely not a big spender. Yet Battle, 45, has made a commitment to pay out more than $1.5 million during the next decade or so.
How did she get in so deep? Battle and her husband, Shadrack, are raising seven kids ranging from 4 to 10 years old, and following the federal government's formula, that'll cost them $29,400 a year for each kid through age 17.
Fortunately, Carolyn Battle said, they have a little help - a monthly adoption subsidy for six of the children (the seventh is a grandchild). "It's not a lot," she said, "but without it, we'd feel a big pinch."
Under proposed cuts to the state's budget, those stipends might evaporate - along with a host of other help for the state's most vulnerable citizens.
Dollars for substance abuse and mental health programs, frontline positions and support to former foster children also are on the line.
Cuts deep
The House and Senate are still wrestling with the numbers, which could mean a loss of more than $650,000 in the region, said Aimee McLaughlin, director of development and communications for The Children's Network of Southwest Florida, which provides services to abused, neglected and abandoned children.
The House of Representatives' proposal calls for some $126 million in reductions to the Florida Department of Children and Families' $2.9 billion budget; the Senate's calls for $108 million, but those numbers change almost hourly, said Sarrah Troncoso, DCF's deputy press secretary.
Yet the demand for services keeps increasing as the state's economy suffers.
"It's dramatic," said George Sheldon, DCF assistant secretary. "As things turn downward, the need for services goes up. Calls to the abuse hotline statewide are up 15 percent."
In Lee County, the 6.5 percent unemployment rate is the worst it has been in 15 years.
The amount of food stamps Southwest Florida families received last month was up 64 percent from the previous year.
"We are getting about 4,200 requests for aid each month in Lee County, up from about 3,800 a month last year," said Erin Gillespie, DCF's public information officer for Circuit 20, which covers Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties.
And from July 2007 to this March, there were 13,202 calls to DCF's abuse hotline from Lee County - 1,122 more than there were the same months of the previous year.
'A disaster'
DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth has called the cuts "unconscionable" - the equivalent of "a contract on kids."
"A disaster," is how Andrea Moore, executive director of Florida's Children First, a statewide child advocacy group, describes the potential impact.
If protective investigator positions are cut, "The common understanding is that children will die - or in Circuit 20, that means more children will die." Moore said, referring to the recent deaths of three children known to DCF:
• Michelle Fontanez was strangled and raped, allegedly by her stepfather, in February 2006.
• Zahid Jones, 3, was beaten to death last year; his stepfather and mother face charges in his killing.
• Joshua Jenkins died Feb. 18, allegedly at the hands of his stepfather.
"With the adoption subsidies, the families already getting it could face a cut and prospective adoptive parents wouldn't get it at all, which means children could remain in more expensive - and more damaging long-term - foster care."
Florida now pays Southwest Florida adoptive parents an average of $323 a month per child, said Nadereh Salim, CEO of the Children's Network.
Were there no stipends, Carolyn Battle said, "It would have made me think twice about (adopting) for sure. Me and my husband, we ain't rich and we ain't spring chickens, but we wanted to help out."
That's just what worries Salim.
"I don't want to discourage the parents we do have in the (adoption) pipeline, but the fact is, we might be asking people to take on the major financial commitment of raising a child with zero assistance from the state," Salim said.
'Wait and see'
To say Salim and Moore are concerned about what the cuts might mean is an understatement.
Panicked would be more like it.
Both have already been to Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers to reconsider.
What makes the waiting worse is that no one knows how it will be resolved, said Troncoso.
"... But for now, we just have to wait and see. And keep our fingers crossed," Troncoso said.
Carolyn Battle, for one, said she's in it for the long haul.
After she pats 9-year-old Niya's stray braids into place, flicks a fallen leaf from 7-year-old Anthony's shoulder and tugs 10-year-old Dashanae's turquoise T-shirt into place, Battle grins.
"They may wear me out, but I'm lovin' every minute of it."
Contact Amy Bennett Williams at awilliams@news-press.com.
Amy Bennett Williams
The News-Press
April 28, 2008