Heart Gallery of Sarasota and Commissioner Nancy Detert Spotlight Foster Care Needs

The Heart Gallery of Sarasota and The Road to Independence Foundation, have teamed up to offer assistance to help current and former foster youths, many who are temporarily displaced by the closure of a college campus due to coronavirus. The organizations planned an event for April 28th to raise money for those children who have aged out of foster care. At this time, “Small Plates for a Big Heart” is on hold until further notice from the county, but the needs of these children continue to grow.

Heart Gallery of Sarasota planned the event to also honor Commissioner Nancy Detert for her commitment to the well-being of foster children and teens in Florida. The “Nancy C. Detert Common Sense and Compassion Independent Living Act” became state law in 2013, extending foster care to age 21. This made Florida one of only 10 states in the country to provide college and vocational tuition, as well as a monthly stipend and health care for many who previously received little assistance.

“Three to five children a month in our Judicial Circuit have not found permanency by age 18,” according to Dietra Barfield, Independent Living Manager at the Safe Children Coalition, the lead agency that handles all foster children in Judicial Circuit 12, that includes Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. They all hold jobs as their monthly stipend is just enough to cover rent or campus housing. Most are hourly employees who have no income during the shut-down. They need financial assistance.

With colleges in the state electing to close their dormitories completely, housing uncertainty for foster youths is a concern. “Colleges were urged by Congressional leaders in foster care to continue to provide housing appropriate to the special needs of youth in foster care or formerly in foster care, but these children are isolated in vacated dormitories and now don’t have work, “ according to Allison Juceam, Executive Director of the Heart Gallery of Sarasota, a not-for-profit that partners with the Safe Children Coalition to recruit adoptive parents for harder to place children who are older or part of a sibling group.

The Heart Gallery of Sarasota’s recruitment efforts to find adoptive parents who can provide for these children is a solution, but the system often fails them. It can take years for birth parents to terminate their rights, so most are teens by the time they become available for adoption and are soon on their own. The expenses that provide stability, automobile insurance and repairs, security deposits and uniforms are out of reach for these children. That’s why Commissioner Detert started her foundation, The Road to Independence, with $72,000 remaining from her senate campaign.

Their needs are greater now than ever. 100% of donations made will go directly to the children to cover basic expenses due to loss of jobs and relocation. The collaboration between the two organizations is intended to help teens transition into adulthood with improved support and increase awareness of the need for adoptive and foster parents.