Greetings Networkers, and Happy Holidays! As we approach the end of the year, I hope each of you finds the time you need to be with your loved ones, reflect on another challenging year, and celebrate all you have done to protect this incredible mission we all share. Our Network team hit the road hard these last few months. We’ve taken our advocacy to every table and town that matters in our effort to educate stakeholders, scrutinize our founding documents (Chapter 984) and rally our highly motivated Board of Directors to carry our goals forward for 2022. Keep reading for a brief recap of where we’ve been, and what we’ve done, to keep our safety net together for Florida’s kids and families.
Stacy Chairs Florida TaxWatch Roundtable for Florida’s Stronger Families
The Tax Watch Roundtable for Florida’s Stronger Families has met three times, and Stacy is honored to serve as the Chairperson of this group made up of Florida experts in the areas of Juvenile Justice, Child Welfare, Mental Health and Substance Abuse and Developmental Disabilities. The goal of the Roundtable is to address the needs of vulnerable families and to increase collaboration and coordination across state agencies. By convening partners from across the spectrum of youth and family services, we can discuss challenges, address gaps, connect the dots between resources and align as one, stronger voice. By supporting vulnerable families we create a more resilient Florida. A current area of focus is the staffing crisis in programs leading to failures of the safety nets for children and families.
-DJJ Restoring Hope- The Florida Network attended the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice’s Restoring Hope Conference where the Florida Network tabled a booth and had two presenting workshops. Our workshops featured John Robertson, presenting on CINS/FINS 101 and Lauren Maldonado and Brandi Hudson presenting on the SNAP program. Celia held down the fort representing us in the Exhibitor hall where she was extremely popular due to the high value candy she was sharing.
-BOD Retreat- The Florida Network Board of Directors met for the first time in person since the fall of 2019. This retreat was a productive time together of collaboration and problem solving. Our Board Members discussed the current issues impacting our community of service and the heavy lift of our legislative budget request for this upcoming session.
Hands on his hips means John is in business mode.
Our ever-classy CEO and Board Chair.
-November 984 Meeting- The Chapter 984 Workgroup, composed of Florida Network staff and Executives met for the last time this calendar year and dove into the issue of truancy and outreach surrounding Chapter 984. We concluded this meeting with clear direction and next steps to take our findings to the entire Executive Advisory Roundtable in the spring.
Tracy Salem getting over her shyness and making a new friend, Tierra Smith.
Getting down to the nitty gritty of Chapter 984
-Stacy & Christy attending Anchorage Children Home’s Annual Meeting- Florida Network CEO, Stacy Gromatski and Christy Daly Brodeur traveled to Panama City this week to attend Anchorage Children’s Home’s Annual Meeting. We’d like to give a special thanks to Joel Booth for hosting such a great event and to Representative Jay Trumbull for participating. This event honored the hard working staff of Anchorage with special awards and recognition and we were incredibly proud to be a part of it!
Representative Jay Trumbull, Sec. Christy Daly-Brodeur, CEO Joel Booth (in a tie!) and Network CEO, Stacy Gromatski
Employee of the Year for Anchorage Children’s Home, Youth Care Specialist, Ashley McClendon addressing the audience, CEO Joel Booth looks on proudly.
Meanwhile, some of us hunkered down and accomplished great things. Check out all of the training Wendy coordinated, and she still found time to share the information in this slick presentation. That Wendy! Training Update
Congratulations to Tiffany for wrapping up the statewide Pyxis 4000 Med-Station Enterprise System upgrade! Say that three times fast.
I hope you enjoyed this recap of recent activity. We know how hard everyone is working to keep their doors open and serve families no matter the challenges we face. Trust that all of us at the Florida Network staff and board are inspired and motivated to match your pace and commitment every day.
I grew up listening to this classic holiday album from American Treasure, Burl Ives. I hope you enjoy it too.
Wishing you abundant Peace and Love in the new year,
Team Pablo et al.