This is an important juncture in the history of the Eckerd Family Foundation. When we first incorporated as a private foundation, we set a 15-year life span, and we’ve reaffirmed that horizon along the way. Now, we are five years away from winding down, which is easier said than done. No new grant proposals will be accepted after May 2012, and we plan to close in 2014. We are paying attention to our large multi-year commitments to make sure they can be sustained after we are gone. We also are thinking about how we can help highly successful grantees continue.

As we head into our last five years, we will look at our grants in terms of “impact, influence and leverage.” By that, we mean what was the tangible result of the grant? Did it influence thinking or approach in any material way? Did it make a material contribution? And how did we leverage our resources? Was the grantee able to attract additional investment? Or did the grant get others to address issue in another way?

That “impact, influence and leverage” philosophy was behind our involvement in two major policy developments in Florida – about which we are especially proud. First, the new secretary of Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice has overhauled the department’s mission statement to a vision supported by our foundation. A special commission will be appointed to implement reforms. In addition, Florida Governor Charlie Crist has signed legislation creating a Children’s Cabinet. Both of these developments pass the “impact, influence and leverage” test.

We have new board leadership in Nancy Eckerd Hart, whom you’ll get to know better in this issue of our newsletter. You’ll also learn more about an exciting program we support that mentors children of prisoners and about our work to help reform North Carolina’s juvenile justice system.

Warm regards,
Joe Clark

A conversation with Nancy Eckerd Hart, the new board chair of the Eckerd Family Foundation

First, tell us a little about your background.
I have a political science background and have focused that on advocacy work on behalf of young people. I’m on boards such as Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Clearwater Library Foundation that focus on programs for youth, and I’ve been on the board of the Eckerd Family Foundation since its inception.

What are your most important priorities for the foundation?
Because we are a spend-down foundation, we need to formulate a plan for concluding our work. I would also like to see us continue expansion of the work we have done in our two focus areas: juvenile justice and foster care.

What initiatives are you most proud of?
Some of the smaller grants have been my favorites. We have set up a computer program for at-risk young people in Clearwater that has kept them busy and off the streets and has also given them the necessary skills to compete in a competitive job market. We have helped kids through some great sports and arts programs. We’ve done a lot of evaluation of new, non-traditional types of programs which help kids through therapies like art and sports. We have proven that these unique therapies can help marginalized youth build a sense of purpose and self-worth.

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Big Brothers Big Sisters Offers Mentors for Children with Parents Behind Bars

Michael Martinet and his
Little Brother, Gabriel

Destinee Glassman is the big sister that Madeline has always wanted. The caring 20-year-old University of Tampa senior gives good advice, says 11-year-old Madeline. Glassman is amazed at how mature and resilient her “Little Sister” is too, even though the sixth-grader’s father is incarcerated.

Destinee and Madeline like hanging out together on weekends. They watch movies, such as Meet the Robinsons and Firehouse Dog. They love doing girly stuff, such as window-shopping at the mall, and making artwork for Destinee’s dorm. “We have lots of fun,” says Madeline. Says Destinee: “I want to be the person to help, even if it is for the littlest of things.”

Destinee and Madeline were brought together last fall by Mentoring Children of Prisoners, a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay program that matches mentors with children who need extra support because their parents are in prison. The program, supported by the Eckerd Family Foundation, has found mentors for 160 children in Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.

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Florida Governor Signs Bill to Strengthen Services for Youth from Foster Care

Governor Charlie Crist has signed Senate Bill 2114-House Bill 1215, giving young adults in foster care more support as they age out of the child welfare system. The new law will provide foster youth additional healthcare benefits and financial planning. Medicaid services will be expanded for teens who are 18 and 19 years old. The new law also makes it easier for foster youth to apply for driver’s licenses and to open bank accounts. The new law also expands eligibility for the Road to Independence program, which helps youth from foster care pay for educational and vocational training. Teens 16 and older who are adopted from foster care will be eligible for the Road to Independence program, which means they won’t be forced to choose between a permanent home, education or health insurance. The new law also clarifies some guidelines for foster parents. State Rep. Rich Glorioso sponsored the House bill based on his experience listening to the needs of young adults in Connected by 25, a program supported by the Eckerd Family Foundation to help young adults make successful transitions to adulthood. Sen. Nan Rich sponsored the Senate bill. Glorioso described the new law as a huge victory. Foster teens will be able to live more like other teens who aren’t in foster care and who don’t have the same restrictions, he said.

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Eckerd Family Foundation Supports Juvenile Justice Reform in North Carolina

The Eckerd Family Foundation, long involved in juvenile justice reform in Florida, has branched out to North Carolina, one of only three states where 16 and 17 year-olds automatically are charged as adults for their offenses. Nor does North Carolina allow youth to be transferred back to juvenile courts. And it allows 13-year-olds to be transferred immediately into adult court for first-degree murder charges. The foundation is supporting the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), a non-profit working to reform state juvenile justice systems around the nation.

To advocate for change in North Carolina, CFYJ is working with the non-profit Action for Children North Carolina. Advocates believe that North Carolina’s political climate may be more receptive to reform. Led by Rep. Alice Bordsen, the state legislature created a subcommittee of the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission to study the juvenile justice system. Last December, the subcommittee released a year-long study that recommended raising the age to 18 for juvenile court jurisdiction.

In this new environment, CFYJ, Action for Children and its partners are working not only to change the law but also to start a community conversation. “We need the community be part of this entire process,” says Liz Ryan, president and CEO of Campaign for Youth Justice. Town hall meetings are planned to raise awareness and engage the public in a discussion about alternatives to the juvenile justice system. “For this to succeed, we need to develop a community consensus around the recommendations and discuss how to implement them,” she says. “That educational piece is very important.” The strategy also includes a statewide media campaign. “This kind of conversation has not taken place in North Carolina, and it’s critical to the coalition’s efforts,” Ryan says. “And with Eckerd’s support, we’re able to do that.” For more information, please visit www.campaignforyouthjustice.org.

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From D.C. to Uganda, Eckerd Fellow Matt Morton Works to Empower Youth

The Eckerd Family Foundation is pleased to announce its first fellow: Matt Morton, 23, whose involvement with the foundation began years ago as a high school student. As a foundation fellow, Matt will attend Oxford University this fall to pursue a master’s degree with support from the foundation. But first, Matt is spending part of the summer in Washington, D.C., and Florida, working on youth empowerment issues for the foundation.

He will write a white paper, recommending the types of community organizations in which the foundation should invest. He also will create a curriculum and a workshop for youth in foster care. “With this curriculum, youth can teach other young people about their rights in foster care,” Matt says.

Matt also is studying Florida’s civil citation program, an innovative alternative to the juvenile justice system for youth who have committed non-serious offenses. He will study how Florida counties are using the civil citation option and hopes his research leads to more consistent implementation of the program.

Matt, a recent Stetson University graduate, has a busy summer of travel: returning to Guatemala, where he helped create the Guatemalan Youth Empowerment Project, launching a new project in Bogotá, Colombia, with organizations focused on youth development, and returning to Uganda to work with impoverished children through a local organization called Cornerstone.

Matt’s experiences in the United States and abroad have led him to Oxford where he will focus on evaluating programs and policy about youth development. “Youth empowerment is known intuitively to be a good idea, but there is very little data to support it,” he says. “Without that evidence, it’s very hard to fight for it.” His work will help identify the best ways to develop results-driven programs. After graduate school, Matt, a finalist for the Rhodes scholarship, plans to continue advocating for youth empowerment.

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The Finance Project, Foster Care Work Group Release Three Strategy Briefs

The Finance Project recently released three briefs for the Foster Care Work Group, exploring strategies on financing programs that support youth transitioning out of foster care. The three briefs, which are the first in a series, focus on the positive impact of programs in three areas – entrepreneurship, workforce development, and asset building and financial education – and provide recommendations for sustaining them. To view the briefs, click below:

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The Eckerd Family Foundation is committed to promoting meaningful and lasting change to transform the lives of vulnerable youth and their families. The foundation's mission provides leadership and support for innovative educational, preventative, therapeutic and rehabilitative programs for children, youth and their families. The foundation awarded these new grants in June:

CHILD PROTECTION & PREVENTION:

Help A Child
$100,000
Pinellas Park, FL
Providing technical assistance and capacity building funds to an agency providing child protective team services, medical foster care and sexual assault examination services in Pinellas County, Florida. The organization has developed a logic model with criteria to effectively integrate resources into a new model of planning and strategic thinking for long-term success.

Mary Lee’s House
$250,000 $250,000
Tampa, FL
A capital challenge grant to a new central service center for investigation of child abuse in Hillsborough County. The facility, based on a national model, will create a child-friendly environment where professionals from all areas of child protection and advocacy work to offer a collaborative approach to case management to achieve the best protection for children and meet the legal, medical and emotional needs of children and families where there has been abuse.

EDUCATION:

Brevard Zoo
$250,000 $250,000
Melbourne, FL
A capital challenge grant for replacement of the original Paws-On children’s zoo with a series of exhibits that will create additional educational opportunities for at-risk children as well as provide visiting students and families with positive youth development experiences. The exhibits will stress educational and conservation themes and be designed to provide an engaging, comfortable, safe space for families to interact.

Drexel University Athletics/SquashSmarts
$141,510
Philadelphia, PA
Funding the development over three years of an evaluation tool to measure the effectiveness of the SquashSmarts after-school sports and educational program for at-risk youth. The program combines academic and sports mentoring in order to promote self-esteem, discipline, and leadership through academic, athletic and personal achievement. The final evaluation tool can be utilized by other sports/academic programs as, at this time, there is no uniform method for evaluating the effectiveness of such programs.

FOSTER CARE:

Camelot Community Care/Connected by 25
$490,860
Tampa, FL
Ongoing support for year three to focus on stabilizing and supporting program management and operational function. Cby25 continues to solidify the educational program successes and sustainability, employment programs, financial literacy, asset development and the Teen Court Project. All of the program strategies are being operated in collaboration with Jim Casey, our national partner, and several other funding and provider partners.

 

JUVENILE JUSTICE:

Barry University
$787,500
Orlando, FL
Creating the Juvenile Justice Center to provide ongoing training to law students, public defenders, and private/contract attorneys appointed for juvenile defense representation. The goal is to improve the delinquency system in Florida and the quality of advocacy for children in the juvenile justice system. Legal representation for indigent youth in Florida is limited with many youth commitments to the juvenile justice system being inappropriate. This program will address these issues and attempt to change how the public defender system works for those with limited resources.


YOUTH DEVELOPMENT:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay
$50,000
Tampa, FL
Continuing support of the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program, an initiative focused on providing mentors to children of incarcerated parents. Risk factors are assessed and additional resources can be offered if needed. The program is a partnership of secular and faith-based organizations, coordinating mentoring services and creating partnerships with the faith-based community.

YMCA, Central Florida – Cocoa Family Center
$90,000
Cocoa, FL
Three-year support for the scholarship program for youth and families living below the poverty level in Brevard County, Florida. The objective of the scholarship program is to provide membership, program and activity scholarships to individuals and families who would otherwise not be able to participate. The center is located on the campus of Brevard Community College in a collaborative effort to serve the highest concentration of the most economically disadvantaged families in Brevard County and to promote the most efficient and best use of the facility through shared activities.

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  Editors    
  Ed Hatcher ed@thehatchergroup.com  
  Angie Cannon angie@thehatchergroup.com  
  The Hatcher Group http://www.thehatchergroup.com  
    301-656-0348