TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – First Lady Casey DeSantis has announced the beginning of Hope Florida: A Pathway to Promise, an initiative designed to help adolescents in foster care make the transition to adulthood by pairing them with a long-term mentor and giving them a solid foundation from which to build a successful future. Youth who are aging out of foster care will be matched with a qualified mentor through programs run by the Department of Elder Affairs and the Guardian ad Litem program, who will offer them advice, inspiration, and emotional support as they build the foundations for a successful future.
First Lady Casey DeSantis explained that they created the Pathway to Promise program because “youth aging out of foster care were part of the original Hope Florida launch, and we wanted to further bolster resources for these kids.” For kids in foster care, this program connects them with a caring adult mentor who can answer their concerns about maturity and offer guidance as they prepare to become independent adults.
Mentors from the Guardian ad Litem program will work with the Department of Children and Families’ Hope Navigators to help young people make positive life choices.
Hope Florida a Pathway to Promise and its mentorship program. If a former foster child has emergency needs after leaving the system, they can call the Hope Line (850-300-HOPE) to speak with a Hope Navigator.
“Part of our mission is to provide the most vulnerable children in Florida with an adult from their community who will be a consistent, positive presence in a child’s life,” said Dennis W. Moore, the executive director of Statewide Guardian ad Litem. More young people can be helped if we adopt the Hope Florida approach and offer them access to mentors. I appreciate the First Lady’s dedication to helping Florida’s most vulnerable kids.
At a recent Hope Solution event that First Lady Casey DeSantis sponsored, Executive Director Moore and Secretary Hall had a roundtable discussion with teenagers about the value of mentorship for Florida’s most at-risk youth. If you want to watch the roundtable, go here.
“Thanks to the First Lady’s leadership, the children and families in Florida’s foster care system will have access to even more opportunities for support that encourage well-being,” said Shevaun Harris, secretary of the state’s Department of Children and Families. Foster youngsters benefit from this program since the state is making an extra effort to help them. Our foster youngsters have better chances of succeeding as adults when many agencies work together to help them.
When I was in foster care, I was helped tremendously by two different people. Rayla James, a Guardian ad Litem CHAMPION and a former foster child, stated, “These two people showed me it was possible to not give up on me.” The one most important piece of advice I can give you is this: please don’t abandon us the moment we turn eighteen. At the age of 17, I met the lucky person who would become the love of my life. Now that I’m 21, he’s still a significant other. I love him more than any of my blood relatives. He has been my rock and has shown me more love and support than any of my blood relatives.
