Testimonials

Mute, disabled mom gets connected with help

My client is mute and cannot use her right hand to write due to a car accident which makes communication very difficult. She came to me for the first time because she had not received her food stamps yet for the month and she and her children were in dire need of help. She also wanted to apply for Medicaid. Using a combination of charades, barely decipherable handwriting, hand gestures, and facial expressions, I determined what she needed. First I contacted our DCF (Dept. of Children & Families) liaison to find out why my client had not received her food stamps. I was informed that her case was closed due to non-cooperation with child support. I then contacted our liaison at Child Support Enforcement liaison who said that my client’s case was open. Obviously there had been some miscommunication between DCF and CSE. After straightening out this confusion, my client received her needed food stamps. I then helped her apply for Medicaid for herself and her children. Since she can’t speak, I spoke for her during the telephone interview with DCF. I also contacted a company that provides free services and equipment to people who cannot use the telephone due to muteness and helped her apply for those services. Overall, my client was very satisfied with our services and will continue to stay in contact should she need anything else.

Janet S.
Whole Child Advisor

Abused, frightened mom finds shelter

My client completed the online Whole Child Connection (WCC) Profile in August 2007. Her Profile reported several needs including healthcare services, concerns with her son’s development, and concerns with alcohol and safety. She also applied for Medicaid. One year later, she came back to re-certify for Medicaid and apply for food stamps. She had left her husband due to his abusive behavior when under the influence of alcohol. She had been in the emergency room twice this year due to his abuse but never called the police because she was afraid they would take her son away.

My client was told that in order to apply for food stamps she would need to file for child support because she was still married. She decided not to apply for food stamps. Her reason was that her husband sends money to her other children living in Guatemala.

Furthermore, her name on her son’s birth certificate was spelled incorrectly and her ID shows her name spelled differently. This could cause a problem for DCF to process her application so he was referred to a Whole Child Advisor to help her with this issue.

A couple of weeks later, she came back with a letter she had received from the Social Security Administration related to her petition to change her name on her son’s birth certificate. She needed help to read and understand the letter. At this appointment she expressed her decision to apply for food stamps and submit the required paperwork to the Child Support Enforcement office. Her body was shaking and she started to cry. She indicated that her husband had found where she was living and had threatened her life. She was afraid that if she called the police they would take her son away. The Whole Child Advisor told her she was not alone and connected her to SafeSpace - an agency that would provide them a safe place to stay, as well as food, clothing, and advice. The Advisor also connected her with the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center which helped her obtain legal counsel. My client is now getting the help she needs to have a better life for her and her son.

Maria Z.
Whole Child Advisor

Mother and daughters are reunited

Two years ago, a client walked into my office and told me that her children had been taken away from her and she needed to do something about it. She went on to tell me that her husband had had an affair with her sister and she was so devastated that she found refuge in drugs and alcohol. For days she was so drunk that she did not remember feeding her two daughters or sending them to school. Child Protection Services took the girls and placed them with their grandparents. That is when mom decided to do something about her situation. She joined AA and was assigned a DCF case worker who gave her some goals she had to accomplish in order to get her children back. I helped her complete the online Whole Child profile and we put together a Whole Child Plan which addressed all the needs that she had in order to meet her DCF goals.

Her personalized Whole Child Plan connected her with the Early Learning Coalition, Salvation Army, Medicaid, 4 C’s, information on housing, after school care, Kid Care, and the YMCA. Using her personalized Whole Child Plan, she found affordable housing, established medical insurance for her daughters, secured financial help to pay for day care and summer camps, got clothes and beds for her children, and put together a home for her family.

It was awesome when I bumped into her and she told me that her kids were back with her and it was all because she was able to meet the goals in record time. She also said that without her Whole Child plan, she would not have known where to go or how to get help. The plan showed her where to start. Later on, the grandmother died and mom updated her plan and looked for counseling for the youngest child, and was able to get in touch with Tykes and Teens. This is a great success story, it is awesome to see the kids with big smiles – by the way the two older girls are honor students at their schools and mom has been sober for more than two years.

Alicia H.
Senior Whole Child Advisor

The success of the Florida KidCare Outreach grant planted the seed for an innovative new partnership with Leon County Schools, made possible by Capital Health Plan. We have placed a dedicated staff person, a Whole Child Liaison, within Leon County Schools to identify families in need of healthcare and guide them through the KidCare application process.

“After being downsized from my job, I needed to apply for KidCare for my daughter. We were in between health insurance and awaiting KidCare processing when my daughter shattered her anklebone and required extensive surgery. After a good cry, I calmed down and remembered that Whole Child and KidCare were linked. My first call went through to Whole Child Leon. They quickly put me through to Courtney Atkins, Whole Child Outreach Specialist with Leon County Schools. While she made no promises, I knew she was going to do everything within her power to help my daughter. I received a call the next day that my daughter would be placed on temporary emergency Medicaid, dating back to the first of the month. When I tell people my story, we all agree this has been a miracle.”

Sharon Daugherty,
Parent

Whole Child Connection

“In my line of work, it is necessary to have information about our community’s resources at my fingertips. The Whole Child Connection has helped me connect families to critical resources that assist with housing, counseling, childcare, utility assistance, and much more.”

Brooke Coatney,
Family Services Coordinator, Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend

Whole Child Professional Network

“The Whole Child Professional Network allows us the opportunity to make valuable connections with other agencies to better serve our clients as well as their clients. By networking with such a broad range of professionals, we share ideas and find new ways to work together in order to fulfill our common goals.”