June 2014

NCLR recently released its report on the impact on Latinos of the failure of Florida to expand Medicaid. Joining NCLR for a discussion and press conference was Planned Parenthood, Florida CHAIN, Mi Familia Vota, WellCare, Hispanic Health Initiative, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando, Rep. Torres, Rep. Rangel, and Sen. Soto. The case for Medicaid expansion will be made as we go into this fall’s election and Sunshine Advocacy looks forward to being a part of this campaign.

The current failure to expand Medicaid in Florida under the Aīordable Care Act (ACA) has had a disparate, adverse impact on the health of the Latinos community:

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly 200,000 Hispanics are in the coverage gap as a result of the state’s failure to expand Medicaid.
Latinos are disproportionately represented among those in the Medicaid coverage gap. While Hispanics compose 23% of Florida’s population, they represent 26% of Floridians in the coverage gap.
Thirty-six percent of nonelderly Latinos in Florida are uninsured—the third-highest rate of uninsured Latinos of any state in the country.
Lack of insurance and access to preventive care exacerbates health disparities for Hispanics, who are more likely to be confronted with diseases that require routine health management such as diabetes, kidney disease, and HIV/AIDS.

In addition to reducing health disparities for Hispanics, expanding Medicaid carries broader socioeconomic benefits for Latinos. Medicaid expansion has the potential to:

Improve the financial security of Latinos and other low-income Floridians by reducing the incidence of medical bankruptcies.
Create up to 121,000 new jobs and generate $71 billion in economic activity during the Įrst ten years. Latino workers in particular, who are disproportionately clustered in jobs that pay by the hour and are more vulnerable to income loss due to their own illness or that of a family member, stand to benefit.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

dadatdozierschool1 — Dads at Dozier School

On Friday, May 16, religious leaders met with NAACP representatives and members of the Florida CFO’s office to receive a first-hand report from USF Professors Erin Kimmerle and Antoinette Jackson on their forensic and oral history research into the deaths of boys under state care at the youth facility outside Marianna, FL. In a two hour discussion following the briefing, the group agreed to form the Interfaith Commission for Florida’s Children and Youth and to draft a letter to Governor Scott asking that the disposition or sale of any of the 1400 acres on which the youth facility was situated be put on hold.

While the full scope of the commission will be determined as it takes up this work, the presenting agenda includes: extending due regard and demoralization of the youth whose bodies have been recovered, engaging in community conversations that address how we should remember and care for Florida’s children, and considering recommendations as to the historic preservation of significant structures on the site.

Most of the children who were killed while under state care died before 1957. By then a second school had been opened in Okeechobee. In 1968, the school was desegregated and renamed the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. The youth facility was closed in 2011 for financial reasons after extensive publicity around a federal investigation into allegations of abuse.

Within Jackson County there is an economic desire to foreclose research and return at least a portion of the site to development. In particular, there is a state of the art maximum security facility on the site that could become a private youth detention center. The prospect of this happening quickly before all remains of those who have been found have been identified was of deep concern to those at the meeting. There are still many unanswered questions for the final report to address.

Florida’s youth facility was not a rogue institution. Children were sent there from across the state and even from other states. Its history reflects the norm for state practices, from convict leasing and peonage up to private prisons of today. Those shifting norms included racial violence, segregation, and punishments that dehumanize children. Many, if not most, of the deaths of children at the facility were not accidental. The church played a role at the facilities, providing both White and Black ministers on site.

The Interfaith Commission for Florida’s Children and Youth will take seriously how faith was co-opted to support the cultural norms of the day. Our work is not about assigning blame. It is about healing. As we remember the past afresh, may we be inspired to not repeat it in the future. As one state official said, ‘These are Florida’s children. These are our children.” Let us do right by their memory.

We all embrace the well-being of our children. Let us work together so that Florida truly embraces all of its children. For more information and how to join the Commission, contact Rev. Russell Meyer, rmeyer@floridachurches.org

Resources:

For Their Own Good – Tampa Bay Times

USF Interim Report

Month: June 2014

Medicaid Expansion in Florida – A Latino Perspective

The Dozier School for Boys – Interfaith Commission for Florida’s Children and Youth Launched