Florida Children and Youth Cabinet

VISION: All children in Florida grow up safe, healthy, educated and prepared to meet their full potential.

MISSION: To ensure that the public policy of Florida relating to children and youth promotes interdepartmental collaboration and program implementation in order for services designed for children and youth to be planned, managed and delivered in a holistic and integrated manner to improve the self-sufficiency, safety, economic stability, health and quality of life of all children and youth in Florida.

David Wilkins, Chairman

On July 11, 2007, legislation was signed by the Governor that created the Children and Youth Cabinet. The members of the Children and Youth Cabinet consist of a chairman, the secretaries of the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Agency for Health Care Administration, as well as the directors of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and the Office of Early Learning. Other members include the State Surgeon General, the Commissioner of Education, the director of the Guardian ad Litem Office, and the director of the Governor’s Office of Adoption and Child Protection. Additionally, the Governor appoints five members from around the state who are representatives of children and youth advocacy organizations, but who are not service providers. Rounding out the Cabinet are the five ex-officio members named in statute, or their designees. The Florida Children and Youth Cabinet members include:

Agency Heads

Chairman
Secretary David Wilkins
Department of Children & Families

Secretary Wansley Walters
Department of Juvenile Justice

Director Michael Hansen
Agency for Persons with Disabilities

Interim Surgeon General Steven Harris, MD
Department of Health

Secretary Elizabeth Dudek
Agency for Health Care Administration

Commissioner Gerard Robinson
Department of Education

Executive Director Alan Abramowitz
Guardian ad Litem

Director Cyndee Odom
Office of Adoption and Child Protection, Executive Office of the Governor

Director Mel Jurado, Ph.D.
Office of Early Learning

Youth Commission Representative

Governor’s Appointees

Toni Crawford
Chair, Early Learning Coalition of Duval County

Dr. Steven Wallace
President, Florida State College at Jacksonville

David Lawrence, Jr.
President, The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation in Miami University Scholar for Early Childhood Development and Readiness at the University of Florida

Judy Schaechter, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine

Steven J. Uhlfelder, Esquire
Uhlfelder and Associates

Five Ex-Officio Members

Senator Nan Rich
Minority Leader, Florida Senate
Designee of the Florida Senate President

Representative Gayle Harrell
Designee of the Speaker of the House

Justice Barbara Pariente, Esquire
Florida Supreme Court
Designee of Chief Justice Charles T. Canady

Berthy De La Rosa-Aponte
Designee of Attorney General Pam Bondi

Alison Dudley
Dudley and Associates
Designee of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater

The Cabinet is charged with promoting and implementing collaboration, creativity, increased efficiency, information sharing and improved service delivery between and within state agencies and organizations.

As directed by statute, in 2007 the Cabinet developed a shared vision and a Strategic Plan to guide the Cabinet in designing and implementing measurable outcomes and actions that promote collaboration and information sharing. The Children and Youth Cabinet’s Annual Report for 2012 is a section within the 2011 Annual Report of the Office of Adoption and Child Protection and provides more detail about these efforts.

Cabinet Meeting Materials

Cabinet Initiatives:

Headline Indicators: