Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) gathered in Roseau, Dominica on Thursday for the organization’s 21st Intersessional Meeting. The agenda to be discussed in the two day (March 11 and 12th) meeting include the Haiti and the Community’s continued support following the January 12 earthquake; the Region’s response to the global economic and financial crisis, water shortage in the region and the status of the outstanding matter of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). 

The meeting was convened, and will be chaired by Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, and will be attended by at least thirteen Heads of Caribbean Government. It is not certain if Haiti President René Préval, who met with U.S. President at the White House in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, will be attending the meeting. However, it is understand that a leading member of the Haitian government will attend.  

Caribbean governments are concerned about the relief and reconstruction efforts required in Haiti, a member of CARICOM. The Community’s prompt response to the disaster was led by Jamaica, which is the sub-regional focal point for the area including Haiti under the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) arrangements.  

CARICOM’s primary focus in Haiti is health. The Community’s Health Initiative involves providing some 14 health personnel to be rotated initially every 14 days. The Community has lent tangible assistance in other areas such as providing relief supplies, conducting relief supply operations and mobilizing resources with some US$9.4M pledged to date.  CARICOM has relocated its mission to Leogane, a town on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. 

The leaders will discuss water resources within the Community under the broader heading of `Critical issues in the development of the Community’. 

The agricultural sector, a key resource in many Member States, has been hard hit by the prolonged dry season in countries including Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago – all of which are reporting abnormally dry conditions. 

With water conservation plans in place in some Member States and resources allocated to alleviate the effects of the drought, CARICOM governments are encouraging conservation. El Nino, the weather phenomenon, has been blamed for the extended dry spell. Consideration will also be given to climate change in the context of the Region’s follow-up action to the Copenhagen Summit held last December 2009. 

The Head of the leading multinational agencies, the World Bank, The Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, providing financial assistance to the Caribbean have been invited to the regional meeting. 

Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of CARICOM said last week

CARICOM will seek to articulate its positions on the major challenges it faces when it holds talks with the heads of the multi-laterals. Carrington is anticipating the discussions will result in the identification of new and viable approaches to the treatment of some of the major challenges of the Community including the crippling debt burden being carried by Member States which do not now qualify for concessionary debt reduction following their graduation from middle income status. 

The Heads of Government will also hold discussions with Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States. 

Key matters related to external trade that the Meeting will address include the negotiations for a CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement; the status of implementation of the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement and the renewal of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. 

The meeting will also consider follow-up to and preparations for upcoming summits including a CARICOM-Brazil Summit in April.

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All indications are that the 2010 Census is about to commence. On Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau began mailing advance letters, signed by Census Bureau director, Robert M. Groves, to about 120 million addresses nationwide, notifying households that 2010 Census forms will be arriving at their residents between March 15 and 17. The letters urge households to complete the 10-question census form when it arrives and return it in the accompanying prepaid envelope as soon as possible. 

“The advance letter helps people know that their 2010 Census form will be arriving soon,” said Groves. “It’s an important reminder about the impact the census has on our communities, that the census is important and that everyone needs to participate.” 

It is extremely important that residents of South Florida, irrespective of their residential status, be counted in the 2010 Census. This project which is undertaken by the U.S. Census Bureau every 10 years, is important not just to have an up-to-date count of how many people live in the U.S., but more importantly to ascertain the number of residents living in specific communities and political districts. As city, county and state representatives have been telling their constituents over the past few months, an accurate indication of how may people reside in certain political districts, is indicative of the financial support that districts receive from the federal government for facilities like housing, highways, schools and health facilities. Undercounting a community means less government financial support for that community. 

For the Caribbean-American population, the 2010 Census is of particular importance. Leaders of the nationwide Caribbean Community have been waging a campaign led by CaribID 2010, a New York organization, to ensure that Caribbean nationals are identified as Caribbean in this year’s Census. Although the census form has no category to indicate that one is of Caribbean descent, Caribbean nationals can write in the word ‘Caribbean,’ when asked to indicate their ethnicity. This is not for Caribbean nationals to differentiate themselves, from African Americans, but for there to be an accurate count of Caribbean nationals, for economic, social and political reasons. 

In past Census projects there was a tendency for residents to discard the advance census forms, requiring census takers to make follow-up visits, which some residents find inconvenient. It is therefore important that when the census forms arrive, they are completed and returned in the time frame stated by the Census Bureau. 

Census Bureau research shows that sending an advance letter, and reminder postcard if necessary, boosts census mail-back rates and save money. For every 1 percent increase in households that respond by mail, taxpayers save about $85 million in operational costs associated with census takers following up with households that did not mail back the form. 

The more than 120 million households that receive both the advance letter and 2010 Census form by mail represent about 90 percent of all residential addresses in the country. Census workers recently started hand-delivering census forms to another 9 percent of addresses in areas where many households lack traditional postal addresses. 

Less than 1 percent of households are in areas where it’s more efficient for census takers to conduct census interviews rather than drop-off and require mail-back of the form.

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With just 52 percent of in Miami-Dade Black third graders scoring a 3 or higher on Reading FCAT compared to 84 percent of White and 67 percent of Hispanic students in 2009 according to the Florida Department of Education statistics, the Urban League of Miami’s Development Revolution sees the need to help tackle the problem.

The Urban League wants Liberty City families to know that their children can pass the test, with a little support from them. The League has launched a community-wide campaign to encourage parents and caregivers to contribute to their children’s success on the standardized test, launching a billboard advertisement in the heart of Liberty City, working directly with Dr. Henry W. Mack/West Little River Elementary School to develop activities that encourage parents to help their children prepare for the tests, which begin Tuesday, March 9.

The 14' x 24' billboard, with the message: "FCAT, Yes We Can!" -- is located on the corner of 62nd Street and 7th Avenue in Miami.

“The Black community has spent years fighting the FCAT,” said Urban League of Greater Miami president T. Willard Fair. “Now it’s time to focus on making sure all our kids pass it. The test isn’t going anywhere.”

The Department of Education statistics also found that among Miami-Dade 10th graders, just 53 percent of White students scored a 3 or above on the Reading FCAT, but the percentage dropped to 33 percent for Hispanic and just 16 percent for Black students. In math, 90 percent of White 3rd graders scored a 3 or above on the FCAT in 2009, versus 79 percent of Hispanic and 64 percent of Black students, while for 10th graders, 83 percent of White, 68 percent of Hispanic and 50 percent of Black students scored a 3 or above.

And while Fair points out that statewide, overall test scores for students of all ethnic groups have improved in recent years, “we can and must do better,” he says. “Getting our children educated and prepared for both college and life is the primary responsibility of the adults in our community. It’s time we all stepped up to that responsibility.”

Here are some tips the League is providing to parents as they gear up for the FCAT:

1. Make sure children get a good night’s sleep every night before the test. Studies show children who get 8-10 hours sleep are more alert, and do better on tests than kids who sleep less.

2. Feed your children a good breakfast on test morning, and every morning. Those who need assistance, or who think they may qualify for free breakfast, can contact their school or the Urban League at 305-696-4450 for help.

3. Read to children frequently, to spark their interest in learning, including reading books, or even the newspaper with them. When children see the adults around them taking an interest in learning and in current events, they’re more likely to take an interest, too.

4. Help children boost their vocabulary by engaging them in conversation. A simple chat about the events of their day gives kids an opportunity to improve their communication skills.

5. Encourage and support your children, grandchildren, and all the children you know. Kids respond to knowing that the adults around them believe in them and are excited about their achievements.

For more information, or to join the Development Revolution, contact the Urban League of Greater Miami at 305.696.4450 or log onto miamiurbanleague.org.

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“Look, I am no dead-beat dad, but if I’m not working, how can I give her money for the children?” asked Rudie, a young man standing outside a Miami court, awaiting a child-support hearing.

Desreen, the mother of three who took Rudie to court, said she had no financial support from him “for well over a year,” although the court authorized him to pay child support early last year. She said she had no choice but to take him to court. “I filed the case against him over six month ago, and today is the first time the case has been called. It’s very frustrating.”

This frustration caused from delays in child support cases, has become commonplace in Florida.

According to reports from Tallahassee, the state’s family court system is choked with child support cases. As the state’s economy continues to struggle, more fathers are finding it difficult to support their children, and more mothers have turned to the courts to force the fathers to pay support.

On the other hand, fathers like Rudie, who have child support court orders but can’t pay the amounts ordered, are also trying to have the courts review their cases.

Mothers like Desreen, who are trying to get court appointed child support, have to wait some six months to get a hearing; and parents trying to get court ordered payments modified because of wage cuts or unemployment, have to wait up to three months. A year ago both legal processes took three to six weeks to be heard, the reports say.

With the demand from cases for child support growing, court officials in the state are clamoring for additional staff – a demand that is unlikely to be fulfilled with the state strapped for cash.

Laticia Moss, a Fort Lauderdale social worker says the situation is grave. “Children in South Florida are suffering because mothers are not getting support, and can’t get the court to enforce support fast enough. Fathers who cannot afford the amounts the court has set are also having a hard time getting their case modified so they can pay less.”

Fathers seeking to have their child support payments reduced have doubled across the state since 2006, the reports state.

Rudie says he wants his case reviewed because “It’s very hard on me.” He adds that since he couldn’t make court-authorized child support payments his driver’s license was suspended. “Now, I have no ID to get a job. If I can’t get a job, I can’t pay anything.”

Attorneys verified that a consequence of not paying court approved child support can be suspension of one’s driver’s license. Other possible consequences are garnishment of salary and bank accounts, and, because not paying child support is considered a “flaw in one’s moral character,” it can be a deterrent in getting citizenship approval.

While established attorneys and legal-aid organizations can help in child support or for modification of child support cases, it is the court system that has to consider these requests. So, unless the state court system can find ways of alleviating the current bottleneck without increasing their paid staff, people like Rudie and Desreen must exercise patience for their respective requests to be heard by the courts.

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