Monthly Archives: July 2019

In the busyness of everyday life, it can be difficult for individuals to become civically or politically engaged in their community. To stand up for something takes commitment, courage, and an unyielding passion for change which can hube difficult for some people to realize. Renowned amongst Central Florida for decades’ worth of political and social advocacy, Dick Batchelor’s dedication to the wellbeing of children has made him a champion and leader in child wellness.
In an interview with Batchelor last week we got a chance to explore this champion’s roots in youth advocacy, and discuss the political milestones he’s accomplished that have made him this month’s Child Advocate Star.

Elected to the Florida House at 26, responsible for signing 43 bills into law in a single session, and the sponsor of a 33 year long “Run for the Children” 5k benefit, Dick Batchelor’s career in public policy and advocacy efforts have shaped the futures of Florida youth for generations to come. Singularly, the annual “Run for the Children” benefit raised $1.5 million over its 33 years in operation to help children suffering child abuse and neglect. Considering the scale of his youth advocacy accomplishments, we felt the need to ask Batchelor “Why kids?”

Ultimately, Batchelor told us he advocates for kids based on his own experiences living in poverty while growing up. Born in North Carolina, Batchelor told us his parents were tobacco sharecroppers before they relocated the family to a public housing facility in Orlando Florida. Living in public housing, young Batchelor often witnessed incidents of domestic violence and child abuse that would occur in neighboring homes.
Though not a victim of violence himself, the haunting images of youth living in unsafe and neglectful conditions would stay with Batchelor for years to come as he began his political career, influencing Batchelor’s involvement with human rights and family policy. But how did a young Dick Batchelor from a sharecropping family become so fundamentally engaged in politics?

After graduating high school, Batchelor enlisted in the Marines, beginning what would eventually amount to decades worth of service to the American public. While Batchelor left the U.S. Marines after his tour in Vietnam, the American patriot returned home to enroll in Valencia State College, and later, Florida Technological University.

It was here at the collegiate level that Batchelor became heavily involved with campus politics, such as election campaigns and the Democrat Club, and began hosting local commissioners and representatives to speak to students. Through civic and campus engagement, preconceived barriers to the political world, such as an Ivy League education, family occupation, or wealth, began to fall away.

“The more candidates I met for office, the more I thought ‘I could do this,’” Batchelor told us. Proving himself right, Batchelor became one of the youngest elected officials in the state House of Representatives when he won Florida’s 43rd District at the age of 26 in 1974.

Batchelor’s election in 1974 was really just the beginning of what would come to be his legacy, as he quickly became an integral member of the state House, and a leader in public policy. Over the course of his political career Batchelor was heavily involved with policy drafting, and was responsible for rewriting several political acts such as the Juvenile Delinquency Act (an act which requires states follow “core protections” when caring for youth in the justice system,) and toughening protection legislation like the Spouse Abuse Law. In 2002, Batchelor’s political work led the Orlando Sentinel to name him “Central Floridian of the Year” for his successful “Change 4 Kids” campaign, an initiative that implemented a half-a-penny tax in order to generate over $2 billion worth of funding to refurbish failing Orlando public schools. Mentioned earlier, Batchelor was also the sponsor of Orlando’s “Run for the Children” 5k benefit, which was held annually for 33 years until it’s completion in 2014. In its 33 year run, Batchelor’s 5k raised more than $1.5 million to treat abused youth at the Florida Children’s Hospital.

Orlando’s 33rd “Run for the Children” Event at Universal Studios

With the completion of “Run for the Children”, our questions turned to what this Child Advocate Star would be focusing his attentions on next. More recently, Batchelor’s youth advocacy efforts have been in collaboration with organizations such as the Orange County Commission of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, and Florida Children’s First. Through the Orange County Commission, Batchelor is continuing his child abuse prevention work, collaborating with county and state representatives to come up with policy initiatives that would help parents and children overcome factors that lead to abuse. While the Commission’s advocacy actions are specific to domestic violence issues, Batchelor’s work with Florida’s Children First more holistically focuses on fighting for children’s rights in government.

Despite the successes observed in his time as political advocate, Batchelor has admitted child welfare has a long way to go before it can effectively eliminate some of the factors endangering our future generations. In politics, Batchelor told us “what you find is, people don’t know to care,” about issues affecting their community, or in this case, the community’s children. Often, when voters are un-supporting of bills that would improve the state’s ability to provide for endangered youth, its not because they don’t want to help, but because they don’t understand the factors surrounding the bill.

To combat public ignorance about youth welfare needs, Batchelor avows that child advocates must stay vigilant and outspoken, both politically and within their community. Historically, no platform has existed within Central Florida for youth advocates to support, making it increasingly difficult both for advocates to become involved and the public to become aware of issues affecting youth in the community. This lack of platform has often left youth welfare efforts undirected, and politically unsuccessful compared to other more popularized legislative actions.

Newly founded, PAC organizations such as Future Effect provide this much needed platform for child welfare advocates. By collaborating with leaders such as Dick Batchelor, and engaging the local Orlando area in community advocacy activities, Future Effect is helping to pave the way for future generations, igniting a vigilance for child wellness that will not be extinguished.