Joanne Jacobsen, left, and Ida Plotkin, of Friends of the Linda Ray Intervention Center, march down Biscayne Boulevard during the recent Forgotten Children Campaign, an event that drew hundreds of people to downtown Miami to raise awareness of the plight of Miami-Dade’s foster kids.

Jacobsen and Plotkin were joined by a group of teachers and staff from the center, a UM Department of Psychology initiative that offers early intervention services to abused and neglected children. Many of the children are in the foster care system as a result of parental substance abuse and child maltreatment, and during their years in the program they and their families have moved toward rehabilitation and permanency.

The event featured 850 life-size cutouts bearing actual messages from foster children and representing the number of children who enter the foster care system daily in the United States. The fundraising campaign was held by Voices For Children Foundation, the fundraising arm of the 11th Judicial Circuit Guardian Ad Litem Program. The Linda Ray Intervention Center partnered with Voices for an opportunity to raise funds for the center while raising awareness of these forgotten children.