What You Need To Know

• The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County launched an initiative to safeguard children online and equip families with vital support called Parent ProTech
• Through taxpayer dollars, JWB is making it possible for all Pinellas County parents, grandparents and concerned citizens to receive a free annual subscription to Parent ProTech
• Parent ProTech is an online platform that has a vast online library which includes expert-backed guides, videos, conversation starters and safety recommendations on topics like parental controls, social media, AI and more
• Katie Blaxberg is a mother of three and says to keep up with the fast-changing online world, this has been a helpful resource for parenting

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Online games are meant to be fun.

They entertain us, they connect us, but sometimes it is who they connect us to that is concerning. 

Katie Blaxberg is a mother of three. Two of those three are teenage boys. 

“They have PlayStations, you know, they have their laptops for school,” said Blaxberg. “And of course, with teenagers, the ever-present phone.”

To keep up with the wonders and also the worries that come with the world of online access, she has been using a new free tool available to all Pinellas County residents now.

It is called Parent ProTech.

“Every video that I’ve watched and I’ve watched a lot are really easily digestible. They’re short. They’re to the point,” said Blaxberg. 

The application shares the latest information on just about every game, social media platform and application that kids use today. 

Parent ProTech is meant to educate, but also help parents safeguard their kids. 

“It’s not only parents, it’s grandparents, it’s caregivers and anyone who touches the child to ensure that they are protected,” said Michael Mikurak, Interim CEO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

The JWB is funding this free resource using taxpayer dollars. 

Mikurak said they worked with law enforcement on finding this resource and it was statistics about predators that motivated the JWB to make this available. 

The FBI estimates half a million predators are active online daily. Locally, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office conducted more than 100 investigations into child pornography in 2025 with more than 1,000 counts of child pornography being obtained, shared and viewed.

Parent ProTech has a big goal of helping parents thwart predators by educating and monitoring their children. 

“They show you how to put in parental controls, how to ensure that your child is safe, and just what questions to ask,” said Mikurak.

For parents like Blaxberg, it is also nice for when kids come to them with the latest app and social media site asking questions. 

“For your child to come to you and say, ‘Hey, I want this app,’ and you then as a parent can go to this resource, look it up. If it’s not there, you can message them right away,” said Blaxberg. 

To sign up for Parent ProTech, just a name, email and zip code are required at app.parentprotech.com/jwb. The zip code is necessary to ensure the fee is waived for Pinellas County residents.

Watch the video segment and read the article as originally published at https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2026/03/03/parent-protech-juvenile-welfare-board

JWB’s offer of free Parent ProTech accounts for Pinellas families was mentioned at the beginning of the news segment for Safer Internet Day that aired and is posted on Fox 13.

The Brief

• The FBI in Tampa has reported a spike in threats, with more than half of the reported threats in 2026 coming from social media.
• On Safer Internet Day, state and federal law enforcement agencies are warning about the trends they’re seeing in the Tampa Bay area.
• FBI agents say they’re expanding capacity to work more closely with local law enforcement agencies to help investigate threat cases.

FBI agents in the Tampa Bay say they’ve seen a spike in threats, specifically social media threats.

By the numbers: Agents with the FBI Tampa Field Office say they’ve received 105 reports of threats since the beginning of the year. 69 of those threats have come from social media.

In 2025, Special Agent Matt Fodor says they tracked 580 threat cases.

“Only 2% of those cases resulted in a federal arrest,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the rest of them were not arrested. It means that’s what we charged federally.”

What they’re saying: Fodor says they work with local law enforcement to thwart these threats through a number of disruption techniques.

“It could be a mental health issue that requires social services engagement,” he said. “Sometimes a Baker Act with an extended visit is a disruption for us. But clearly, there’s an epidemic out there and not only that, juveniles. We have very limited resources to combat juveniles, and the locals are just very well-postured to handle those individuals.”

He says they have to take each threat that they investigate seriously.

“There’s a lot of folks that really like to get clicks and like the attention online, so seemingly they pick topics that are controversial, and they’ll use that as a platform to make threats,” Fodor said.

He says in some cases, they’re empty threats, but in other cases, they could be intercepting a potential tragedy.

“Oftentimes, after a tragedy strikes, we kind of dig in a little bit and find out one, that somebody knew about it,” Fodor said. “But number two, that there was some sort of leakage or some way that this individual is communicating the world of their intent.”

Dig deeper: Fodor says local law enforcement agencies are particularly well-equipped to investigate school threats. He says the local counties have robust threat teams, but many of them focus primarily on school threats.

“Schools, got it,” he said. “They were on top of it, but anything else, I felt some significant need to get involved and provide some additional training to them. And then the other thing is, the FBI can act as a flagpole.”

Fodor pointed out other types of threat cases like stalking and threats to businesses.

He says the FBI is expanding its capacity to help train local law enforcement and provide them with additional resources to work with one another.

“We also have local threat management coordinators that train all of local law enforcement on the current things that we’re seeing, as far as threats go, and trying to build that network,” Fodor said.

Crimes against children

State and federal officials are also trying to make a dent in crimes against children. FBI agents say Florida is a hotbed for these types of crimes.

“Your child who is sitting in your living room could be on multiple platforms,” U.S. Attorney of the Middle District of Florida Gregory Kehoe said. “Talking to someone while you and she or he are watching television and you don’t know who this stranger is in your living room.”

Kehoe says they’ve seen these types of cases escalate with the use of social media platforms and chatrooms.

“Law enforcement can do so much,” he said. “We get leads, we track down the leads, investigate the matters, and we prosecute people that are involved in these internet threats. But there is a whole array of platforms and communication devices that the young people in this community and elsewhere are privy to.”

Kehoe emphasized the importance of parents and families being involved in the children’s lives. He says they need to take a proactive approach to monitoring what their children are doing online.

“The dark web is a very dangerous place and it is, I don’t want to say omnipresent, but pretty close,” he said.

Kehoe says arresting these perpetrators is not the lone solution to this problem.

“They take that platform down and in miraculous speed they’re up on another platform,” he said. “So frankly, there is no way that law enforcement can police this without the help of parents.”

In Pinellas County, the Juvenile Welfare Board recently announced that it’s paying for memberships for parents and families to Parent ProTech, which is a platform for parents to educate themselves on how to keep their children safe online.

View the segment and read the article as originally published at https://www.fox13news.com/news/social-media-threats-spike-across-bay-area-heres-how-protect-yourself-online

Children have more access to digital technologies than ever before. From smartphones to tablets, young people are using devices to engage on social media, play games and explore the world around them. 

According to an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidance published Jan. 20, limiting screen time is not sufficient. Caregivers need to take a more active approach and oversee their children’s digital activity. 

“Regardless of the amount of time our kids are on screens, if they are not appropriate consumers of the information that they are taking in or we are not teaching them how to appropriately engage with others on social media,” said Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital director of psychology and neuropsychology Jennifer Katzenstein, “then we are going to continue to have issues especially as it relates to mental health.” 

She explained that too much or too little time on social media platforms, especially for girls, has led to increased rates of depression and suicidal thoughts. “So, there is really this sweet spot in the middle when it comes to social media use and it differs for every kid.” 

Video games can also have a negative impact on children, Katzenstein said. Playing high violence titles like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto can lead to “more violent tendencies and disruptive behavior.” 

Even the nightly news can affect young people. She explained that it is important for parents to talk to their sons and daughters about “what’s happened, what they might have seen and process it together.” 

Consumption of media is not the only issue. Adolescents are able to communicate with strangers via social platforms and games. 

The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County in partnership with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office launched an initiative in December to help combat cybercrimes and human trafficking. 

Parents, caregivers and concerned citizens are able to sign up for a free annual membership to Parent ProTech – a platform that provides educational resources about modern technologies. 

Juvenile Welfare Board interim CEO Michael Mikurak explained in a Catalyze 2026 interview that there are approximately 800,000 registered sex offenders in the country. About 2,000 of them live in Pinellas. 

Katzenstein said that it’s essential that caregivers know who their children are talking to. Additionally, they should monitor all devices and understand every app and how it works. 

More importantly, guardians can establish rules – such as do not communicate with anyone you do not know in real life, and do not give out any personal information. 

Katzenstein recommends that families sit down and discuss screen time parameters and expectations. Parents can find media use plans online to help. 

She additionally suggests that caregivers store and charge devices outside of the bedroom to help prevent sleeplessness and distraction at nighttime. It’s also another layer of protection. 

Guardians could consider spending more time with their children outside the home, she said, to help decrease screen time and negative mental health impacts. 

The digital ecosystem can have a positive impact as well. Certain content can encourage learning and development, according to the new AAP guidance. 

Read the article as originally published at https://stpetecatalyst.com/new-digital-ecosystem-guidance-released-for-parents/

Pinellas County commissioners voted Tuesday to rename the Bayside Bridge after Bob Dillinger and Bernie McCabe. Dillinger served six terms as the Pinellas-Pasco public defender. McCabe was a long-time state attorney, and the two spent decades working together on the Juvenile Welfare Board. Commissioner Chris Latvala spearheaded efforts to rename the bridge the Dillinger McCabe Bayside Bridge. McCabe and Dillinger died in 2021 and 2024, respectively.

Read the article as originally published at https://stpetecatalyst.com/zaps/county-renames-bayside-bridge-after-iconic-local-attorneys/

Bob Dillinger loved bridges.

On his way to the courthouse, where he served six terms as the Pinellas-Pasco public defender, he would often put his car in cruise control and look out at the glistening water as he crossed the Bayside Bridge.

“If there was a bridge in sight, he’d want to go over it,” said his wife, Kay Dillinger.

On Tuesday, Pinellas County commissioners voted to rename the Bayside Bridge the Dillinger McCabe Bayside Bridge in honor of Dillinger and Bernie McCabe, the former Pinellas-Pasco state attorney who worked alongside Dillinger for nearly three decades to help improve the region’s juvenile justice system.

The idea originated from Commissioner Chris Latvala, who sought Kay Dillinger’s permission to pursue the name change after her husband died in 2024.

She was immediately on board.

“It means that Bob’s name will continue to be known throughout the county,” she told the Tampa Bay Times. “If he had the decision to have something named after himself, it would be a bridge.”

Kay Dillinger met her future husband in 1976, when she was a court reporter and he was an assistant public defender. They got married four years later.

Years later, he told her he wanted to run for public defender because “I’m tired of going into court and seeing the same children there week after week that have dead eyes and no hope,” she remembered.

“I intend to change that,” he told her.

Dillinger concentrated on revamping the juvenile portion of the public defender’s office to ensure children had the same attorney throughout their proceedings, concentrating on keeping youth out of the criminal justice system through positive experiences with counsel.

He created Crossover for Children in 2008, which pairs a child with the same public defender for both civil and criminal cases. The program gives children legal help and a consistent advocate when their lives are often marked by uncertainty and trauma, Kay Dillinger said.

Bob Dillinger was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007. By the time he retired in 2020, he was on his ninth round of chemotherapy.

He died in 2024 at the age of 72.

Dillinger and McCabe served together on the Juvenile Welfare Board and advocated for Safe Harbor, a shelter and service center for people experiencing homelessness that opened near Largo in 2011.

To honor the service of Dillinger and McCabe, who died in 2021, the Juvenile Welfare Board created the Dillinger-McCabe Putting Children First Leadership Award. It’s presented annually to “a well-established leader and champion for Pinellas County children and families,” according to the organization’s website.

Kay Dillinger said McCabe and her husband had a “wonderful working relationship and friendship.”

“They agreed to disagree and agree at times because they had a job to do,” she said. “It was known around the state that the state attorney and the public defender in Pinellas-Pasco were the epitome of making the criminal justice system work.”

Kay Dillinger maintains a close friendship with McCabe’s wife, Denise, who stood alongside her Tuesday morning for the announcement of the bridge’s renaming.

The most touching moment was when the commissioners handed them a miniature version of the road sign that will appear on the bridge, said Denise McCabe.

Bernie McCabe always wanted to be a defense attorney, she said, until he worked in the State Attorney’s Office prosecution clinic while in college at Stetson University.

“He was not just blindly prosecutorial,” she said. “No other pairs in those two seats in the state of Florida at the time got along.”

Despite their different backgrounds, Denise McCabe said, Dillinger and her husband always had a mutual respect for each other and worked together as a team.

“I know Bernie is smiling down and I know he is so honored,” she said.

Read the article as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinellas/2026/01/20/bayside-bridge-bob-dillinger-bernie-mccabe-public-defender-state-attorney/

Announcing a new local digital safety initiative in partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB), local law enforcement, and Pinellas County Schools, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) are warning parents about online safety for children. In a recent Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s Post, the department compared leaving children unprotected online to leaving doors or windows unlocked at home, emphasizing the risks of digital threats.

JWB and Pinellas County officials (pictured above at JWB’s December 8 press conference, hosted by PCSO) are warning parents about risks such as cyberbullying and online predators. To help, JWB is offering free access to Parent ProTech, a tool designed to promote online safety for children.

Parent ProTech provides resources to help parents monitor and guide their children’s online activity, including educational videos on AI chatbots, social media guidance, and parental control tips. JWB is offering the subscription—normally $4.99 per month—free to local families.

The Sheriff’s Office emphasizes digital literacy for both homes and schools. Parent ProTech includes a K–12 curriculum to help educators guide students’ online activity. Parents can sign up for free membership through links in the original social media post.

Read the article as originally published at https://hoodline.com/2026/01/pinellas-county-sheriff-s-office-promotes-cyber-safety-for-kids-with-free-parent-protech-access/

The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County (JWB) is now offering parents free resources to protect your kids from the dangers of Artificial Intelligence. 

JWB has partnered with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, other local law enforcement agencies and Pinellas County Schools on a new digital safety initiative, which includes JWB bringing families a free subscription to Parent ProTech.

“Kids spend hours every day on their devices, using social media, playing games, and possibly chatting with AI bots,” the sheriff’s office said in a post on Facebook about their partnership with JWB. “That opens them up to all kinds of trouble including bullying, harassment, and exploitation.” 

Parent ProTech helps parents and caregivers navigate the world of technology with:

• Content and resources about keeping kids safe online
• Videos on topics like AI chatbots, online predators, and social media platforms
• Information on parental controls and the latest trends
• A K-12 curriculum for educators

While the subscription would normally cost $4.99 a month, JWB is offering it to local families for free through this link.

View the segment and article as originally published at https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/pinellas-county-parent-protech-ai-protection/67-c76ccea7-f83c-48ba-810a-f1d60a0134ac

Keshawn’s Korner founder and CEO Ricquesha Fuller believes bridging the gap between youth and adults can play a key role in tackling mental health challenges.

She started the nonprofit in memory of her son, Keshawn Fuller, who took his own life. The organization’s tailored support includes matching teens with mentors and peers who understand their mental health challenges.

Keshawn’s Korner hosted a mental wellness panel event Jan. 10 at the Enoch Davis Center. Panelists include two licensed mental health counselors, Edward Settles and Denise Moore, and four young adults, Traverious Jenkins, Ta’Nayshia Grover, Kiana Favors and Aiymere Sanchez. 

The conversation started with how to find passion and encouragement. 

Favors, 20, argued that passion “changes with time” because life is consistently evolving. She believes it’s important to find passions that foster growth and help an individual become a better person. 

“Being a youth in the community, I’ve bumped my head a lot. I’ve run into walls and have been in trouble,” said Sanchez, 19. “Constant reassurance and love and gratitude from my parents and people in my community constantly uplift me every time I fall down.” 

Another key topic that was discussed was role models. 

“I didn’t have a lot of men in my life. So, I had a best friend who had a lot of men in his life,” Jenkins, 24, explained. “I hung out with him most of the time so that I could see and observe what men actually did on a daily basis.” 

Moore, who oversees a counseling practice in Tampa, stressed the importance of adult mentors. 

“If we want our younger generation to be better and to be well, we have to be willing to talk to them,” she told the Catalyst. “We have to be willing to let them know about our experiences, and what we went through and what worked and didn’t work.” 

Speaking with adults is just one aspect of seeking guidance. Many young people choose to talk to friends, cousins or siblings. 

Grover, 20, and Favors discussed the importance of being surrounded by peers who are encouraging. More importantly, those who keep you accountable. 

“How I knew my best friend was right for me was the space she holds for me,” Grover said. “She teaches me and inspires me and I can learn from her. Everything that is not right in her eyes, she can let me know.” 

Favors added that it’s essential to have friends who support growth and understand that “my current situation is not my final destination.” Sometimes, she explained, all it takes is having a person who is there to listen and not gossip. 

Settles spoke with Jenkins and Sanchez about vulnerability, particularly about the things they fear in regards to growing up and maturing. 

Jenkins explained that if he ever has children, he wants them to experience more than just the neighborhood. He hopes they can see other parts of the country and the world. Marriage is “not big” in Jenkins’ family and he wants to break that cycle as well. 

“My biggest fear is not being able to stand on my word,” Sanchez said. “I think compromise is big in society and you have to compromise to get to where you want to be and make sacrifices, but you have to know when to compromise yourself and when not to.” 

Settles, who is in his 40s, added that he grew up in an era where men were not encouraged to be vulnerable and speak about their feelings.

 “We’re not supposed to demonstrate what people used to think as feminine emotion,” he said. “But, men are super emotional creatures.” 

The event was sponsored by the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival, Handy Pros Residential Contractors, the Pinellas County Urban League, and the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County. 

Read the article as originally published at https://stpetecatalyst.com/keshawns-korner-hosts-mental-wellness-event/