The Juvenile Welfare Board believes those who work to give children brighter futures deserve recognition.

Last week we were pleased to publicly announce our fourth and final 2023-2024 KidsFirst Awardee at a surprise presentation by our Chief Executive Officer, Beth Houghton.

An outstanding social service professional who consistently goes above and beyond to put children first, Julie Goodrich is a registered nurse with seven years experience at the Florida Department of Health’s Pinellas Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) team. In that time, Julie has supported and advocated for dozens of new mothers and their families—working with first-time moms through their pregnancies and until their children are two years old, developing enduring relationships.

Jann Gullick, who nominated Julie, described her as “an advocate, encourager, researcher, and educator.”

As we know, babies are biologically programmed to form attachments, and a strong emotional and physical attachment is critical to a child’s development. Julie devotes her whole self to teaching first-time moms techniques to promote this vital nurturing—and models those skills through the supportive and caring relationships she develops with her moms and their babies.

Over the two-plus years she works with them, Julie supports her families through the emotional, social, and physical challenges of becoming parents. She also nurtures the growth and development of their children from birth to age two, preparing these children for successful early childhood learning and beyond.

Julie is a passionate, tireless advocate for her NFP moms and families. She researches resources to help her moms meet not only their immediate but also their long-term needs and goals.

She works very closely with her moms to set goals for their education or employment and is a strong support and cheerleader, guiding them to realize their FULL potential. When Julie’s clients graduate from the NFP program, they have direction in their lives and the tools to successfully nurture healthy children and build strong families.

Julie also selflessly shares her years of experience with new nurses joining the NFP team, offering her knowledge and support. She has been instrumental in updating teaching resources in the past year—and that ultimately benefits all NFP families.

Please join us in congratulating our remarkable KidsFirst Awardee, whom we look forward to celebrating along with three other winners at our KidsFirst Awards Luncheon on April 26th!

View photos from the surprise award announcement.

The Juvenile Welfare Board believes those who work to give children brighter futures deserve recognition.

This week we were pleased to publicly announce our third 2023-2024 KidsFirst Awardee at a surprise presentation by our Chief Program Officer, Karen Boggess.

An outstanding social service professional who consistently goes above and beyond to put children first, Tomasina Oliver-Jackson is a PEMHS Access Navigator with FSI Connect, which means she is the first point of contact for families seeking services from JWB’s Family Services Initiative.

Her nominator, Courtney Covington, described Tomasina as an experienced Intensive Case Manager who “possesses a tremendous work ethic, demonstrates compassionate understanding for those in need, and always seeks a strength-based solution.”

Promptness, reliability, and just-in-time support is important to struggling families, especially those in crisis. Tomasina is known to answer calls on the first ring, eager to help support and stabilize families.

Confidence, calm, and creativity are also critical skills to have – and Tomasina masters them all. In her role, Tomasina is adept at quickly achieving rapport with families and helping them feel at ease, valued, and heard. This is her gift.

The complexity of some FSI cases might be overwhelming for most. But Tomasina draws from her decades of experience, quickly identifying viable resources and solutions for each case. Her superpower is her ability to find strength-based solutions for families – and to never give up or take “no” for an answer. Instead, her mantra is, “How do I get to YES?!”

Tomasina has a servant’s heart and makes the world a more positive place. She is fully present with those she encounters throughout the day, remembering tiny details and radiating relentless joy and hope.

Please join us in congratulating our remarkable KidsFirst Awardee, whom we look forward to celebrating along with three other winners at our KidsFirst Awards Luncheon on April 26th!

View photos from the surprise award announcement.

The Juvenile Welfare Board has been part of the fabric of the Pinellas County community for more than 75 years, investing in partnerships, innovation, and advocacy to strengthen the lives of children and families in our county.

On March 7th, 2024, JWB’s Board and Executive Leadership team convened the 10th annual Children’s Summit to gather 200 of Pinellas County’s key influencers, community leaders, and child advocates with local and national experts in the field of children’s mental health.

As a data-driven and evidence-based organization, JWB knows that, from our earliest days, human relationships matter. As children develop and grow, social connections are formed – and because people are social creatures, belonging is a fundamental need. Children who feel connected to their families, schools, neighborhoods, and other meaningful groups develop a sense of belonging, which is associated with mental and physical health benefits. We also know screen time and social media usage among children and teens is increasing. Like many activities, gaming, social media, and screen time come with benefits and risks.

We invited a local and a national expert – Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and Dr. Whitney Raglin Bignall of the On Our Sleeves Movement for Children’s Mental Health, presented by health care partner BayCare Kids – to share with community leaders how belonging boosts kids’ mental health and how screen time and social media can affect it. Their presentations increased attendees’ knowledge with the latest research and compelling data and shared practical tools that youth and families can access to foster healthy conversations and connections.

The Children’s Summit also marked the debut of JWB’s FY23 Annual Report Video, a reflection on JWB’s work and impact last year, where the word “connections” takes many forms.

• EARLY CONNECTIONS…because learning and mental health begin at birth. JWB increased our investments in the zero-to-three space with new programming and a campaign focused on nurturing early connections and healthy development for babies.
• We continued our work to ensure HEALTHY CONNECTIONS for children – and we heard at the Summit just how important belonging and human connections are for kids.
• We invested $17.1M in new funding to give children the best opportunities to learn, thrive, and succeed. These STRATEGIC CONNECTIONS included new, innovative programs to address unmet needs and funding to stabilize the workforce of our programs.
• For JWB, 2023 was a year for CREATIVE CONNECTIONS, where we shared our data, expertise, and best practices with others for an even greater impact for children.

Watch our annual report video, featuring the work and impact of JWB and our partners during fiscal year 2023.

View an online album of the event.

JWB exists to meet the most pressing and immediate needs of Pinellas County children. We ensure they are ready to learn, succeed, and thrive in homes, schools, and neighborhoods that are healthy and safe. To learn more, visit www.jwbpinellas.org.

Bob Dillinger, the longtime Pinellas-Pasco public defender who retired in 2020, died Sunday afternoon at 72.

Dillinger’s wife, Kay, told the Tampa Bay Times on Monday that he had fought leukemia for 17 years and, after six weeks in hospice care, died at home holding her hand.

It was his choice to stop chemotherapy treatment, Kay Dillinger said.

“He was my rock. He made me a better person,” she said. “He taught me how to think of others and to try to make a difference in life.”

Dillinger retired as the Sixth Judicial Circuit’s public defender at the end of his sixth term in office, ending a 40-year legal career.

In his 24 years as public defender, Dillinger defended those who couldn’t afford a private defense attorney. He also expanded the office to address root causes of crime including mental illness, homelessness and childhood trauma through efforts such as a first-of-its kind diversion program for mentally ill inmates where the majority of patients chosen are homeless.

“His passion was helping children that were underprivileged and to try to keep them out of the criminal justice system to give them hope for a better future,” Kay Dillinger said. She added, “He was very passionate about second chances.”

She and Dillinger have also helped thousands of local needy children through the Beth Dillinger Foundation, a charity named after their daughter, who died by suicide in 2006.

Sara Mollo, Pinellas-Pasco’s public defender who succeeded Dillinger, informed the office of his death Monday.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and loved ones during this difficult time,” Mollo wrote in a memo to staff shared with the Times. “Let us remember Mr. Dillinger for his dedication, kindness, and the positive impact he had on our clients and office.”

Motivated by children

Dillinger was born and raised in Daytona Beach. He studied environmental sciences at Columbia University in New York, then got his law degree from Stetson University in 1976 and landed a job in the Pinellas-Pasco public defender’s office.

Shortly after, Dillinger helped publish Florida’s first death penalty training manual for defense attorneys.

In 1981, Dillinger left the office to work in private practice. He had long considered a run for public defender. In 1996, he beat the 35-year incumbent, his former boss and fellow Republican Robert Jagger, in the primary.

“I’ll never forget when he really decided that he wanted to run for public defender,” Kay Dillinger said. “He said, ‘I’m tired of going to court and looking at children that have dead eyes because they have no hope. And I want to change that.’ And he did.”

On his first day on the job, Dillinger said he had his office door taken off the hinges as a commitment to his open-door policy.

Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has known Dillinger since early in their respective careers, when Gualtieri was a detective making drug arrests and Dillinger was a private defense attorney representing some of those defendants.

”The public defender’s office under him became more than just representing people who were charged with a crime,” Gualtieri said. “It was really trying to help people and prevent them from committing crime through his mental health initiatives and trying to get people on their feet and reduce recidivism through all the services that he provided. I don’t know of any public defender in the state that took it to the level that Bob Dillinger took it to.”

Gualtieri also pointed to Dillinger’s leadership on the Juvenile Welfare Board and his advocacy for Safe Harbor, the shelter and service center for people experiencing homelessness that opened near Largo in 2011.

”He had a huge heart and cared about people and always tried to do the right thing for others,” Gualtieri said. “He was a giant in that regard.”

Dillinger saw a link between dependency cases, a civil action that occurs when a child is suspected to be a victim of abuse or neglect, and delinquency cases, in which a child faces criminal charges. So Dillinger created what he told the Times in 2020 was one of the programs he’s most proud of: Crossover for Children, which pairs a child with the same public defender for both cases. He said the program gives children legal help and a consistent advocate in lives often marked by uncertainty and trauma.

To honor the service of Dillinger and former Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie 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.

Linda Allan, a retired circuit court judge who worked closely with Dillinger for many years, said she enjoyed watching him and McCabe work together.

“They were on opposite sides, but were very good friends in spite of that,” she said. “I think that their friendship really served justice in Pinellas County.”

One thing she respected most about Dillinger was how he treated every case with the same fairness and persistence.

“He wasn’t necessarily trying to take the biggest, most important cases — which he did do — but a person who was poor, who had a small case, but still couldn’t pay, meant just as much to him,” she said.

One of Dillinger’s most high-profile courtroom victories was the exoneration of Dale Morris Jr., whom the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office accused of the 1997 rape and murder of his 9-year-old neighbor, Sharra Ferger. Dillinger, convinced of Morris’ innocence, threw his office’s resources at Morris’ defense.

The state’s case hung on a bite mark on the child’s shoulder: The sheriff’s dental expert said it matched Morris’ imprints. Defense experts came to the opposite conclusion. A few weeks before Morris’ 1998 trial was set to start, crime labs determined that hair found on the girl’s body matched another man, not Morris.

The court document dismissing Morris’ case was framed in Dillinger’s office with this brass engraving: “These actions are the direct result of total dedication by an entire office.”

Shortly before his retirement four years ago, Dillinger told the Times he looked forward to spending time at his house on the Withlacoochee River, fishing for large-mouth bass and continuing to work alongside his wife at their foundation.

Among the foundation’s programs are a scholarship endowment for boys and girls who wish to continue their education but lack financial means and its Nourish to Flourish program, which has provided more than 400,000 meals to chronically hungry kids, according to Kay Dillinger.

The foundation’s first program was Beth’s Closet at the Pace Center for Girls in Pinellas Park, a nonprofit that provides programs for at-risk girls ages 12 to 18. Pace girls get clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry, and other items from the closet. The next year, the Dillingers added the Hope Chest closets to the public defender’s office locations to provide clothes and other essentials for abused, neglected, or abandoned youth.

“I thought if we fed, clothed and educated the children, we would run the spectrum,” Bob Dillinger told the Times in 2013.

A yearslong cancer fight

Dillinger was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007. By the time he retired in 2020, he was on his ninth round of chemotherapy. He told the Times then that he felt fine but the cancer had wracked his immune system, making his last year in office particularly challenging amid a pandemic.

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bruce Bartlett described Dillinger on Monday as a fighter and said he battled his illness until the end.

“You hang on as long as you can and after a while you just can’t do it,” Bartlett said. “He just decided it was time to go.”

The two remained close after Dillinger’s retirement and spoke often. Bartlett last saw Dillinger in August for dinner and said he was in good spirits.

“In spite of his health issues, he always had his head up and never complained and just didn’t really show it,” Bartlett said.

Just before he retired, the public defender’s office was awarded federal funding for a mobile medical bus that patrolled homeless communities of Pasco County and provided free health care, dental care and vaccines for children, Bartlett said.

Dillinger oversaw the bus operations even after his retirement. He later asked Bartlett to take over.

“Quite frankly, I really wasn’t crazy about accepting the responsibility, but he was a pusher,” Bartlett said. “He’d be proud to know that that’s still going on.”

Bartlett said he plans to continue operating the bus, which is parked near the Pasco County courthouse, in Dillinger’s memory.

“A lot of people had no idea of all the things he did for the community and the people who couldn’t do it for themselves. He made a life of doing that,” Bartlett said. “We lost a good man, and I lost a good friend.”

Read the article as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/news/breaking-news/2024/03/11/bob-dillinger-former-pinellas-pasco-public-defender-dies-72/

JWB’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) is a partnership dedicated to enhancing public awareness and providing for an accessible, coordinated, and high-quality system supported by an engaged and skilled workforce.

In January, CMHI broke new ground in children’s mental health by making advanced clinical training accessible to licensed behavioral health clinicians in Pinellas County.

JWB, Tampa Bay Thrives, and partners of the CMHI Workforce Design Team worked together to bring a two-day certification course in Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for licensed behavioral health clinicians to the JWB campus.

This advanced training in TF-CBT was delivered by a nationally approved TF-CBT trainer through the National Therapist Certification Program, with the aim of helping local licensed practitioners develop high-quality clinical services to increase responsiveness to the needs of children and families.

The training was facilitated by Dr. Rochelle Hanson, a nationally recognized subject matter expert whose professional experience and passion dovetail with the goals of JWB’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative. Dr. Hanson co-directs an integrated behavioral health program in pediatric primary care that includes targeted screening and referral for children who have experienced maltreatment or another traumatic event. She has focused her career on understanding and responding to victims of traumatic events, as well as training professionals to provide effective treatments for children and families.

In what is expected to be just the first round of this training, JWB funded scholarships for 15 participants from various partner and funded agencies, including Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Evara Health, North Pinellas Children’s Medical Center, Family Resources, and clinical staff from Pinellas Public Schools. In addition to the two-day training, participants must complete a specified number of consultation calls and treatment cases to complete the certification.

JWB funding covered participants’ costs directly associated with completing the program and obtaining certification as well as a stipend in the amount of $500 following the completion of certification requirements. These 15 newly certified professionals are sure impact thousands of children and families in Pinellas County in powerful and positive ways to help them thrive and succeed.

View the Facebook album of this training, and learn more about JWB commitment to children’s mental health at JWBPinellas.org/childrens-mental-health.