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.

The Juvenile Welfare Board believes those who work to give children brighter futures deserve recognition. This year, we’ll be honoring four new KidsFirst award winners, and we were pleased to publicly announce our second 2023-2024 KidsFirst Awardee at the February 15, 2024, JWB Board meeting after a surprise award presentation by our Chief Program Officer, Karen Boggess, during a City of St. Pete Parks & Rec staff meeting earlier in the month.

An outstanding social service professional who consistently goes above and beyond to put children first, Y’Bray Reid is a Teen Camp Supervisor, which means she’s responsible for the direct supervision of children at the Campbell Park Center for the City of St. Pete’s out-of-school time program.

In her role, Y’Bray plans and implements daily activities, field trips, service projects, and learning opportunities for program youth. She welcomes all students and families to the program with open arms and is the village that everyone should have behind them. She attends meetings at school alongside parents to establish healthy solutions to behavioral issues, serving as that connection between school and home.

Her caring attention keeps kids actively engaged and eager to attend programming every day, and her impact can be quantified. Since she joined the team, program enrollment numbers and daily attendance have doubled. Children volunteer for impact projects on the weekends, and they’re joining sports leagues that they have never tried before!

Y’Bray started “give-back fieldtrips” on the weekends to teach children to lead with a giving heart. In the beginning, program youth were skeptical about giving up their Saturdays for community service. But now teen volunteers fill a 15-passenger van, and Y’Bray’s servant leadership is having a ripple effect!

As Y’Bray’s supervisor wrote in her nomination: “Y’Bray is a WHOLE VIBE—and her waves are starting to show!” We certainly agree; please join us in congratulating our remarkable KidsFirst Awardee!

View the Facebook album containing photos from both award announcements.

The Juvenile Welfare Board believes those who work to give children brighter futures deserve recognition. This year, we’ll be honoring four new KidsFirst award winners, and we were pleased to publicly announce our first 2023-2024 KidsFirst Awardee at the December 14, 2023, JWB Board meeting after a surprise award presentation by our Chief Administrative Officer, Lynda Leedy, during a Suncoast Center staff meeting earlier in the month.

An outstanding social service professional who consistently goes above and beyond to put children first, Julie Menke is a therapist with 20 years of service at Suncoast Center.

Her focus for the past few years has been on leading the Active Parenting Now class, teaching parents healthy and effective parenting skills, as well as providing them with the knowledge needed to understand children’s behaviors and the family dynamics.

In recent years, she has enhanced the parenting course with a special session that focuses solely on child and adolescent suicide prevention, which has received very favorable feedback from parent participants. In fact, it’s not uncommon for parents to request additional trainings or presentations on various matters affecting parents.

Julie has been a Qualified Clinical Supervisor for decades. In this role, she provides therapeutic feedback and support to new therapists and has been pivotal in countless therapists’ growth and journey toward licensure. Even outside this role, Julie takes every opportunity to support her coworkers and program teammates and volunteers to help lead social and supportive activities.

If Julie finds a need in the community, she actively seeks solutions, and if one cannot be found, she will work within her role to meet that need. In this way she has spoken to PTAs about suicide prevention and to community organizations about how they can support families.

Please join us in congratulating JWB’s remarkable KidsFirst Awardee! View the Facebook album containing photos from both award announcements.

Nominations for the 2023-2024 KidsFirst awards are being accepted though February 9, 2024.

On October 7, JWB’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative joined New Vision Behavioral Health for a powerful Youth Mental Health and Empowerment Summit at Eckerd College with nearly 100 in attendance! View photos of the event in this album!

This 5^th Annual event focused on engaging young people in making healthy connections and finding the “why” in their lives, with a focus on destigmatizing mental health and the importance of selfcare. It also featured a track for parents and caregivers.

After the event, a youth attendee messaged one of the presenters, sharing their own struggles and thanking him for “making me realize I matter, and that people really care about me and would miss me.” 

And this is exactly why JWB will continue to bring young people together for healthy conversations and connections through our Children’s Mental Health Initiative. Learn more at jwbpinellas.org/childrens-mental-health-initiative/

Recently, JWB staff had the honor of attending the 2023 Pace Center for Girls Soiree, their annual awards dinner.

JWB was recognized as a Pace Champion for our investment in and support of their wraparound services. Our CEO, Beth, was interviewed for a short video shown at the event, and Denise McCabe, wife of former JWB Board Member Hon. Bernie McCabe, presented the award to our Director of Strategic Communications, April Putzulu, who accepted the award on JWB’s behalf.

Mrs. McCabe shared this: “Bernie joined the JWB Board in 2000, alongside his colleague and friend Bob Dillinger. Bernie cherished his service on the Juvenile Welfare Board: He was steadfast in his commitment to always do what was best for children, and his benchmark was, ‘Is it good for the kids?‘

As a longstanding member of the Board’s Finance Committee, Bernie was equally committed to being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. He cared that the programs JWB funded were both fiscally sound and making a difference. In 2015, with Bernie and Bob at the table, the JWB Board approved funding for Pace Center for Girls for wrap-around support, including counseling and transition services.

If Bernie were here tonight, he would say that Pace passes his litmus test: They wisely use the funds invested by JWB….and it IS good for the kids!”

“The missions of JWB and Pace are closely aligned,” April said, as she accepted the award, a lovely heart-shaped sculpture. “Pace provides girls and young women opportunities for a better future…and JWB invests so all children will have equitable opportunity to fulfill their potential. Now more than ever, we understand the importance of healthy connections, self-care, and wellness for our youth. At JWB, it is our privilege, to support PACE in addressing the social-emotional and behavioral health needs of their girls.”

Two current JWB Board Members, Hon. Chris Latvala and Hon. Sara Mollo, were also in attendance for this very special night!

Enjoy these photos of the evening, courtesy of JWB Staff and Housh Ghovaee.

You can watch our CEO’s video message here: https://youtu.be/hc_uA6US0K4.