As we continue moving through National Volunteer Month, JWB celebrates the ongoing support from St. Petersburg Fire Rescue (SPFR)!
SPFR recently sent 18 helpful cadets to JWB to pack Welcome Baby Bags in support of the Sleep Baby Safely Campaign on Monday, April 21st. The cadets worked efficiently as a team, packing 500 bags so quickly that they had time left over during their visit to also pack Children’s Mental Health Initiative materials for the upcoming NAMI Pinellas Walk!
Annually, about 7,000 parents of newborns are given face-to-face education to protect babies from suffocation during sleep and Welcome Baby Bags filled with life-saving items, including a Sleep Me This Side Up onesie, Alone-Back-Crib sleep sack, and more.
JWB is grateful for this collaboration with St. Pete Fire Rescue in supporting our safe-sleep campaign and training their new cadets.
One of JWB’s most crucial initiatives is our Preventable Child Deaths Campaign, which seeks to raise awareness around the unfortunate number of deaths among children from easily avoidable causes such as infant unsafe sleep practices, drowning, and abusive head trauma. Another preventable yet tragic cause of early loss of life is pediatric vehicular heatstroke, which occurs when a child is left alone in a hot car.
April is Hot Car Death Prevention Month
April has been designated by the State of Florida as “Hot Car Death Prevention Month.” In recognition, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue joined forces with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH) for a powerful press conference.
Members of the community and media gathered at the St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Master Station on Thursday, April 17th to learn startling facts and life-saving strategies to prevent pediatric heatstroke in vehicles.
Speakers included:
Fire Rescue Chiefs Keith Watts and Lindsay Judah
JHACH Emergency Center Physician Dr. Danielle Mercurio
JHACH Injury Prevention Program Manager and Safe Kids Supervisor Petra Vybiralova Stanton.
Hot Car Facts
Each speaker at the press briefing shared crucial facts for parents and caregivers to be mindful about when it comes to hot cars. These facts include:
Since 1998, more than 1,000 children in the U.S. have died from preventable heatstroke due to being left in cars.
A child’s body temperature can spike far more rapidly than that of an adult. This is exacerbated by the rapid heat increase inside a car on a hot Florida day.
Temperatures inside a car can rise as much as 20 degrees in 10 minutes even on a day with forecasts as mild as 80 degrees outside the vehicle.
Life-Saving Tips
While some incidents result from leaving a child in a car “just for a minute,” many are caused by forgetfulness or a child climbing into an unlocked car unnoticed. This tragedy can happen to anyone—which is why creating awareness habits is so crucial.
You can help prevent pediatric vehicular heatstroke by taking these simple actions:
Never leave your child unattended in a car, even for a short period of time.
Always check the back seat before leaving your car.
Place a personal item (like your purse or wallet) in the back seat or set alarms to create a reminder.
Keep cars locked and keys out of children’s reach at all times.
Never let children play in or around vehicles.
Call 911 immediately if you see a child alone in a car.
The event included a heartbreaking live simulation that featured a parked vehicle with a visible thermostat. While the outside temperature read 82 degrees, the interior temperature had been gradually increasing during each speaker’s remarks—in only 20 minutes, it had reached 102 degrees.
The simulation illustrated just how rapidly temperatures can escalate—and how dangerous even a short delay can be.
JWB is continually grateful for its partnership with St. Petersburg Fire Rescue and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in spreading the messages shared in this press briefing.
For important strategies to prevent heatstroke deaths in hot cars, click here.
For more helpful information or resources on JWB’s Preventable Child Death Campaign, click here.
JWB Director of Public Policy Rebecca Gross Tieder shared her perspective on education and taking joy in one’s work on the “Finding Joy in Education” podcast, hosted by 2022 Florida Teacher of the Year Sarah Painter.
Painter and Tieder, alongside Senior Professional Development Coordinator for Pinellas County Schools Robin Ford and parent Raizel Turner, had a lively and insightful discussion, pulling together life experience and a deep understanding of the world of education.
The podcast, published by Pinellas County Schools, typically features a heartfelt conversation with a parent and an industry expert on what joy in education looks and feels like. Listen to the episode on Spotify here.
The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County will host a series of family-friendly events to celebrate and support grandparents raising their grandchildren.
The event will feature family resources, free health screenings, family-friendly activities and giveaways of non-perishable food boxes, hurricane supplies, and more. The events are also open to all relative caregivers who are raising their nieces, nephews, or siblings in their homes.
Dates for the remaining Grand Families Days are:
• Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
CAP | Union Academy Family Center, 401 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Tarpon Springs.
• Saturday, May 10, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center, 4951 78th Ave. N., Pinellas Park.
For questions, contact Community Engagement Manager Yaridis Garcia at 813-381-2407 or ygarcia@jwbpinellas.org.
Karen Boggess, who has been with JWB for nearly 20 years, holds a master’s degree in social work and started as a senior contract manager. She continued in program positions of increasing responsibility and led the creation of the Quality Early Learning Initiative. In 2021, Boggess was promoted to chief program officer.
In her new role as COO, Boggess will lead the performance of the following units reporting to her: Program Administration, Community Engagement, Community Collaborations, Family Services Initiative and Performance & Evaluation.
In honor of the annual Week of the Young Child, a nationwide initiative supporting early childhood education, we’re highlighting the work done this week and all year round by a local stalwart: Turbo Babies, fueled by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, which encourages and supports educational growth for children ages 0-3 years old.
Turbo Babies has announced an interactive campaign and some big-time giveaways as they participate in The Week of the Young Child, which runs through Friday, April 11. Each day this week, parents, families, caregivers and childcare providers are encouraged to have educational moments and share them through photo or video with Turbo Babies each day, with the chance to win several fantastic giveaways as part of the fun.
Win fun giveaways through Turbo Babies
Encouraging “learning through everyday moments,” each day of the week presents a new opportunity to take normal moments and turn them into opportunities to teach children something new by including them in what you’re doing. Whether it’s having a sing-along, talking about your meal, or just doing some good old coloring, there’s a new theme each day that makes it easy to incorporate learning into otherwise mundane activities.
And the cherry on top of the educational sundae: Turbo Babies will be giving away prizes in a drawing among participants. One lucky family will win a full Lovevery Play Kit, tailored to the age and interests of the child. Meanwhile, one lucky childcare provider will win family passes to Great Explorations Children’s Museum for every single member of their class!
While the activities surrounding Week of the Young Child are fun ways to teach children, Turbo Babies points out how vitally important it is to incorporate moments like this into the lives of young children every day. According to recent research, 80% of brain growth for children happens in the first three years of life, making those formative years crucial to a child’s future.
Elicia Hinson, Senior Marketing Associate for the Juvenile Welfare Board, said parents and caregivers are always shocked by that statistic, which makes the work of JWB and Turbo Babies all the more important.
“It’s so much to be happening in the first three years of life,” she said, “but I think it’s also a motivating statistic. It makes people ask, ‘What should I be doing during this time?’ ‘How can I make the most of this time?’ And it’s never too late. There are opportunities every day.”
Make everyday moments educational opportunities
Hinson and Turbo Babies work to help parents and educators find easy and natural ways to have those teachable moments with kids. And the key, Hinson said, isn’t that you need to make a separate time for teaching. It’s far easier to just turn everyday moments in educational opportunities – even something as simple as including your child verbally and visually as you do laundry, prepare a meal, or read a story.
The 4-point mantra at Turbo Babies is: Tune in. Talk and repeat. Take turns. Take time.
“Every day there are so many chances for teachable moments, and they should be fun,” Hinson said. “It’s about the moments that are already happening – when you’re in the car, when you’re at the grocery store, when you’re doing laundry. Incorporate your baby and allow them to be a part of that. Those are teachable, everyday moments.”
Through these activities and campaigns, Turbo Babies hopes to show caregivers that education doesn’t have to be boring, difficult, or straight from a textbook. It can be easy and fun for children to learn, and it starts from birth. Even just hearing new words helps their brain grow: at age one, children recognize about 50 words, and by age three they can recognize nearly 1,000 words.
Learn more about Turbo Babies, fueled by the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, at turbobabies.com. To join in on the fun for Week of the Young Child and enter the giveaway, check out this breakdown from Turbo Babies.
Karen Boggess, MSW, is JWB’s Chief Operating Officer. She led the creation of the Quality Early Learning Initiative, and in 2021, was promoted to Chief Program Officer. In her new role, she leads the following units: Program Administration, Community Engagement, Community Collaborations, Family Services Initiative, and Performance & Evaluation.
Community Action Stops Abuse, or CASA, offers the Peacemakers Program to area schools and other youth programs to teach kids about peaceful alternatives to conflict.
“We go into the schools and we teach kids what it looks like to be in a healthy relationship,” said CASA CEO Lariana Forsythe. “So it’s age appropriate, we start with pre-schoolers and kindergarteners and we talk about healthy boundaries.”
The social-emotional curriculum covers, among other topics: personal safety, diversity, dating violence, self esteem and self expression.
“Conflict resolution, empathy building, fostering respect for yourself and others,” said Riley Redington, the Peacemakers Program manager at CASA. “Then as it gets a little bit older, then we get more into the dating violence, healthy relationships.”
“It’s important for us to get in early and make sure that they understand what a healthy relationship looks like and what can they do, what steps can they take if they’re uncomfortable in a situation,” she added.
Foster mother Karen Bowen has mentored more than 300 kids in the last 15 years and said a lot of them were teenage girls interested in dating. The foster parent certified by the Children’s Home Network said she’s glad programs like this are available in schools and she works to reinforce similar safety measures at home.
“Looking out for cues, red flags, if you don’t feel safe you call, you let me know, you text me that safe word,” Bowen says to her foster children. “You have to teach people how to treat you.”
The Peacemakers Program works to teach kids that self worth — one exercise uses actual red and green flags as an interactive learning activity.
“If it’s wanting access to all your social media accounts, Instagram, wanting your passwords, wanting to control what you post would that be a green flag or a red flag and then those prompts can really spark some discussion about what the teens themselves have experienced,” said Redington.
The Peacemakers hope teens take empowerment out of the classrooms and into all of their relationships.
“I hope that moving forward, they value their feelings; their emotional wellbeing and themselves,” said Redington.
Bowen, who started her own foundation, Nekkts Step Hope Foundation, said she’s grateful teens have access to such sessions and she will work to continue such conversations in the home.
“That program can go into school and they have this whole conversation, now they’re home and they can sit with me and we can talk about it,” she said.
On Friday, February 14th, JWB hosted the annual Children’s Summit at St. Petersburg College with the theme “For the Love of Kids.” More than 200 community leaders, key influencers, and child advocates gathered to celebrate JWB’s impact and shared commitment to the children of Pinellas County.
JWB Board Chair Judge Patrice Moore welcomed attendees, recognized board members, and shared briefly what JWB means to her. CEO Beth Houghton followed with highlights from 2024, noting that JWB-funded programs served nearly 80,000 children and families and partnered with dozens of organizations in initiatives and campaigns.
Attendees then viewed the FY2024 Annual Report Video showcasing JWB’s investments, including 12 new programs aligned with strategic goals, expanded funding to stabilize the workforce, and increased outreach to families. The video also highlighted JWB’s rapid response to emergent needs, such as funding gaps and hurricane relief, as well as the strength of its partnerships in driving positive outcomes for kids.
Beth and St. Petersburg College President Dr. Tonjua Williams then led an interactive Kahoot! game, testing attendees on key topics from the video. The top scorers included Jesse Turtle (SPC Foundation), Hunter Parkinson (6th Judicial Court), and JWB Board member PCS Superintendent Kevin Hendrick.
To conclude, attendees shared words describing their reactions to what they learned from the summit, forming a word cloud that included “informed, educated, inspired, and hopeful.”
Each guest also received a children’s book to give away in honor of International Give a Book Day, thanks to Brianna Ray and Elicia Hinson, who curated several age-appropriate selections. A Grade Level Reading resource table, set up by Brianna, provided additional books and information.
JWB extends gratitude to the Pinellas County School Board, government officials, partner agencies, board members, staff, and volunteers who contributed to this successful event.
Mental health and substance abuse continues to be a serious concern in Florida. Data published last month in Forbes puts the state among the top in the country when it comes to the percent of adults who have a mental health disorder, but can’t afford a doctor.
Melanie Brown-Woofter, the president and CEO of the Florida Behavioral Health Association, says mental health touches everything.
“We know that one in 5 of us will have a mental health disorder, and that almost every family has been touched by substance use in our state and in our nation,” she said. “It is something that we have to work towards. It literally takes a village — everything from crisis care to residential to recovery supports. All of those pieces have to fit together.”
As mental health and substance abuse treatment providers gathered at the Capitol Wednesday to mark Behavioral Health Awareness Day, Brown-Woofter gave thanks to state leaders for doing more to remove the stigma from addiction and mental illness.
“We’re able to normalize the conversation, so that people can talk about their mental health or their substance use disorder, and it becomes commonplace,” she said. “Many years ago, there was such stigma that if the conversation began, people would turn their head or leave the room. Or they had to whisper, they couldn’t talk about it.”
But there’s plenty of work left to do. Data published last month by Forbes shows Florida has the fourth-highest percentage of adults who have a mental health disorder but can’t see a doctor due to cost …
…and the seventh highest percentage of adults with a mental illness who do not receive any treatment.
(The Worst States For Mental Health Care 2025; Jan. 2, 2025)
