The Juvenile Welfare Board was my savior: St. Pete councilman | Column

My story is not uncommon.

I was born in the early 1990s in St. Petersburg to a single, teenage mom. I grew up in Childs Park, a low-income neighborhood south of Central Avenue, as the oldest of four children in a home where money was tight. My mom worked long hours as a medical assistant in a hospital emergency room, making a barely livable hourly wage and unable to afford licensed, quality childcare on her own.

The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County became our savior. JWB’s investments in subsidized childcare and children’s programs like R’Club Child Care made affordable, accessible childcare available for my family. Without this investment, my siblings and I would have been left unsupervised, unproductive, and unprotected from often dangerous circumstances on the street.

As JWB celebrates its 80th anniversary, it’s important to share stories like mine that show how this local institution has transformed the lives of thousands of Pinellas County families. For more than a decade, JWB’s consistent support removed barriers, provided access to quality childcare, and met my family where we were every step of the way.

My mom enrolled me in voluntary pre-kindergarten at R’Club Child Care when I was 3, and I attended various R’Club programs through eighth grade. I was often the first child to arrive at 6 a.m. at the preschool program, and I got help with homework in the after-school programs. The focus on academics and enrichment activities improved our school attendance and grades. They also improved my self-confidence and my social skills.

It wasn’t all work. The R’Club spring break and summer programs exposed us to places and cultural events we otherwise couldn’t have experienced, including parks, museums, the Florida Orchestra and Tampa Bay Rays games. The programs funded by JWB that kept us safe and occupied helped enable my mother to become a nurse, break the cycle of poverty and rewrite our family’s future.

We’re just one example of how the Juvenile Welfare Board has been guided by a simple belief: When it invests in children, it invests in our community’s future. The Florida Legislature established this special taxing district, and voters approved it, and it is funded solely by a modest property tax. Every investment is informed by community needs, guided by data and focused on creating lasting impact, as it did for my family.

Over the years, it has consistently improved the lives of children by protecting their health, safety, and futures:

• In 1947, JWB adopted its first budget at $75,000 and funded three agencies to serve 1,500 children. Today, its $123 million budget supports 87 programs across 49 partner agencies, serving more than 83,000 children and families annually. It also leads strategic initiatives that serve tens of thousands more—preventing childhood deaths, nurturing early development, championing mental health, and promoting literacy and nutrition.
• In the 1950s, JWB helped pass legislation to set minimum licensing standards for local childcare. Today, it fuels high-quality early learning and childcare scholarships for working families that have increased kindergarten readiness.
• In the 1970s, JWB funded its first “latch key’’ after-school program focused on the supervision of children for working families. Today, its out-of-school programs promote rigorous academics and transformative enrichment.
• In the early 1990s, JWB invested in the launch of an evidence-based, home-visiting family support model. Decades later, the program ensures nearly 100 percent of families it serves remain free from abuse and neglect during program services and one year afterward.
• In that same decade, JWB invested in a network of Neighborhood Family Centers to deliver vital services designed to strengthen children and families in low-opportunity communities. Now that network includes six centers that provide such services as after-school and summer programming, family support and stability, and basic needs assistance.

Over the past eight decades, language has evolved, science has advanced and the needs of children and families have evolved. But JWB’s promise remains consistent and recognizes that strengthening families strengthens children. It uses data to guide decisions and invests responsibly in programs that continue to make a difference.

The Juvenile Welfare Board changed my life and put my family on a path to a brighter future. Today, it continues to break down barriers, open doors and make it possible for every child like me to pursue their dreams.

Read the story as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2026/10/21/juvenile-welfare-board-pinellas-rclub/