Month: March 2023

Florida Campaign Seeks to Reduce Accidental Infant Deaths

Posted on by jwb admin

Accidental suffocation is the leading cause of death for children under one year of age according to the Florida Department of Health. In 2018, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Florida, utilizing data from the medical examiner’s office, found that over one hundred infants had died due to sleep-related suffocation during a period of ten years. The infants were otherwise healthy at the time of death, which led the Juvenile Welfare Board to conclude that these deaths were preventable.

Their realization led to the formation of the “Sleep Baby Safely” campaign, which seeks to educate parents, caregivers, and other citizens about how to prevent accidental infant deaths due to suffocation. According to April Putzulu, a senior Board manager, infant deaths have reduced by half in Pinellas County since the launch of the campaign.

Florida is now expanding the campaign to include eight more Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, with funds being allocated from the Florida Department of Health’s budget to prevent death in children.

How To Keep Infants Safe While Sleeping

The Sleep Baby Safely campaign recommends caregivers follow the “Safe Sleep ABCs”. The acronym helps caregivers to remember the following words: Alone, Back, and Crib.

– Alone: infants should sleep alone.

– Back: infants should always be laid down on their backs with their heads and bellies facing up.

– Crib: infants should sleep in an empty crib, bassinet, or Pack n’ Play

The campaign also recommends adults share a room with a small child, but not a bed. Additionally, an infant’s mattress should be firm to further prevent suffocation. Often adult beds, air mattresses, and sofas are too soft and increase the risk of child suffocation. A caregiver should also set alarms during feeding time to ensure they do not fall asleep with an infant in a chair, sofa, or other location. An infant should always be returned to their crib or bassinet.

Read the article as originally published at https://www.islandernews.com/news/florida/florida-campaign-seeks-to-reduce-accidental-infant-deaths/article_d5ee2a1a-c272-11ed-b643-cbb8146d1482.html

Juvenile Welfare Board Receives Top Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting

Posted on by jwb admin
Juvenile Welfare Board Board chair and staff posing with GFOA's top award for Excellence in Financial Reporting: (l to r) Senior Accountant Richard Godfrey, Senior Manager of Accounting Lynn De la Torre, JWB Board Chair Mike Mikurak, and Fiscal Specialist Lilia Pletnev.
Juvenile Welfare Board Receives Top Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting: (l to r) Senior Accountant Richard Godfrey, Senior Manager of Accounting Lynn De la Torre, JWB Board Chair Mike Mikurak, and Fiscal Specialist Lilia Pletnev.

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recently awarded the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County (JWB) with the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award for the 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

This is the third year in a row JWB has received the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting.

GFOA established the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (COA) in 1945 to “…encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare annual comprehensive financial reports that evidence the spirit of transparency and full disclosure and then to recognize individual governments that succeed in achieving that goal.”

Submission requirements are very detailed—the first award, given in 2021 after nearly nine months of review of the 2019 financial report, required the compilation of 10 years of statistical data. JWB accounting staff poured tremendous effort into this endeavor while completing the day-to-day duties associated with the organization’s annual impact budget of $87.3 million, which strengthened the lives of nearly 60,000 children and families.

“The GFOA award is a testament to the JWB Accounting team’s dedication to organizational transparency and accountability,” said JWB Board Chair Michael Mikurak, while presenting the newest award to staff at the March 9th Board meeting. “Accounting Manager Lynn De la Torre and her accounting team deserve our congratulations for this recognition of their hard work and dedication to excellence!”

Learn more about how JWB has been putting Pinellas County children first for more than 75 years at https://www.jwbpinellas.org/about/

JWB Board Chair Mike Mikurak (left) and JWB Accounting Manager Lynn De la Torre (right) at the March 9, 2023, Board meeting, where it was announced JWB has received the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting, the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award, for the third year in a row.