October is National Infant Safe Sleep month and in a 10-year-period, officials report Pinellas County lost more than 100 healthy babies from unsafe sleep practices.
The Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County works to decrease those numbers through its Sleep Baby Safely campaign.
Each year, the nonprofit delivers nearly 7,000 bags to area hospitals filled with life-saving, sleep items for parents. The baby bags include a Sleep Me This Side Up onesie, a sleep sack and educational materials.
Vilma Kubisiak is a local mom who received a bag at a hospital.
“It was super helpful, we had a bag with sleep safely, the sleep slack,” Kubisiak said.
On Wednesday, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue first responders helped pack nearly 1,000 bags to support the campaign. Captain Garth Swingle says following the safety tips can keep a family from having to call 9-1-1.
“We’re going to be there no matter what but to get involved with this early and prevent that from happening is beyond words,” said Capt. Garth Swingle.
The Juvenile Welfare Board shared three lifesaving tips for sleeping babies:
Follow Safe Sleep ABCs: Alone, Back, and Crib – meaning, always lay your infant on an empty crib, by themselves and on their back.
Share a Room, Not a Bed: Keep your child in same room as an adult, but don’t share a bed.
Stay Alert While Feeding: Set an alarm in case you fall asleep and always return baby to crib afterwards.
While they are usually saving lives by responding to emergency calls, first responders from St. Petersburg Fire Rescue volunteered their time on October 25th to pack nearly 1,000 bags filled with items designed to save babies’ lives during sleep.
It’s all part of Sleep Baby Safely, a campaign created by the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) that has cut infant sleep-related deaths in half since it launched in 2018. Given October is National Infant Safe Sleep Month, it’s also the perfect time to share with parents and caregivers the importance of protecting babies from suffocation during sleep, every night and every nap.
JWB launched Sleep Baby Safely with its partners when data revealed that, on average, a healthy baby was dying every month in Pinellas County. Over a 10-year period, our county lost more than 100 babies from suffocation due to unsafe sleep practices – this represents six empty kindergarten classrooms!
The Sleep Baby Safely campaign features consistent messaging, data-based facts and tips, and coordinated materials used by all Pinellas County birthing hospitals, doctors’ offices, parent educators, and first responders, such as St. Petersburg Fire Rescue. Learn more at www.SleepBabySafely.com.
“Suffocation from unsafe sleep is the No. 1 cause of preventable child death, not just in Pinellas County but across Florida and the U.S.,” stated St. Petersburg Rescue Chief Ian Womack, who is part of the campaign. “Our men and women are usually the first to arrive on the scene. It’s a tragedy that’s 100% preventable, and we’re committed to doing whatever we can to educate and prevent these needless deaths.”
Each year in Pinellas County’s four birthing hospitals, more than 7,000 parents of newborns are given face-to-face education and Welcome Baby Bags filled with life-saving items, including a Sleep Me This Side Up onesie, Alone-Back-Crib sleep sack, and more. The bags are packed by volunteers, like St. Pete Fire Rescue first responders, and filled with items to keep babies safe during sleep in their first year of life. View the Facebook album of the event.
In addition, and thanks to the leadership and support of Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, the Florida Department of Health secured funding last year to expand the Sleep Baby Safely Campaign statewide, introducing it into eight additional counties.
ABOUT SLEEP BABY SAFELY: On average, a healthy baby was dying due to unsafe sleep every month in Pinellas County. In response, JWB and its partners launched the Sleep Baby Safely campaign which features data-driven facts, consistent messages, and easy-to-remember tips for parents and caregivers. Babies need to be protected from suffocation. Share three live-saving tips to sleep babies safely every night and every nap and learn more at www.SleepBabySafely.com.
• Follow Safe Sleep ABCs: Alone, Back, Crib. Always put babies to sleep alone on their back in an empty crib, bassinet, or Pack n’ Play. Remove all items from crib, such as blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, and bumper pads. Use only a firm mattress and tight-fitting sheet. Use a one-piece sleeper or sleep sack to keep baby warm. • Share a Room, Not a Bed. Bring crib into parent’s room for baby’s first year; room-sharing keeps baby close without the risks. Never put baby to sleep on soft surfaces like adult beds, couches, futons, recliners, or air mattresses. • Stay Alert While Feeding. Set an alarm and always return baby to crib after feeding. Breastfeed if possible; it’s best for baby’s protection. Do not smoke or allow others to smoke around baby and avoid misuse of alcohol or drugs.
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 5th 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!
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As we enter the holiday season, it’s easy to envision a table surrounded by family and an abundance of food. Yet, for thousands of Pinellas County youth, this is simply out of reach. According to the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County (JWB), nearly 32,000 youth in Pinellas County experience food insecurity. This means, one in five children may battle hunger this season.
This Thanksgiving, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast has partnered with United Way Suncoast and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to share 200 turkeys with Club families. Additionally, each turkey will come with healthy sides for the entire family, ensuring our kids can have the holiday they deserve. But what happens after the holidays? How do we ensure this service, that is so vital to our community is available year-round? How do we rally against childhood hunger here in our own community?
With inflation, and hourly wages failing to meet the financial needs of many of the families that we serve, purchasing groceries for a home with growing children is becoming increasingly more difficult. For many of the youth who attend our programs, the meals and snacks provided at our Club locations are the most secure and nutritionally balanced foods they receive each day.
There are many feeding programs across the Tampa Bay region, and many are doing great work. However, very few programs focus specifically on the critical nutritional needs of youth. This year, in partnership with JWB, Pinellas County Schools, and key strategic partners, we have served over 200,000 hot, nutritious meals and snacks to children at no cost. Yet, we know there are still youth we need to reach. This is a hurdle that we are diligently working to overcome as we strive to serve additional kids in 2023 and continue to expand our feeding program, leaving no kid hungry.
Young people need food to grow and thrive. When kids are hungry, multiple aspects of their lives suffer. Community collaboration is vital in ensuring families get the food they need. Many of our partners have been a key factor in supporting our feeding program expansion over the years, giving us much to be thankful for, not only this holiday, but every day of the year.
This holiday season, as you reflect on the things you are thankful for, remember the impact that just one secure meal a day can make in the life of a growing child. To learn more about how to support the food security of a young person in your community, please visit BGCSun.org.
Freddy Williams is President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast.
School may be out, but there’s still good reason for kids to hit the books this summer. On Monday, July 11, the Barbara S. Ponce Public Library in Pinellas Park will be giving away free books to kids throughout the area.
From 12 – 1 pm, Pinellas County’s Juvenile Welfare Board is bringing their Book Bus to the library, where kids of all ages are invited to hop aboard and pick out a free book. Advance registration is recommended to cut down on the wait time, and slots can be reserved by calling 727-369-0664.
The Barbara S. Ponce Public Library is located at 7770 52nd Street, and attendance is free and open to all. The book giveaway is part of the Juvenile Welfare Board’s commitment to making children a priority, advocating for their best interests and investing to improve their futures. A need for access to books and the urgency of developing reading skills led to the creation of JWB’s Book Bus, which tours Pinellas County, offering free books to youth throughout the summer.
Of course, the Book Bus is only one of many free events the Ponce Library puts on as part of its summer programming. Other fun experiences for children include afternoon movies, Creatures of the Deep (an exploration of the deepest, darkest zones of the ocean on June 29), free community ASL classes all summer, a chess club, a gamer guild, and an end-of-summer pool party weekend coming July 30-31. Several ocean-themed programs are worth checking out as well, including Ocean Guardians, sea creature storytimes, and Seuss Under the Sea.
With Father’s Day just around the corner, there’s a relatively new program in our area dedicated to helping dads stay in their children’s lives and become more positive role models.
It’s called Gold Medal Dads — and its impact could last generations.
“This program was definitely a lifesaver for me,” said Jaycob Strubbe, a proud father of three sons.
“My world. They’re my world,” he said.
But Strubbe wasn’t always sure he’d be a good dad since he didn’t have what he considered an ideal father figure of his own growing up.
“Me knowing that, and me knowing that that’s how I was raised, I wanted to do better by my kids. So, I started learning about how I could have tools and other ways of interacting with my kids that wouldn’t require me being angry or me hitting them or me yelling at them,” Strubbe said.
That’s what led him to Gold Medal Dads — a program that started just a few months ago in Pinellas County helping men who may have themselves had absentee or abusive fathers fill that gap.
“The response has been great,” said Reggie Randolph with Healthy Families’ Father Services, which operates Gold Medal Dads.
The program provides men whose children are newborn to age 17 with the tools they need to become supportive fathers such as educational materials, home visits, referrals to other community services and resources.
“Bring them back into the families,” Randolph said. “And show them and share with them their importance.”
“When you take kids that do not have a father present during their upbringing the chances of them dropping out of school, getting in trouble with the law, having other difficulties, increases dramatically,” DeSantis said.
Gold Medal Dads aims to break the cycle of abuse or absenteeism by holistically helping fathers become responsible role models and an influence not just in their children’s lives but, perhaps, for generations to come.
“When you’re a kid, you don’t really see why the person you love the most and that is your superhero is treating you that way,” Strubbe said. “So, I wanted to fix that for my kids.”
Gold Medal Dads is one of several programs in Pinellas County dedicated to fostering fatherhood. For more information, people are encouraged to contact the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County or the Florida Department of Health office.
“Every day is Father’s Day,” Randolph said. “And the celebration is what we’re trying to have fathers understand and understand their importance. Not only for the children, but for our communities. We need more dads involved in our communities.”
The summer break has just begun, but it’s not too early for families to get a jump on next school year by taking care of their child’s health screenings starting Monday, June 13.
The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County is again offering its annual summer Back-to-School clinic services to students in kindergarten through grade 12 to prepare for the 2022-23 school year. Note that children going into pre-k are not eligible.
The school-based health clinics will provide school, sports and well child physicals, including immunizations, at no cost for clients.
Vision screenings provided by Preserve Vision Florida will be available at select locations, and basic dental services will also be available.
The last day to receive services is Monday, Aug. 8.
The services will be provided at no cost by appointment only between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the following locations:
Boca Ciega High School Clinic: 924 58th St. S.
Gibbs High School Clinic: 850 34th St. S.
Largo High School Clinic: 410 Missouri Ave.
Pinellas Park High School Clinic: 6305 118th Ave N.
For appointments, call 727-824-6900 and select menu option 4. A parent or guardian must bring the child’s immunization and medical records and be present for services. If the parent is not able to be present, a consent must be obtained prior to receiving services.
May was National Drowning Prevention Month, as the lead-in to the summer swimming season is an ideal time to raise awareness to the sobering facts about drowning deaths in America.
According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, drowning is the single-leading cause of death in children ages 1-4, and the most common cause of drowning is not knowing how to swim. As drownings can happen in as fast as 30 seconds and often occur with at least one adult present, organizations and agencies use May to get the word out and hold programs designed to promote water safety for kids.
At the North Greenwood Recreation Complex in Clearwater, a collaboration between the city, Pinellas County Schools, the Juvenile Welfare Board and Clearwater for Youth saw more than 170 Belleair Elementary School students learn how to swim as part of a free program held over two weeks in May.
“This program recently took place for the first time at the Long Center, and it was amazing to see so many children learn how to swim,” Clearwater Recreation Division Manager Sandy Clayton said in an email promoting the new program, which was held at the North Greenwood Recreation Center Pool at 900 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. According to Clayton, the students traveled on a bus provided by CFY to attend the swim lessons during their regularly scheduled PE time before returning to school to resume their day, and she said the goal is to expand the program and “to add a new school to the list each year.”
On May 18, a group of Belleair first graders were led by aquatics supervisor Thomas Heine to the pool, where they were given lessons by certified instructors and treated to free swim googles, caps and T-shirts, as well as some fun time in the spray pool following the half-hour classes.
According to Brooke Bennett, the three-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer and CFY board member who was overseeing the kids’ transportation, the importance of the program can’t be overstated.
“It’s hard to put into words the importance of this program and the emotions I feel seeing it come to fruition,” Bennett said as she helped Heine get the group situated. “It’s very moving to me.”
Bennett, who earned three gold medals, including two in the 800-meter freestyle event during the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, has enjoyed a busy post-competition career that’s included a stint in television as well as coaching kids. She said she believes drowning prevention and water safety should start at an early age.
“I think swim lessons for 3-year-olds should be covered by insurance, and every child under the age of 1 should have an introduction to water,” Bennett said. “They spend 40 weeks in water before being born and are very instinctual in water up to the age of 1. That’s why I love teaching babies, because there’s no fear at that age whereas the older they are, the more the fear is there.”
Before heading out into the blistering heat, Bennett praised the program and its ability to save lives.
“This program can be an example at the county, state and national level because we need to educate people that drowning is preventable,” she said. “Accidental drowning is the leading cause of death in 1- to 4-year-olds, so by doing water safety programs like this, we’re changing this statistic.”
For more information on Clearwater’s swim programs, visit myclearwater.com.
