Parents, teachers and all others with concern for child safety will have the opportunity to have their voices heard at a public meeting hosted by the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, next week in Plant City.
The April 9 event is part of a series of meetings spanning the entire year, at various Children’s Board centers around the county.
“Our goal is to extract information from community members … in all the different areas and trying to find out what is keeping the kids in that area from safety,” Paula Scott, a spokeswoman for the children’s board, said. “The format itself is basically a very organic conversation.”
Two facilitators will be present to keep the meeting running, as well as other staff from the children’s board, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County. They will be available to answers questions when possible. But the topics of conversation will be up to the citizens who attend.
There also will be presentations on the Safe and Sound Hillsborough County project, and family stability programs and college scholarships at Hillsborough Community College.
Three topics in particular were discussed at the first two meetings earlier this year, and Scott expects them to be important issues for Plant City, as well.
“One that has come up heavily, and usually early on in the meetings, is about pedestrian safety,” Scott said.
This includes children walking in areas without sidewalks, small children walking to their bus stop when it is still dark in the early morning and children walking along busy streets with inadequate crosswalks.
The other two hot issues have been the need for safe caregivers when parents are absent or busy, and the lack of safe activities for teenagers, which often leads to trouble.
Scott and other Children’s Board employees take careful notes at each of the meetings in order to remember the community’s discussion points. After the sixth meeting, which will be in October, they will compile and analyze the information they collected, in order to identify county-wide problems, as well as localized issues.
“Our goal is to return next year to each of those resource centers and talk about: what did we find, what kind of traction have we been able to get, how can we help you, and how can you help yourself.” Scott said.
If You Go
Children’s Board Town Hall Meeting
When: 5 p.m. Thursday, April 9
Where: Children’s Board Family Resource Center, 639 E. Alexander Street, Plant City
Future Meetings: June 11 in Tampa; Aug. 13 in Ruskin; and Oct. 8 in Brandon
More information: childrensboard.org
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.