Children's Services Council identifies priorities

SEBRING - Coordinating services and indentifying children in need are among the top priorities the Children's Services Council will focus on next year.
Between its priorities and developing its strategic plan, the council is looking into a number of issues affecting children and families in the county.
The council is putting a priority on finding areas where there are gaps in services and especially addressing child abuse and neglect, Council Chairman Kathy Main said Thursday.
At Wednesday's Children's Services Council meeting, Children's Advocacy Center Director Jeffrey Roth said, "We are trying to focus our strategic plan on substance abuse, mental health, drug prevention, basic health and wellness and then the whole child, which is abuse prevention."
Four presenters provided an update on programs that address the council's priorities.
Drug Free Highlands Chairman Jackie Rawlings said its grant funding has ended, but the community organization is still strong and thriving and working on a lot of initiatives.
Word on a new grant should be coming within the next couple of weeks, she said. "If we do get the grant that's wonderful, we will have paid staff again. If we don't we are going to keep on keeping on."
Highlands Community Mental Health Task Force member Becky Razaire said the group has been monitoring the transition of the Marge Brewster Center clients to Tri-County Human Services, Inc. and making sure the clients continue to be served after July 1 (when the Marge Brewster Center closed).
The task force has a wide diversity of members, she said.
"The purpose of having the task force meetings is to make sure we are doing what needs to be done and also for us to know what's going on in other services that are going on in the community," she said.
Razaire is an outpatient program manager with Tri-County Human Services.
Community Health Improvement Plan (C.H.I.P) Chairperson Debra Caruso said the C.H.I.P. council is made up of health-related stakeholders in the county.
With assistance from the University of South Florida the committee conducted a health assessment/survey, which was completed in 2005 and identified three major health issues in the county: mental health/substance abuse, diabetes/obesity and teen pregnancy.
Caruso noted that a number of strategies have addressed these issues.
The council is looking to expand and conduct another community health survey to identify what people now believe are the major health issues in Highlands County, she said.
Leista Sykes informed the Children's Services Council about the Whole Child program, which matches families with appropriate services and resources.
A Web-page is being developed for the program on the United Way of Central Florida's Web-site: www.uwcf.org, click on "2-1-1" and then on "Whole Child."
Roth noted the Children's Services Council is trying to identify gaps in services and identify the key areas of need.
Also, a member suggested that the council should meet more often.
The council has six scheduled meetings this year, but Wednesday's meeting was the only meeting in the months from June through September.
Main said she believes the council has always met every two months.
"Its just that there is so much on the agenda that it's difficult to get through it in the hour and half that we have allotted," she said. "It's so difficult to meet during the summer months because so many people are out, but I think we are going to have to do that."
Main noted that her term will be up at the end of the year, so the council will have to decide about next year's meeting schedule.

Source : http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/2010/aug/30/la-childrens-services-council-identifies-prioritie/