Florida Senate - 2022                            (NP)    SR 1988
       
       
        
       By Senator Rouson
       
       
       
       
       
       19-03306-22                                           20221988__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the Juvenile Welfare Board of
    3         Pinellas County.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, few alternatives to adult incarceration existed
    6  for the rehabilitation of dependent and delinquent children in
    7  Pinellas County in the early 1940s, and
    8         WHEREAS, three local champions of that time — juvenile
    9  court judge Lincoln Bogue, Junior League of St. Petersburg
   10  founder and chair Mailande Holland Barton, and attorney Leonard
   11  Cooperman — recognized the need to remedy the issue and took
   12  action, and
   13         WHEREAS, a bill sponsored by Senator Henry Baynard and
   14  Representative S. Henry Harris and supported by the Pinellas
   15  County Legislative Delegation was drafted to create an
   16  independent special district, led by an autonomous board, to
   17  protect the rights and serve the needs of children, and the bill
   18  passed both chambers in May 1945, and
   19         WHEREAS, on November 5, 1946, Pinellas County voters
   20  overwhelmingly passed a referendum to enact the Juvenile Welfare
   21  Board Special Act into law, the first time in United States
   22  history that such an entity had been created, and
   23         WHEREAS, 75 years later, the Juvenile Welfare Board remains
   24  steadfast in its commitment to meet the most immediate and
   25  pressing needs of Pinellas County’s children, with the recent
   26  global pandemic underscoring its value, and
   27         WHEREAS, in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the Juvenile Welfare
   28  Board invested in 85 programs offered by 55 nonprofit agencies
   29  that served nearly 60,000 children and families, while also
   30  leading collective efforts to fight childhood hunger, promote
   31  literacy and grade-level reading, address children’s mental
   32  health, and prevent needless childhood deaths, NOW, THEREFORE,
   33  
   34  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   35  
   36         That the Senate recognizes and congratulates the Juvenile
   37  Welfare Board of Pinellas County on the occasion of its 75th
   38  anniversary for its tireless service and invaluable
   39  contributions to the children and families of Pinellas County
   40  and this state.
   41         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
   42  presented to the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County as a
   43  tangible token of the sentiments expressed herein.
   44