Community Blog Archives by Date Blog
Ever witnessed, a parent juggling a child (or several children) and a cart full of groceries while standing in the checkout line at the store, a two year old throwing a tantrum in a restaurant, a child on the playground or other public area by themselves, or that crying child with a pitch that you are sure was used to develop the emergency response sirens while traveling on an airplane. Now, you likely recalled a situation where you observed a parent in one of these situations, or maybe even thought of a time when you yourself had a similar experience. Just imagining the above scenarios may have triggered your stress button or engaged your flight response; after all, parents should be able to control their children, right?
In the last ten[+] years, Heartland for Children has established strong community partnerships and effective programs that have positively impacted our tri-county area. Under their leadership, child abuse has decreased. This change has been a result of strong commitment to prevention and evidence based programs. Additionally, their focus on trauma focused care has made a tremendous impact on children and families that have experienced abuse, neglect, and out of home placements. Heartland for Children is the model of community based care for our state.
As a social worker who was involved in the transition to this model of care in our state, I fully support and endorse their continued work and leadership in Hardee, Highlands and Polk counties.
Mary Jo Plews - Former Executive Director, Healthy Start Coalition