Daughters of Penelope Baby Shower for PKF

April 23, 2020 By Becky Bennett Leave a Comment

The Daughters of Penelope EROS Chapter 356 held a baby shower event at their monthly meeting at the AHEPA 489 Apartment House. There was no specific mommy to be or baby present but the group of caring and generous women each brought in baby items such as diapers, toys and some of the most darling outfits for baby boys and girls. The gifts were presented to Becky Bennett with Pasco Kids First for their Healthy Families Pasco-Hernando program, a positive-parenting home visiting program for expecting families or those with newborns. In addition, the ladies donated journals, toiletry items, undergarments and more for the kids served at the Pasco Kids First Children’s Advocacy Center. The donation was valued at more than $1,500. The Daughters of Penelope formed 39 years ago and support a variety of charities throughout the year.

Pasco Kids First Earns National Re-accreditation

April 6, 2020 By Becky Bennett Leave a Comment

PASCO KIDS FIRST EARNS RE-ACCREDITATION FROM NATIONAL CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE

National Children’s Alliance recognizes Pasco Kids First for its ongoing delivery of high quality and effective services to child abuse victims through accreditation

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL (April 6, 2020) – Pasco Kids First has been awarded re-accreditation by National Children’s Alliance following an extensive application and site review process. As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, National Children’s Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient, and put the needs of child victims of abuse first. Accreditation is the highest level of membership with National Children’s Alliance and denotes excellence in service provision.

Accredited CACs must undergo a re-accreditation process every five years to ensure that best practices are continually being applied. With accreditation standards being updated in 2017, re-accreditation this year reflects Pasco Kids First’s commitment to providing evidence-based methods practice.

Pasco Kids First was established in 1989 with the mission to assist in the protection of children from the devastating effects of child abuse and neglect providing services for 30 years to children and families. In 2019, Pasco County had more than 7,500 child abuse reports and Pasco Kids First’s Children’s Advocacy Center served 1,264 children with 593 medical exams, 3,425 therapy sessions, 723 forensic/specialized interviews and 6,529 case management hours. As an Accredited Member of National Children’s Alliance, Pasco Kids First is dedicated to providing comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse.

National Children’s Alliance awards Accredited Membership based on a CAC’s compliance with 10 national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. Accredited Members must utilize a functioning and effective Multidisciplinary Team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution, and treatment. National Children’s Alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention, and child focused setting.

“As an organization/team of individuals dedicated to responding to child abuse, we recognize the importance of maintaining our accreditation status from the National Children’s Alliance. Re-accreditation not only validates our organization’s dedication to proven effective approaches of child abuse intervention and prevention, but also contributes to consistency across the child advocacy center movement as a whole,” said Rob Wolf, President & CEO of Pasco Kids First.

“Pasco Kids First is to be commended for its continued commitment to effectively serve victims of child abuse. As the national association and accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, our goal is to ensure that every victim of child abuse has access to high quality services that result from professional collaboration. By requiring Accredited Centers to undergo re-Accreditation every five years, we ensure that evidence-based practices are being implemented and the highest quality of service is being provided,” remarked Teresa Huizar, Executive Director of National Children’s Alliance.

For more information about Pasco Kids First, visit www.pascokidsfirst.org.

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Pasco Kids First Updates Regarding COVID-19

March 23, 2020 By Becky Bennett Leave a Comment

We want to thank you for your continued support of Pasco Kids First and the children and families we serve each day. As a community organization proudly serving those in need throughout Pasco and Hernando Counties, we know how difficult and complex times like these can be for all of us and particularly for the numerous families without access to essential resources they rely on.

We also wanted to assure you that we are monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation closely and are working to ensure we meet the needs of our community as well as provide for the health and safety of our clients, team members and volunteers. We realize this health situation has already been disruptive to many communities across the globe.

Some of the specific steps we are taking to ensure our team members and the families we serve are supported through this trying time as they struggle to deal with the ramifications of COVID-19 and the social distancing necessary to prevent the spread of the virus include:

Pasco Kids First team members who have a health vulnerability as well as those employees who can complete work requirements at home are requested to do so.

A core set of Child Protection Team staff will be in the Children’s Advocacy Center between 9am – 5pm and on-call to ensure services are provided 24/7.

For clients coming to CAC – they are triaged by phone to determine whether the child or any household members have cough, fever, shortness of breath or exposure to COVID-19 in order to practice social distancing.

Pasco Kids First requests minimal guests escort the client in the waiting room or to wait outside the building.

Therapy sessions are being offered in the office or virtually, using platforms with the best patient confidentiality protection, as requested by the client or to best meet the client’s individual needs. Appointments are staggered to limit the number of clients in the waiting room.

The waiting room is wiped down regularly throughout the day and exam rooms and therapy offices are cleaned between each client.

Healthy Families home visits, assessments and team meetings are being offered virtually when needed.

Healthy Families Mommies, Daddies and Me Groups and Graduations have been canceled through June.

During these uncertain times, we are especially grateful for your support as we continue to care for child victims of abuse as well as provide support services for families with little children. As the situation evolves, know we will be investing in our capabilities, equipment, and support while reacting in real-time to make sure we are here supporting our community.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at 727-845-8080 or info@pascokidsfirst.org.

Please stay healthy, safe and stay in touch.

If you feel sick

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida’s COVID-19 website.

Pasco Kids First recently acquired a state-of-the-art LT-300SD colposcope to be used in pediatric sexual abuse examinations. The new equipment allows the Child Protection Team medical professionals to use the colposcope on a vertical stand to perform the exam with high magnification, auto focus and hands-free image capture. In 2019, 47% of the 1,264 children served through the Pasco Kids First Children’s Advocacy Center included a maltreatment of sexual abuse. “This technology is really beneficial to our team and the children we serve as the high quality images provide better capture of evidence and the system is less intrusive for the children,” stated Jon Wisenbaker, Child Protection Team Coordinator. Pasco Kids First has been serving children and their families for 30 years with the mission to keep kids safe and strengthen families through child abuse prevention, assessment and treatment services. To learn more about Pasco Kids First, visit our website at www.pascokidsfirst.org.