The Escambia County Commission will hear a presentation on Tuesday morning on the establishment of a local Children's Services Council in Escambia County.
Locally, if established by the voters through a referendum on the November ballot, this organization would be named the Escambia Children's Trust.
The authorization to establish a local children's services trust (CSC) is codified in statutes, and currently there are 9 such entities throughout Florida. Primarily these are located in south Florida--if one were established locally it would be the first and only such entity in North Florida (although Leon County has this initiative on their 2020 ballot).
The structure of how a CSC would be organized is codified in statute and County ordinance. The County's draft ordinance, describing the make up of the board of directors, goals and objectives of the organization, can be found here.
The CSC locally would fund organizations and programs locally to help move the needle in three key areas--areas that most in the community know are desperately needed. I have asked, and I have been told that 90% of the revenue would go to direct programming that will benefit students in theses key areas of:
1. Kindergarten readiness
2. Out of School Development
3. Stronger Families
A long list of local supporters is being circulated in the community--and everyone knows we have a large population of at-risk children and students that could greatly benefit from services provided by a local Children's Services Council.
Additionally--I am aware that some significant polling on this initiative has been conducted county-wide, and that support for a local CSC is between 55%-68% of respondents.
So to get a CSC started in Escambia County--two things must happen:
1. The Board of County Commissioners must vote affirmatively to place the initiative on the November ballot and....
2. A majority of the voters must approve the measure.
This is truly a program that will be up to the citizens and the voters to authorize or not authorize.
I am of the belief that the BCC will vote to put this on the ballot--as a matter of fact I intend to make the motion to add this to the ballot and I believe the vote will be unanimous to move it forward.
Then, at that point, it will be up to the citizens of Escambia County to decide whether or not to establish a CSC locally to improve outcomes for our area youth.
