Greetings from Prevent Child Abuse Florida

 

End of Summer Newsletter

I hope you had a great summer! Fall is right around the corner now and we’re already seeing some of the signs. Many of our children have started back to school or perhaps they are attending for their first time. In North Florida, we’re seeing some leaves begin to change into their fall colors and for all of us, the days are already getting shorter. Fall is a great time for family activities but starting school and other activities can be stressful as well, and not just for kids! As parents and caregivers, we owe them our best and to make sure we’re able to give them what they deserve, we must make sure we’re taking care of ourselves as well. Self-care is a very important part of stress relief and recharging your batteries. We recently shared this video and I offer it again here, Self-Care Video  as a reminder that we can’t give from an empty cup, so please be good to yourself! If you happen to see friends or acquaintances who could use help, be willing to offer, even simple things can make a difference. Here’s a video on how it can work. Offer a Helping Hand  I hope all of you can enjoy the new season with your loved ones.

This past summer marked the second season of our Water Safety Campaign and many of you have helped us raise awareness through the distribution of our educational materials, sharing links from our PCA FL Water Safety Page and others as well. We lose way too many children to this completely preventable cause of death each year, especially our most vulnerable under the age of 5. Florida is tackling this problem through a variety of strategies and approaches, and we greatly appreciate our partners at the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Department of Health, WaterSmart Florida and many others. Sadly, there is still much to be done here and through these partnerships, not only are we helping raise awareness to help reduce the number of Florida children who die due to drowning, but also, to help protect visitors to our state as well.

Our "Water Watcher Dad" PSA ran on movie screens in drowning hot spots from Panama City to Jacksonville and from Orlando/Tampa, down to Miami. It was viewed over 1.5 million times on desktops, laptops and mobile devices! If you haven’t seen this video, you can check it out here: Water Watcher Dad There are two other videos on our Water Safety page, one focuses on the 5 Tips for Water Safety and the other emphasizes the fact that it’s never too late to learn to swim! Find them all here: PCA FL Water Safety Page.

We also still have educational materials available for order, we have Bath time Safety Magnets, Water Safety Clings and Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim books still available if you have events coming up or would like to have them available wherever children and families may gather. The clings are perfect for businesses and hotel or condominium lobbies, they are visible from both sides and explain the You can find them and all our water safety materials here: HERE.

 

 

Florida Children and Families Summit

I'm sure many of you are aware that this event is taking place this week! We will have a table in the exhibit area and are looking very forward to seeing as many of you there as possible! Please drop by, say hello, and let us tell you about the resources we offer, as well as our Circle of Parents program. Circle of Parents is a peer support model, similar to the community café and similar models that offer social connections for parents, in addition to providing them with a setting to exchange ideas, receive information and expand their knowledge of parenting and child development. Find out more here: Circle of Parents Support Group Info.

More Resources

We still have Parent and Advocacy Guides, Safe Sleep brochures, tip-sheets, Coping with Crying and Safe Sleep rack cards available for order. These are also provided at no cost, including shipping! Order HERE. Check out our latest podcast to find out about all our FREE resources: Free Resources Podcast

Thank you all again and please remember let's PAY ATTENTION TO PREVENTION!