Pinellas County OKs up to $600,000 for Care About Me marketing services

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 19 approved a one-year contract with BKN Creative for additional marketing services for the county’s Care About Me program, not to exceed $600,000. The motion passed unanimously.

County leaders said they supported the marketing investment while stressing the need for outcome metrics. “I am gonna support this today, a little reluctantly, but in the hopes that it’s going to be successful,” a commissioner said, adding that he had discussed metrics with county staff. County staff earlier identified the vendor as BKN Creative; the contract funds additional outreach to increase take-up of behavioral health services offered through Care About Me.

Karen Yacham, Human Services director, was present during the agenda and later spoke on related funding items, describing how staff would track grantee performance across human services programs.

The board voted on the contract by motion from Commissioner Wiking, seconded by Commissioner Peters; the vote was unanimous. Commissioners said they expected staff to return with performance measurements and follow-up discussion during future meetings.

The contract is structured as marketing services only; no policy changes to program eligibility were discussed on the record at the meeting. Commissioners emphasized monitoring budget performance and program outcomes given the size of the contract.

Looking ahead, the board indicated it would review metrics collected by staff and contractor performance at future meetings if the marketing rollout moves forward as planned.

(Reporting note: direct county speakers referenced in the board discussion were recorded in the public meeting transcript.)