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Heartland for Children reads proclamation as Highlands County observes April as Child Abuse Prevention Month
Summary
Heartland for Children read a proclamation recognizing April 2025 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and presented county data showing a foster‑home shortage and adoption placements in Circuit 10.
Heartland for Children presented a proclamation recognizing April 2025 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and urged the Highlands County community to participate in the statewide Pinwheels for Prevention campaign.
Sheree Perrin, education specialist with Heartland for Children, read the proclamation and thanked the school board after the reading. "Heartland for Children is proud to be the lead community based care agency under the Department of Children and Families. We are passionate about child safety and strengthening families through services and resources," Perrin told the board.
Perrin provided detailed local case data: as of February 2025, there were 1,728 children with open child‑welfare cases across Highlands and Hardee counties; last fiscal year 589 children were removed from homes in the Tri‑County area due to abuse or neglect. She said there were currently 292 active Florida Department of Children and Families cases in Highlands County, and 219 of those 292 children had been removed from their homes and placed in out‑of‑home care. Perrin said 110 of those 219 children (50.2 percent) were in traditional foster homes and that 65 of those 110 (59.1 percent) were placed in foster homes outside Highlands County.
"Our greatest need facing our system of care is the need for more foster homes," Perrin said. She added that across Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties there were 162 traditional foster homes and that Highlands County had only 11 of those homes; Heartland for Children said the county needs about 20 more foster homes.
Perrin also highlighted adoption activity in Circuit 10: "For the fiscal year 23‑24, 167 children were adopted in Circuit 10," she said, and that the agency had already secured forever homes for 126 children in the current fiscal year to date.
Perrin encouraged community participation in Pinwheels for Prevention and asked attendees to display pinwheels and wear the provided pinwheel lapel pins to raise awareness. She directed people to Heartland for Children's adoption gallery and thanked the board for the county's participation.
The board acknowledged receipt of the proclamation and the presentation; no formal vote on the proclamation was recorded on the transcript.
