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By Penny Fletcher
penny@observernews.net
RUSKIN - Driving down Shell Point Road in Ruskin awhile back I noticed something missing from the playground at the Rainbow Family Learning Center. I didn’t see any children.
Subsequent drive-bys showed the same result and finally, I had to ask.
Was the center still there? Was the Child Abuse Council still operating a program for at-risk youngsters and their parents, often court-ordered or after children’s advocate agencies made referrals? For almost two decades the Rainbow program operated a parent-child center in Ruskin and for many of those years children could be seen in the playground behind the program’s final Ruskin location, across from the Ybor Grille.
After a few trips where I saw no children, I called Rainbow’s parent organization, the Child Abuse Council, Inc. in Tampa and spoke to several people, two of whom were very helpful.
Sinziana Bularca, child care administrator, explained that Rainbow had three Hillsborough County locations until the one in Ruskin closed. The centers in Tampa and Plant City remain intact. But there weren’t as many referrals for Rainbow in Ruskin and the council decided to operate other programs there instead, she said.
That led me to speak with Paul D’Agostino, executive director of the Child Abuse Council, Inc., who helped spearhead the council’s decision.
“Restructuring our services in Ruskin was only partly due to limited funding,” D’Agostino said when I asked him if it had been because of budget cuts. “Our greater concern was the lack of utilization of the Rainbow program as it was structured and our responsibility to maximize the use of our resources to serve the greater number of children and families in a different and more effective way. While the Rainbow Family Learning Center Program as it previously existed was closed earlier this year we’ve added other services at that location.”
Two services that operated alongside Rainbow are still in use there. One is Healthy Start, where home health nurses check on babies, especially those considered at risk, teaching new parents about proper feeding, cleanliness and care, and the other is Teen Services, providing a variety of support groups and helpful resources for those between the ages of 12 and 18.
Three new programs have also been added, D’Agostino said. They are FRANC, Baby Bungalow and Parents as Teachers.
FRANC is the acronym for Fathers Resource and Networking Center, where fathers can participate in nurturing programs, attend support groups, take part in Boot Camp for New Dads, and go to dinners that are periodically put on for any fathers or father figures and their families who wish to learn more about it.
Baby Bungalow is an early childhood resource center for parents and caregivers of children from birth to age 5 that offers support groups, infant massage classes and children’s developmental workshops and CPR classes, while Parents as Teachers is a nationally-recognized early childhood parent education and family support program. It uses certified parent educators to teach expectant and new parents about their child’s development, both physically and intellectually, including motor and social skill milestones, through home visits and group activities.
“Our goal is to provide the widest possible support and training network to the area that we possibly can,” D’Agostino said. “And we felt these programs were more suited to its needs.”
To find out more about any of these programs call the Child Abuse Council Inc., (813) 673-4646 Ext. 298 or log onto
www.childabusecouncil.com.
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