A Kid's Place | Child & Family Multi Service Assessment Center
A Community Initiative of Kids Charity of Tampa Bay
At 7:30 pm an investigator with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has picked up six year old Alexis and her three year old brother Thomas. Reports of suspicious bruises and her odd behavior at school have resulted in Alexis and Thomas’s removal from their home. The investigator found them living in squalid conditions with trash, rotting food and feces in every room. He was relieved that he had removed the children after the medical exam proved Alexis had been sexually abused. It is now 10:00 pm and the investigator and case worker have yet to find an available foster home to place Alexis and Thomas for the night. Finally, after midnight, a home is located that can take Alexis, and another will take Thomas, but for a few days only…
There are often many long nights like these as investigators and case workers try to provide services to children removed from their homes due to suspicions of abuse, neglect or abandonment in Hillsborough County. This is unacceptable for the child that must wait and the investigator that struggles to find a bed for them, especially sibling groups, yet, it is a reality. These children need safe beds, stability and love during this traumatic and frightening time in their lives. As a community, we can do better.
Working in partnership, Kids Charity of Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Children & Families Services, Hillsborough Kids, Inc., Hillsborough County Public Schools and individual community leaders set out to resolve this issue. In order to provide stability to the system of care and appropriate facilitation of assessments for better placement determination, it was decided that A Kid’s Place would be a viable solution to these problems. Not only will it be designed as a solution, it will be a flagship program to the nation.
A Kid’s Place, a licensed, residential group care provider, is a unique, state of the art, 60-bed facility for abused, neglected, or abandoned children. A Kid’s Place has five 3,200 square foot homes, located on 5 acres in Brandon, Fl. We currently utilize a live-in house parent model which provides the children with consistency and simulates family living. Together with our community partners, A Kid’s Place offers:
- On-site well child exams
- On-site Therapy services
- Dental services including exam, x-ray, cleaning, sealant, educational program and treatment plan
- Educational services
We are able to provide these services often without having to take the children off-site and are the first residential facility in Hillsborough County to be able to provide this level of service on-site. At A Kid’s Place, our goal for each child is to provide an enriching experience that will instill hope, encourage growth, and provide opportunities for success.
A Kid’s Place
1715 Lithia Pinecrest Road
Brandon, FL 33511
Phone: 813.381.3839
Fax: 813.381.3840
Email: welcome@akidsplacetb.org