Manatee County Children's Advisory Board Needs Volunteers

Manatee County has three openings on the Children’s Services Advisory Board which helps set priorities for spending the tax revenues for children's services across the county.

The advisory board is made up of 13 members who are appointed by the County Commission to serve three-year terms.

County Commissioner Michael Gallen, who has three children and has been an advocate for making sure those tax dollars are spent to benefit children, said that the commission is looking for people who will look at the revenues and try to spread them out to meet the needs of all the children in the county.

"One of my concerns is the 0 to 5 age range," Gallen said. "Developmentally that is so important. If children don't get all of they need then it's troublesome."

Gallen has been concerned that a large portion of the Children's Services money goes toward juvenile detention services that the state mandates, but does not fund.

"The county decided years ago to use some of that (dedicated) tax to fund juvenile detention," Gallen said. "The tax is for children's services, not detaining kids, that's not a service."

While he said he thinks that using the money for juvenile detention "violates the spirit of the law" he understands that right now little can be done to change that.

"Right now we're covering a hole," he said. "It's tougher to change that now. But if we could get that $1 million back it would be a help for Children's Services."

The board is looking to fill three positions: One seat will go to a Manatee County School Board member, the other two positions will go to child advocates who have no affiliation with any agencies that receive county funds. Members serve on a volunteer basis.

Children's Advisory Board members and their spouses must disclose any affiliation they have had over the past year with any organization that applies for Children’s Services funding.

The Advisory Board meets monthly on the third Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Manatee County Administrative Center, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

The board will meet more often from March through May when it is reviewing the budget and making recommendations to the county commission. Those meeting are often weekly on Wednesdays.

Children's Advisory Board members and their spouses must disclose any affiliation they have had over the past year with any organization that applies for Children’s Services funding.

Applications for board positions are due Sept. 5, 2011. For more information, call Mike Neuges at (941) 749-3030, ext. 3467.