Florida Children's Services Council

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CSCs strategically invest in primary prevention and early intervention programs and services.

About Children’s Services Councils

Background

A Children’s Services Council (CSC) is a countywide special taxing district created by ordinance to fund programs and services that improve the lives of children and their families. Examples of programs and services funded by CSCs include school readiness, after school care, prenatal care, youth development, and foster care review.

To date, 11 Florida counties have created CSCs that invest taxpayer dollars in the well-being of their community’s children and families. In 2005-2006, CSCs collectively invested nearly $400 million in hundreds of local programs and services for children and their families. While the services offered and age groups served vary depending on the needs of the community, the primary focus of all CSCs is to invest in prevention and early intervention programs that produce measurable results.

In 8 of the 11 CSC counties, voters have approved “independent” taxing authority for their CSC to ensure that a dedicated funding source is available for children’s programs and services. The 3 remaining CSCs operate as “dependent” districts, and rely on funding from different sources, including county government, to pay for children’s programs and services.

The CSC special district is unlike any other in the nation. Florida is the only state where a community has the power, by law, to create a special taxing district for the sole purpose of investing in the well-being of children and their families. While many other organizations address the needs of young children, no other public entity provides such an umbrella for leadership, coordination and oversight concerning the status of children.

The Beginning

The legacy of the dedicated funding source for children in Florida counties began in 1945 in Pinellas County. That was when local attorney Leonard Cooperman decided it was time to give troubled youth a better option than going to jail. Cooperman drafted legislation to establish an independent body of citizens and community leaders that would have as its sole interest the welfare of children in Pinellas County. Recognizing that resources would continue to be a barrier to meaningful change, Cooperman had the idea to combine the independent body with the special taxing district mechanism -- the first time this had ever been done in the United States.

Cooperman took his idea to Juvenile Court Judge Lincoln Bogue who embraced the proposal. He then worked to mobilize citizens to encourage their legislative delegation to propose a local law implementing the measure, which they did. That same year, the Florida Legislature passed a local bill allowing Pinellas County to establish a special district for children called a "juvenile welfare board," and levy an ad valorem tax, subject to voter approval.

In 1946, Pinellas County voters approved (by an 80-20 margin) both the special district and its taxing authority, creating the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) of Pinellas County. In 1990, county voters approved raising the district’s millage rate from 50 cents to a maximum of $1 per $1,000 of taxable property value. Today, the JWB, now known as JWB - CSC of Pinellas County, is the oldest and longest-running of the CSCs in Florida.

Nearly 40 years after the Pinellas County CSC was approved, citizens in Palm Beach County sought to establish a special taxing district for children in their county. At that time, services for children were random, scattered and islands unto themselves. If a child needed a variety of services, parents went to a variety of places, filled out a variety of paperwork and told their story a variety of times. The child was also treated as an individual, rather than as part of a family whose hardships or issues contributed to their child’s.

With the combined efforts of citizens, and support from champion legislators Sen. Harry Johnston and Rep. Mike Friedman, Palm Beach succeeded in getting the Florida Legislature to pass the Juvenile Welfare Services Act in 1986. Effective Oct. 1, 1986, this enabling legislation provided that any county in Florida, whose voters agreed through referendum, could create a special district for children’s services with a governing board and the authority to levy taxes. On Nov. 4, 1986, the voters of Palm Beach County approved creation of the CSC of Palm Beach County by a 70-30 margin.

Anatomy of a CSC

Today, Chapter 125 of the Florida Statutes allows a CSC to be created by ordinance of the county government (board of county commissioners). County voters may, by countywide referendum, approve taxing authority for the CSC. If approved, Florida law specifies that the CSC can use local tax money only to serve the children and families within the boundaries of the CSC county.

CSC Governing Board

Composition of the CSC governing board is also outlined in the law, with most boards having 10 members. [1] Five members are ex-officio: the school superintendent, one local school board member, the district administrator of the local Department of Children and Families, a juvenile court judge and one member of the board of county commissioners. The remaining five members are appointed by the governor to four-year terms, and, to the extent possible, represent the demographic diversity of the population of the county.

The composition of some CSC governing boards may vary depending on the ordinance creating the CSC. More Information about CSC governing board composition is available on the individual CSC web sites.

CSC Professional Staff

Another key element contributing to the success of a CSC is the professional staff. The staff manages important functions such as accounting and finance, program coordination, program evaluation, training, outreach, and research and analysis. The size of the CSC and level of services provided largely determine the number of staff and the level of expertise needed.

Independent and Dependent Districts

Of the 11 CSC districts in Florida, eight are independent and three are dependent. CSCs with voter-approved taxing authority are considered to be independent special districts. Independent CSC districts obtain taxing authority through voter approval to levy ad valorem taxes for the sole purpose of funding programs and services for children. Currently, the rate of levy set by the statute is up to 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value. Palm Beach and Pinellas counties both returned to referendum and received voter approval to increase their millage cap up to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value.

For example, in a county with an independent CSC, an individual with a homestead property assessed at $200,000, minus the $25,000 homestead exemption, would pay just $87.50 for the year to fund children’s services in their community.

Independent CSC special districts are located in: Broward, Hillsborough, Martin, Miami-Dade, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and St. Lucie counties.

CSCs can also operate in Florida as “dependent” special districts, meaning they do not have taxing authority so they must rely on different funding sources to pay for children’s programs and services. In most cases, funding comes from a portion of property taxes collected by the county government. Other funding sources may include foundations created by the CSC.

Dependent special districts are located in: Duval, Highlands, and Lake counties.

Serving Florida’s Children

The Florida statute enacting Children’s Services Councils specifically prohibits them from directly funding school district programs. It also makes clear that the intention is that these are additional dollars to increase resources for children and families, not to supplant those already provided through other means. The law does provide for a broad spectrum of services and functions that CSCs can perform. Each CSC can, and does, craft its own mission and goals, and bases those on the specific needs of the individual communities.

All CSCs collect information and statistical data, and conduct research that is helpful to the CSC and the county in deciding the needs of children in the county. Many coordinate with other agencies, funders (public and private), stakeholders, and others dedicated to the welfare of children. This ensures the best use of dollars and that services and programs are available to the greatest number of children needing them.

Information about specific programs and services funded locally by a CSC is available in each CSC’s annual report: See a list of links to CSC annual reports across the state.

How Funds Are Awarded

CSCs operate on an Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 fiscal year. They prioritize funding based on research and data that indicates where the needs exist for children and families in their communities. CSC governing boards also play an important role in this process. Funding is awarded to service providers on a competitive basis. CSCs closely monitor programs for performance and measurable results.

A Community Return on Investment

CSCs benefit communities in a number of ways. CSCs focus on serving all children, not just a particular demographic or economic segment of the population. CSCs can also serve as an effective way to eliminate (or reduce) "turfism" and identify ways to use local resources more efficiently. They bring key players to the same table, theoretically looking at the whole child (in family and community context). Other CSC benefits include:

• The mandate to do community planning (community needs assessments updated annually) is an important feature. It promotes long-term thinking that goes beyond one fiscal year.
• CSCs generate a new source of local funds, which can be allocated according to community needs, thus making them responsive to changing priorities and issues among children and families.
• The funds that CSCs invest in primary prevention and early intervention systems help to diminish or eliminate the need for more costly punitive and remedial services that may be needed later in a child’s life.
• There is no evidence of state revenue declines related to the counties’ establishing children’s services taxing districts.
• Increasingly, CSCs are focusing their efforts on outcomes and accountability – return on investment.
• In line with their commitment to use funds most efficiently, CSCs often partner with other community funders (e.g., United Way, school districts, community foundations) in planning and funding, which focuses all funders’ behavior toward shared goals and outcomes.
• CSCs educate citizens about children’s issues and create stronger constituencies for children. CSCs become the hub of child advocacy in a county, broadening the constituency of advocates and concentrating efforts, thereby strengthening advocacy. As CSCs become the trusted source of information about children, they have become more powerful political forces at the state level.