VERO BEACH — Florida has a problem . . . a big problem. The Sunshine State has the highest number of child abuse and neglect cases each year, with a rate 60 percent above the national average.
But CASTLE, or Child Abuse Services, Training and Life Enrichment, is working to change those statistics. The organization invited the public to tour its facility on Old Dixie Highway in Vero Beach on Thursday evening to learn about the agency’s parenting programs.The agency also has locations in Martin and St. Lucie counties.
“Prevention is not mandated by the system,” said CASTLE Assistant Director Doug Borrie to the 20 residents who came for the tour. “Florida spends 96 percent of its child protection budget on foster care, adoptions and investigations but only 4 percent is spent on prevention.”
The organization recently received a $100,000 Impact 100 grant to build a family service center in Indian River County, Borrie said. He hopes that the center will be opened next year and will allow CASTLE to expand its classes, support groups and educational seminars that help families deal with the stresses of everyday life.
“Child abuse prevention needs to have a menu of choices to meet everyone’s needs,” Borrie said. “And for prevention to be effective, it has to be accessible. We believe that visibility and a greater presence in the community will allow every parent to find what they need.”
It’s that accessibility factor that the organization showcased Thursday night by detailing three of its programs: High Hopes, a program for kids dealing with divorce; Valued Visits, which provides court-mandated, supervised visitation for parents; and Safe Families, an in-home parenting training course.
“We’re trying to raise awareness of our mission,” said Executive Director Theresa Garbarino-May. “We want people to know where we are, what we do in the community and some of the needs we have.”
Garbarino-May said that often, people don’t realize that child abuse is a significant problem right here in Indian River County.
“Some people think that child abuse is something that happens somewhere else,” she said. “But we have clients in every zip code on the Treasure Coast.”
One of CASTLE’s clients, who was only identified as Tessa, said the organization’s programs made a big difference in her parenting skills. “When I was growing up in Texas, corporal punishment was all I knew,” she said. “And when my children came along, people would say ‘don’t do that to your children,’ but I did. Through CASTLE, I learned that corporal punishment isn’t necessary at any age. It’s just not the answer.”
Sasha ZeBryk from Sebastian said she came to the open house to learn more about the work CASTLE does.
“I really wanted to understand the depths of it,” said ZeBryk. “For me, it was important to put flesh to my thoughts and actually meet the people who are involved.”
AT A GLANCE
CASTLE serves about 10,000 children and families in Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties each year. The facility in Indian River County is located at 1275 Old Dixie Highway in Vero Beach. For more information, call (772) 465-6011 or log on to www.castletc.org.
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