Jacksonville child-abuse prevention agency gets City Hall lifeline to stay open

An infusion of COVID-19 relief funding from City Hall will prevent the financially struggling Exchange Club Family Center of Northeast Florida, an almost 30-year-old child-abuse prevention agency in Jacksonville, from closing — at least in the short term.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a second round of grants from the federal CARES Act for local nonprofit and other social service organizations. The measure included $150,000 for the Exchange Center, which was less than the $250,000 requested. But along with $37,000 from other federal relief programs as well as donations, it will keep the currently virtual doors open, said Executive Director Barbara Alexander. 

"We are cutting expenses every possible way, but we can make it through the fiscal year and start working on next year," she said. "We can glue it together." 

During the pandemic, the center has struggled to meet demand.

Focused solely on prevention through counseling and parenting training, the center has undergone years of state funding decreases, as priority shifted to “community-based care” agencies.

Prevention funding allocations shifted from the Department of Children and Families to regional “lead agencies,” which for Duval and Nassau counties is Family Support Services of North Florida. Much of the funding is distributed to agencies that offer full compliments of child services, including foster care and adoption, according to Alexander.

In the coming year, Alexander plans to lobby the Legislature to change the distribution of prevention dollars, which she said could lower the number of children who enter foster care.

A $250,000 appropriation for the center was included in the 2020-21 state budget, pushed by state Sen. Aaron Bean of Fernandina Beach and state Rep. Cord Byrd of Neptune Beach, but vetoed by Gov. Ron Desantis.

The center was founded in 1992 by the Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach chapters of the Exchange Club, a national service group that in 1979 adopted child abuse prevention as its primary project. There are about 100 similar centers across the country, including West Palm Beach and Sarasota.

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109

EXCHANGE CLUB FAMILY CENTER OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA

To donate or get more information, call (904) 306-9318 or go to exchangeclubfamilycenter.com.