County Seeks Applicants For Escambia Children’s Trust

January 4, 2023

The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners is seeking applications from county residents to serve on the Escambia Children’s Trust.

To be considered, applicants must submit the completed Escambia Children’s Trust application and questionnaire for gubernatorial appointments with an optional resume by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

Resumes and both applications should be submitted via email to boardapply@myescambia.com or mailed to:

Jose Gochez, Program Manager
Escambia County Board of County Commissioners
221 Palafox Place, Suite 420
Pensacola, FL 32502

The Board of County Commissioners will nominate three applicants per vacancy to be submitted to the governor for review and potential appointment. Following the board’s selection, the county administrator will notify the Governor’s Appointments Office of the selected applicants and additional steps from the nominees may be required.

To be considered for the Escambia Children’s Trust, Florida Statute criteria include the requirement that nominees have been residents of Escambia County for the previous 24 months and are willing to submit an annual Statement of Financial Interests Form. Florida Statutes also require that gubernatorial appointments are representative of the demographic diversity of the County’s population.

Per Section 125.901, Florida Statutes, the Escambia Children’s Trust shall consist of 10 members, including:

  • The superintendent of schools;
  • A school board member as appointed by the school board;
  • The Department of Children and Families district administrator, or his or her designee;
  • A judge assigned to juvenile cases as appointed by the chief judge;
  • A c0ounty commissioner as appointed by the Board of County Commissioners; and
  • Five members appointed by the governor from candidates nominated by the Board of County Commissioners to serve a four-year term.

In November 2020, 61% of participating voters in Escambia County supported the creation of the Children’s Trust  to be funded by an increase in ad valorem taxes of up to a maximum of 0.5 mil. The Children’s Trust will provide early childhood education, safety, developmental, preventative, health, and well-being services, including after school and summer enrichment programs.

The ECT is responsible for assessing the needs of the children in the county and developing a strategic plan for addressing unmet needs, which must then be submitted to the Board. The ECT, like the county, must also go through the process of adopting a millage rate and budget in accordance with Florida’s Truth In Millage (TRIM) Act, and the CSC must submit an annual report to the Board as required by Florida law.

Comments

2 Responses to “County Seeks Applicants For Escambia Children’s Trust”

  1. Sug on January 6th, 2023 10:28 pm

    I’d like to know precisely what ECT is using citizen tax dollars for. How about a list of accomplishments and stats that show a positive “bang for the buck”. In my opinion, this is just another welfare program and those who run it are profiting for essentially doing nothing. Exactly what programs have been developed for children and how can ECT prove that our money is making a difference? What children are excluded? No one seems to be able to answer this. Stupid voters vote YES on every addendum without researching the program or the cost. And I don’t recall anything about raising property taxes to fund this. What about all the renters who aren’t contributing to this welfare program? Get rid of it!

  2. Local on January 4th, 2023 3:39 pm

    Is this a paid position?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News