Schools
Sheriff's Child Protection Unit Fills Backpacks for Abused, Neglected Kids
The 200 backpacks, filled with everything a child needs for school, will go to abused and neglected children across the county.
More than 200 abused or neglected children will have a full backpack when they start school next week, thanks to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Child Protective Investigations Division staffers filled backpacks with pens, notebooks and pencils Tuesday, Aug. 16, at the sheriff’s office headquarters on Falkenburg Road.
The backpacks will be distributed to elementary and middle school-age children of families that child protection investigators work with.
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“We see a lot of domestic violence and drug abuse in the cases we investigate — those are the No. 1 and No. 2 complaints that come into our agency — and obviously those issues impact the home life of children where school may not be a priority,” said Maj. Robert Bullara, commander of the sheriff’s office child protection unit. “We want to do our part to give these kids the tools to succeed in school.”
With donations and help from Walmart, the program costs around $2,000.
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“That’s a good return to help these children,” Bullara said.
Bullara's unit is one of seven law enforcement agencies in the state contracted to carry out investigations on behalf of the Florida Department of Children and Families. It includes 100 civilian investigators and 64 support staff including nine deputies.
Once a call comes into the state’s abuse hotline, the information is farmed out to the relevant agencies. That translates to some 1,000 calls a month in Hillsborough County.
Bullara’s unit also works with Hillsborough Kids, a foster care agency that provides temporary homes for children who have suffered abuse or neglect.
“They are always recruiting foster parents because there are not enough,” Bullara said.
For those who suspect a child is being abused or neglected, Bullara has simple advice: call the state’s toll-free hotline at 800-962-2873.
“If you think or suspect there’s abuse, you need to call right away," Bullara said. "We would much rather the public calls and it be nothing than have a tragedy when someone could have called and did not.”
