Banks Co. Sheriff Institutes Parent Assistance Program

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Banks County Sheriff Carlton Speed is instituting a new summertime program to help working parents.

Banks County Sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Carrissa McFaddin said the Summertime Assistance Program is designed for working parents who have children at home during the summer months while school is out of session.

“This is the first time we are doing this. Sheriff Speed came up with the idea,” McFaddin said. “He thought it would ease parents’ minds. When the kids are out of school, sometimes you have younger baby sitters and what we’re doing is going out there and making sure the kids and sitter are safe.”

McFaddin said the Sheriff’s office is making an Assistance List which will have the name, address, and phone number of the residence, how many children, their ages, and what time of day the parents want deputies to go and check on them.

Under the program, deputies will conduct a periodic check will be scheduled for each residence on the assistance list to verify the welfare of the children and, if applicable, whether there is a babysitter.

McFaddin said they have not had any instances where children were in harm’s way while parents were at work, but she said Sheriff Speed just felt this was a service his officers could provide.

“Our deputies are already out there doing patrols and safety checks, so why not have them check on kids for parents?,” McFaddin said. “All they have to do is call our office and talk to our patrol commander or look on our Web site and even if they want to ask about the program, we welcome that too.”

McFaddin any working parent in Banks County is welcome to contact the Sheriff’s office to sign up for the Parent Assistance Program. She said so far, the response has been great.

“We are continuing to get calls since we put the word out on Wednesday,” she said. “We’ve had a huge response on our Facebook page and in our inboxes here at the Sheriff’s office. It’s been very welcomed by the Community.”

This is a free service offered by the Banks County Sheriff’s Department.

Again, parents may contact the uniform patrol commander, Captain Shane Presgraves, at 706-677-2248 ext. 1005 or by e-mail at [email protected] if they are interested in being a part of the program.