Every parent knows how quickly a child can get away from you. For families raising children with autism and other developmental disabilities, that fear can be even greater because some children wander or elope without understanding danger.

Water is especially frightening.

Across Florida, many neighborhoods have large man-made retention and stormwater ponds directly behind homes, beside sidewalks, near playgrounds, and throughout residential communities. In many cases, there is nothing physically preventing a young child from reaching the water.

For families like mine, that is terrifying.

Florida already recognizes how dangerous unsupervised access to water can be by requiring important safety protections around residential swimming pools. But a large retention pond in a neighborhood can present the same deadly risk to a child who wanders.

A child should not have to die before we decide a preventable hazard deserves attention.

The Legal Gap

Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act establishes safety requirements intended to reduce accidental childhood drownings around residential swimming pools.

However, certain irrigation, flood-control, and drainage systems are exempt from those requirements. This means many man-made stormwater and retention ponds located throughout residential neighborhoods are not required to have the same types of child-safety barriers that Florida requires around swimming pools.

This gap is especially concerning for children with autism and other disabilities associated with wandering or elopement. Children may leave a home unnoticed and reach nearby water within minutes.

Florida has taken important steps to prevent children from accessing swimming pools. We should examine whether similar protections are appropriate when man-made ponds are intentionally placed directly within residential communities.

Proposed Change

I am asking the Florida Legislature to create reasonable child-safety standards for qualifying residential retention and stormwater ponds.

The proposed Florida Safe Ponds Act would ask lawmakers to consider requiring child-resistant fencing, barriers, or other approved safety measures around certain man-made residential ponds when they are located near homes, playgrounds, schools, childcare facilities, sidewalks, or other areas routinely accessed by children.

This proposal is not asking Florida to fence every lake, river, canal, natural pond, or body of water.

Instead, it would focus on man-made retention and stormwater ponds placed within residential developments where children can easily access them.

Reasonable exemptions could also be created when another engineered safety design provides an equivalent level of protection.

The goal is simple: create another layer of protection between vulnerable children and a preventable drowning hazard.

Please sign this petition if you believe Florida should take a closer look at child safety around residential retention and stormwater ponds.

By signing, you are asking the Florida Legislature to consider legislation establishing reasonable safety requirements for qualifying man-made ponds located in residential areas.

I am also asking Florida parents, autism families, first responders, pediatric professionals, drowning-prevention advocates, educators, and community members to share this petition.

If your child has ever wandered toward a pond, lake, canal, pool, or other body of water, your story matters too.

Together, we can show Florida lawmakers that this is not an isolated concern. It is a preventable safety issue affecting families throughout our state.

Please sign and share the Florida Safe Ponds Act petition and help us advocate for safer neighborhoods for Florida’s children.

 

Signed, 

Julie Pettigrew.