{"id":217677,"date":"2026-03-13T05:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T05:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217677\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T05:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T05:40:08","slug":"new-fence-at-wilson-park-aims-to-keep-children-safe-from-wandering-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217677\/","title":{"rendered":"New fence at Wilson Park aims to keep children safe from wandering off"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 For many parents of children with autism, a trip to the park can come with constant worry about a child wandering off. <\/p>\n

A new fence at Wilson Park in Bakersfield can help prevent that by enclosing the play area.<\/p>\n

\"Wilson<\/p>\n

Fran Medrano, founder of the nonprofit Alongside Autism, started a petition in 2025 asking the city to add safety fences at Bakersfield parks. <\/p>\n

About a year after the petition began, a fence has now been installed around the play area at Wilson Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could just have a park where moms with autism can go and enjoy themselves. That would just change so many lives,\u201d Medrano said.<\/p>\n

Medrano said the petition began after parents raised safety concerns, including children who often wander away. <\/p>\n

\"Wilson<\/p>\n

Wilson Park will see new improvements as the city plans to create new pickleball, tennis, and basketball courts. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

She said the fence at Wilson Park is a first step that could help more families feel comfortable taking their kids to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great place to start, where you can see a park is on a very busy street, and even, you know, neurotypical kids, they might run off into the street, and it’s a safety concern for everybody,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Since June, the petition has gathered several signatures, with many parents saying fenced play areas could make parks more accessible for children on the spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this makes a huge impact,” she said, “I mean, it’s good for us to be out and playing at the park. We can’t do that if it’s not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medrano said the city first learned about the issue through her petition and emails to city leaders, and that those messages led to conversations about possible safety changes.<\/p>\n

\"Wilson<\/p>\n

Wilson Park will see new improvements as the city plans to create new pickleball, tennis, and basketball courts. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city was super receptive. They took everything that I said, and really listened to us, and they were more than willing to hear, um, us moms out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The city and the Parks and Recreation Department were contacted for an interview, but they were not available.<\/p>\n

Medrano encouraged others who want to see changes in their community to speak up, saying her experience showed her that people do listen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 For many parents of children with autism, a trip to the park can come with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-217677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}