The state Legislative Budget Committee is scheduled to meet on September 7 to reconsider its refusal to accept federal home visiting dollars. The Governor’s Office resubmitted an authorization request after learning that Florida would not be eligible to apply for $100 million in Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Funding if it turned down the money. Lawmakers refused this funding during the last session because it is part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Jacksonville-Duval County was one of five areas in the state selected to receive the first round of home visiting dollars. The funding would support the implementation of a Nurse-Family Partnershipprogram to serve high-risk, first-time mothers in the New Town Success Zone and two other neighborhoods. Services would be provided by a team of specially-trained nurses from Shands Jacksonville and the Duval County Health Department.
Jacksonville State Senator Steve Wise currently serves on the 14-member Legislative Budget Committee which will reconsider the authorization request.
A new deputy secretary for health has been named: Steven L. Harris, MD, PhD, FACP. State Surgeon General Frank Farmer made the announcement, effective August 19.
Prior to this post, Harris was Health Officer and Medical Director for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department. Before the Dallas post, he was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Country Director in Haiti for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Dr. Harris will be responsible for the public health programs, activities and functions, including the Healthy Start program.
Florida ranks 36th in the nation when it comes to child well-being, according to the recently released Kids Count 2011 Databook. The state dropped one spot in the rankings since 2010.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the databook each year. It looks at ten indicators, including low birth weight, teen births, child poverty levels and children in single-parent families.
Kids Count 2011 found that the children throughout the country have had a significant decline in economic well-being over the last 10 years, which is attributed to the financial crisis that has plagued the nation. According to the book, in 2010, 11 percent of children had at least one unemployed parent and 4 percent have been affected by foreclosure since 2007.
In Florida, the economic statistics are worse: 12 percent of the child population had at least one unemployed parent and 10 percent have been affected by foreclosure.
Since 2010, several health and socioeconomic indicators got worse in Florida: percent of children in poverty, percent of children in single-parent families and percent of low birth weight babies. The infant mortality rate stayed the same.
Florida’s indicator rankings:
- 28th in infant mortality rate
- 38th in percent of low birth weight babies
- 29th in teen pregnancy rate.
- When it comes to single-parent families, Florida has its worst ranking: 43 out of 50 states.
The Florida Times-Union references Kids Count in their August 18th article, “Rise in teen moms likely to follow rise in First Coast poor, advocates say.”
In the same issue, guest columnist John Coggin urged Gov. Rick Scott to focus on children and expand funding for successful programs like Healthy Start.
Florida’s current governor needs to follow the model of a former governor when it comes to kids, according to a guest column in the Florida Times-Union.
John Coggin, a freelance writer in Annapolis who recently completed a soon-to-be published biography on Lawton Chiles, urged Gov. Rick Scott to focus on children. He cited the Healthy Start program for women and infants as “a model for how state government can partner with families to care for Florida’s children.”
Coggin also cited Chiles’ expansion of the Healthy Kids program — now part of Florida KidCare — to provide affordable health insurance to children in the state.
He recommends three priorities Gov. Scott should have to the next legislative sessions:
- Healthy Start
- Pre-kindergarten
- After-school program
When: Sunday, September 4, 2011 @ 5 PM
Where: Jacksonville Suns Baseball Grounds, 301 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.
What: Area doctors will play in a celebrity softball game hosted by Jacksonville Jaguar & Healthy Start ambassador, Eugene Monroe.
Visit our Rounds at the Grounds 2011 site for more information on how to get involved.