Throwing out the baby...

Posted on 07/18/2011 @ 11:47 AM

THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE HAS REJECTED OR LEFT ON THE TABLE MORE THAN $52 MILLION FOR AT RISK FAMILIES IN HOME VISITING GRANTS THUS ELIMINATING FLORIDA’S CHANCE TO APPLY FOR $100 MILLION IN SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS

Throwing the Baby Out With the Baby Water... and Leaving Millions of Children and Dollars$$ Behind...

Despite decades of successful home visiting programs from Key West to Pensacola, the Florida Legislature slashed funding and now has rejected millions in federal dollars to prevent premature babies, domestic violence, substance abuse, crime, poverty and child maltreatment.

The Florida Legislature has slashed state funding for home visiting despite critical need, demonstrated effectiveness and cost benefit. Despite Florida’s persistent dismal ranking in the bottom in the Nation on almost every indicator of child wellbeing (see Florida’s State of the Children Report, March, 2011 which can be retrieved at: http://www.cpeip.fsu.edu/resourceFiles/The_State_of_Floridas_Child.pdf). The Florida Legislature made severe cuts to the Florida’s major state funded prevention programs ($10 million from Healthy Families and $5.4 million from Healthy Start).

In 2010, the nationally accredited state-wide child abuse prevention home visiting program, Healthy Families, was slashed by $10 million (36%), despite consistently showing effectiveness in preventing maltreatment and despite Florida’s heart wrenching child abuse rate, more than double the national rate. The cut resulted in the loss of 267 jobs and services to more than 3,500 high-risk families. Not surprising, the child abuse hotline has received record numbers of calls this year. The annual cost per child for Healthy Families is a mere $1,700 versus an estimated $64,000 annually to care for each abused child.

This policy decision basically cost-shifts expenses for future social services and typically ensures a heart breaking legacy of broken families with mental health problems, alcohol and drug addictions costing tax payers millions over a life time. The Legislature also cut $5.4 million from Healthy Start, a truly “motherhood and apple pie” established by Governor Chiles in 1991 to educate pregnant women to quit smoking, drinking and get prenatal care to have healthier babies and to support new parents deal with fussy babies and postpartum depression. Preventing costly birth complications is compelling as preventing one low birth weight baby saves $49,000 just in the first year of life.

Not only has the Florida Legislature slashed state funding for home visiting, now they have refused millions of federal dollars for home visiting. Even with an urgent and desperate need to restore funding for these prevention programs, the Florida Legislature and Governor have rejected or left on the table more than $52 million in home visiting grants...more than the total state budget for home visiting! The Legislature rejected the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program because the monies come from the Affordable Care Act. The $52 million would have created an estimated 1388 additional job and served more than 18,200 high risk families.

The Florida Legislature’s refusal to participate in the federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Grant will eliminate Florida from competing for multi-millions in early childhood and school grants. Not only has Florida lost out on these much needed monies for prenatal care, child abuse prevention and school readiness but the domino effect of not participating in the federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Grant disqualifies Florida from applying for multimillions in additional funding for schools. Florida would be eligible for $100 million over four years through The Race to the Top, a new federal initiative aimed at education innovation and reform to improve student achievement, high school graduation rates and closing achievement gaps.

This is throwing the baby out with the bathwater... Florida’s children and families deserve better!

Additional Information, Facts and Websites

LIST OF FEDERAL HOME VISITING MONIES FLORIDA HAS REJECTED OR LEFT ON THE TABLE

What is the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program? (Section 511 of Title V of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 2951 of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148). In Florida it is located a at Florida’s Department of Health called: Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood
Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program and is described at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Family/mch/Home_Visiting/index.html.

FLORIDA’S ABILITY TO APPLY FOR $100 MILLION RACE TO THE TOP EDUCATION GRANT JEAPORDIZED BY REJECTION OF HV DOLLARS IN AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

What is Race to the Top?

The ARRA provides $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund, a competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in college and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in four core education reform areas:

• Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy;

• Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;

• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and

• Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

See link for description of the program at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html

Research About Benefits of Home Visiting

A 2009, 2pg fact sheet on cost benefits of olds model...can be retrieved from http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/resources/files/PDF/Fact_Sheets/NFP_Benefits&Cost.pdf
A January 2007 40 pg report: Cost effective investments in children from Brookings institute that can be retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2007/01childrenfamilies_isaacs/01childrenfamilies_isaacs.pdf.

Info on cost benefits of olds model begins on pg 13 of the report. Article from Future of Children (retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/19_02_06.pdf The Role of Home-Visiting Programs in Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect (Kimberly S. Howard and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn) Table 2 on pg 133 summarizes results from different models of HV in the following categories: Substantiated child abuse and neglect; Parent-report child abuse and neglect; Child health and safety; Home environment; Parenting responsivity and sensitivity; Parenting harshness; Depression and parenting stress; Child cognition

May 2010 Pew brief: The Case for Home Visiting Strong families start with a solid foundation, retrieved from http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Mom_brief_Web_final.pdf summarizes benefits of home visiting.

Florida’s Home Visiting Programs

Across our state from Key West to Pensacola, home visiting programs have for decades helped families to have healthier babies, strengthened children with delays and disabilities; prevented child abuse, emergency room visits and other expensive health costs; and improved school readiness for low-income children. Home visiting programs like Healthy Start established by Lawton Chiles have helped thousands of pregnant women to have healthier babies. Outcomes were so impressive that Miami has “universal home visiting” for all first time moms and specialized outreach for teen moms. Florida boasts several federal Healthy Start programs (Tampa, Jacksonville, Gadsden County and Miami).

Palm Beach County has made huge strides in reducing low birth weight by supplementing Healthy Start with the evidence based nurse home visiting model. Home visiting in Broward County tackles maternal depression. Gadsden County home visiting has reduced obesity by providing new moms with nutrition counseling and Zumba dance classes. Tampa’s home visiting program has special programs to engage dads with their babies. Across the state, Early Steps helps premature and disabled babies to walk and talk by providing intervention when it is most effective and least costly. Parents as Teachers, HIPPY and Head Start help families teach their children ABCs and social skills to be successful in school and in life. Early Head Start helps low-income expectant families support their babies’ development from birth to age 3.

Healthy Families is a nationally accredited state-wide child abuse prevention home visiting program. Florida State University created a home visiting curriculum that is widely used across the nation. These and many more home visiting efforts have helped families in Florida.