Children's advocates call on state leaders to do more for kids

Tallahassee, Fla. -- The state of Florida has been foolish in the way it spends money on children, according to The Children's Movement of Florida.

The group argues Florida has not spent enough on children's programs and you can see the troubling results: an estimated 800,000 children without health insurance, an early learning system that falls short and too little help for special needs children.

Now the group is offering five proposals to the Legislature to help fix those problems.

The ideas include an expansion of Florida's subsidized health care program for children called KidCare, more cash for the state's pre-kindergarten program and a new screening program for all children to identify physical or mental challenges.

The cost of the ideas is about $300 million - a tough sell at a time when state government is short of money.

But David Lawrence, president of The Children's Movement, calls the proposals wise investments for Florida's future.

"Children of the state of Florida deserve a larger slice of the pie and we are insisting that these are not pie-in-the-sky proposals. We think they're realistic achievable and affordable and affordable even in the current economic climate."

Incoming governor Rick Scott has made it clear his main focus is on jobs with Florida's unemployment rate near 12 percent. Lawrence says he's not concerned the proposals will be placed on the back burner in the new administration because they don't immediately create jobs.

"How shortsighted we would be if we said this is all about economic development in the next year. No business would operate, no wise business would operate that way."

Lawrence calls the ideas genuine economic development for the next 10 to 20 years.

The Children's Movement is also calling on state leaders to develop a skill-building program for parents, as well as allocate more money to improve mentoring programs.

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