Legislative Updates

Legislative Update

Through Monday, March 24th

What will Governor Charlie Crist do?

As reported in previous editions of Legislative Update, the Governor’s budget would leverage trust funds and other revenue sources to reduce the immediate disruption or elimination of programs and services and other functions of state government. The House and Senate on the other hand have declared the Governor’s budget dead on arrival. They will present what is being referred to as “draconian” cuts by the end of this week. Will the Governor go along or will he stick to his proposed budget?

Reports from all Promise areas – from prenatal and children’s health care through early learning and after school services to older children in out of home placements in child welfare and in juvenile justice – continued to stream in over the weekend and through Monday to “message central” of the “Campaign to Protect Children and Communities”.

One of the three principles of the “Campaign to Protect Children and Communities” was the need for cuts to take the future into account (the other two were Florida cannot afford to balance its budget on the backs of its children and it is not just about what the state will save, but what it will lose).

It is doubtful that the Florida Legislature will take the future – our children - into account at the level close to that required regarding the development of its budget. One only has to look as far as Healthy Start and the Department of Corrections for two telling examples.

The House Healthcare Council is considering a cut of $3-million to Healthy Start within a year after having allocated the money to address the climbing rates in infant mortality and low birth weight that had put those issues onto the front pages of the Florida media a year ago. Children’s Campaign, Inc., the Florida Healthy Start Coalitions, and a number of health and advocacy groups had worked tirelessly to advocate for those dollars in order to serve a larger percentage (but still less than 50-percent) of pregnant women in need. The cost of not providing prenatal care is astronomical, both in lives and real dollars. Letter writing campaigns are underway through www.floridachain.org.

Then there's Corrections. Children’s groups are encouraged to pay attention - more than ever before - and wrestle with corrections policy and appropriations. Corrections is guzzling huge sums of cash annually that could be spent on investing in programs and services – in children’s services, education and health – and other places too – that would do a better job of protecting public safety, now and into the future.

100,000 inmates are currently locked up in Florida’s adult prisons. This population will grow by 25% over the next five years, or another 25,000 inmates, if projections by the Criminal Justice Estimating Conference are on target (and they usually are). This will result in the construction of nearly 20 new prisons (17 to be exact) at a cost between $100-million and $110-million each – which adds up to between $1.7 to $1.87-billion, not including the operational dollars to bring them on line!

One would think (and hope) that Florida’s department heads and policy-makers would do all they can to stem the tide so that these large expenditures of funds in corrections would be prevented.

In a shocker, however, when asked by a legislative committee to recommend cuts to their budget without reducing the number of prison beds, the Department of Corrections offered up its entire $37-million in substance abuse services! It is amazing, first, that such a small amount of substance abuse treatment money is currently allocated by DOC in a budget reported by the Tampa Tribune to be $3.2-billion (that’s roughly 1 cent on the dollar allocated to substance abuse treatment); and, second, even more amazing, that it would be offered for a cut.

Also reported by the Tampa Tribune was that providing substance abuse treatment to inmates and probationers will save the state $278-million this year alone and $771-million over the next five years!

Florida appears to be so locked into “consumption spending” that it can’t find its way on its own into “investment budgeting” and prevention, no matter the immediate and long term gains to be realized.

What is moving along, instead, through at least one chamber in the legislature, wasn't a savings plan in the prison budget but a new law to potentially criminalize “saggy pants” which would draw even more youth into the criminal justice system. This week the NAACP and other groups protested and Governor Crist did, in fact, inform them and the media that he did not support the “saggy pants” legislation.

Budget cuts are not just about the present. What seems like a “quick bottom-line fix” today could have devastating effects tomorrow.

Will Governor Crist move to stop draconian cuts or acquiesce? Stay tuned.

Here is what happened last week by Promise:

Promise 1 – Health Care

KidCare consensus bills have been introduced for 2008 to create a streamlined and simplified program. The changes will make it easier for eligible children to remain in the program and help newly eligible children enroll. The proposed bills, SB 2472 by Senator Rich (D-Broward) and HB 1275 by Representative Ausley (D-Leon), address several of the recommendations from the Florida KidCare Coordinating Council and other organizations.

The ten percent cap on full pay participation will be removed for families with incomes between 200% and 250% of the federal poverty level; for families with incomes above 250% of FPL there will be a 25% limit and the 6-month wait period will apply if they have health insurance and wish to switch to KidCare. Families that are currently enrolled in the full pay program will be grandfathered in and the 6-month wait will not apply to families that are transitioning from subsidized KidCare to full pay.

The legislation focuses outreach efforts in the KidCare Coordinating Council where the partner agencies and community partners sit rather than duplicating efforts with Healthy Kids Corporation responsible for Healthy Kids outreach and marketing.  This will make efforts to market KidCare consistent in the statute.

However these bills were never scheduled to be heard during committee weeks or the first 3 weeks of session. A different bill is moving instead. HB 1457 by Rene Garcia (R-Miami-Dade) is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday March 25th before the House Healthy Families Committee. This bill includes many of the same measures found in the Rich/Ausley bills but has other provisions. One will eliminate the Department of Health from responsibility for outreach or for administering the toll free number, and instead transfer the toll free line to AHCA. It also proposes eliminating the KidCare Coordinating Council, which has provided a necessary function to provide input from consumers and advocates.

It is more critical than ever that funding for KidCare be addressed this session especially with the downturn in the economy. The Governor’s budget proposed funding an additional 46,000 children, even in a very tough budget year. The sticking point with the Legislature is the Governor's proposal to use the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund. Federal match allows Florida to triple its general revenue KidCare investment. With more families having trouble making ends meet more children than ever will need assistance in obtaining health insurance coverage

SB 2654 by Senator Geller (D-Broward) and HB 1291 by Representative Porth (D-Coral Springs) that would reform Florida state law to provide appropriate insurance coverage for children with autism for treatments and therapies, including applied behavioral analysis therapy, passed their committees on Wednesday. Visit Autism Votes to learn more about the bills and what you can do to help.

Promise 2 – Child Protection

One area of child abuse that was in the forefront last week was the issue of mental injury. It is currently illegal in Florida to inflict mental injury on a child, yet there has been some consternation in the courts because criminal statutes fail to define mental injury. SB 1280 – Criminal Mental Abuse (Sen. Aronberg – Greenacres ) - would address this glitch. Also, HB 103 by Rep Gayle Harrell (R-Port St. Lucie) passed out of the House Safety and Security Council. The bill expands the criminal definition of child abuse and provides for crime victim compensation funds to help child victims access mental health treatment for mental injury.

Guardian ad Litem, the statewide organization providing advocates for children under the care of the state, is rallying its supporters at the Capitol on March 27th. The annual event includes displays at the Capitol rotunda and 22nd floor, visits to legislators by guardian volunteers from across the state, and a luncheon reception to honor those working to ensure that children find their way through the child welfare system. Currently, Guardian ad Litem is in search of volunteers to help them cover approximately 6,000 children in the system who are without a Guardian. They need approximately 3,000 people willing to volunteer 4 to 6 hours a month to be the voice for abused and neglected children. Visit www.guardianadlitem.org to learn more about volunteering.

Promise 3 – Early Learning and Care

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released its annual pre-k report card last week. The organization is known for its objective, non-partisan information based on research. Florida tied for next to last in the rankings. Since the inception of VPK, Florida has consistently earned the same rank, 4 out of 10. The majority of the areas where Florida failed to earn a ranking are in the classroom, including the lack of degreed teachers.

Alabama and North Carolina met all 10 of NIEER’s standards. The difference between these states and Florida is their adherence to quality standards shown through research to make a difference in the school readiness of children, and their willingness to invest in a high quality program. Average state spending across the country rose to $3,642 per child, $922 higher than Governor Crist’s proposed $2,720 per child.

Promise 4 – Before and After School

After-school programs are expecting a $16-million reduction in state school readiness funds which would result also in a loss of $14-million in federal dollars. This is an example of a double budget whammy, where state cuts are compounded with the loss of federal dollars. The group most likely to feel the brunt of these cuts the most is school-age children.

Promise 5 – Juvenile Justice

The Blueprint Commission was created by Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to bring together experts, citizens and juvenile justice stakeholders to create a new path for Florida’s juvenile justice system. The process took 11 public meetings and 92- hours of deliberations.

A House bill has been offered by House Juvenile Justice Committee Chairman Mitch Needleman ( R-Brevard County) that would move several of the recommendation into law. Included in PCB SSC 08-04:

• A number of changes designed to reduce disproportionate minority contact
• Revise provisions related to risk assessment for detention placements
• Encourage the diversion of first-time youth accused of misdemeanors
• Authorize DJJ to utilize outcome-based contracting and require outcome data for prevention programs
• Revise zero tolerance policies for school referrals to law enforcement
• Revise provisions related to Juvenile Justice Circuit Boards
• Eliminate the three-year limit on the receipt of Community Juvenile Justice Partnership grants
• Appropriate $50,000 in nonrecurring general revenue to fund curriculum development for DJJ direct care staff.

The bill would have minimal recurring fiscal impact.

Regarding the DJJ proposed $49-million in budget cuts, some are in alignment with the priorities of the Blueprint Commission, but most are not, including the elimination of Juvenile Assessment Centers, cuts to low risk and moderate risk beds, and day treatment.

Children’s Campaign Promise 5 Front Burner has an in depth look at this issue.

HB 273 is now on the House floor. Advocates for Florida’s troubled youth have several areas of concern including the increased and unnecessary use of secure detention, the movement away from community and family-based intervention proven to be most effective, the “widening of the net” by specifying circumstances that automatically trigger secure detention (including running away); eliminating the required findings of fact prior to placing youth in detention; and, eliminating the requirement for conducting a risk assessment prior to placing youth in secure detention. Other serious problems with the bill involve the decision making process regarding placement of youth committed to state custody and conditions for pre-adjudicatory release.

For more information on HB 273 and how it affects girls, read Children’s Campaign Promise 5 Front Burner.

Editor’s Note:

In our previous Legislative Update we mentioned the radio show “Florida on the Line”, carried on National Public Radio. We overlooked the involvement of panelist Tammy Workman from Florida’s Children First. Thank you, Tammy.

To read bills for each of the Promise areas simply click on the Promise of interest:

1. Promise 1 - Pre-natal, Infant, and Child Health Care

2. Promise 2 - Safety, Permanence, and Services to Children in Out-of-Home Settings

3. Promise 3 - High Quality Pre-K, Child Care, and Early Learning Opportunities

4. Promise 4 - Safe and Enriching Before and After-School Experience

5. Promise 5 - Delinquency Prevention Programs and Services to Treat Children with Problem

Legislative Update was brought to you by:

Amanda Ostrander, Editor, Legislative Update

Christen Smiley, Communications Coordinator

Roy Miller, President

We acknowledge the entire Legislative Team of Children’s Campaign, Inc. who work tirelessly during legislative session on behalf of Florida’s children.