Date Published: June 30, 2006
It's not always how much money you can throw at a problem that's important. More to the point is what you do with the money allocated, and what kind of results you realize after the spending.
That's what comes to mind in the wake of a national report detailed by The Associated Press this week, showing that the well-being of Florida's 4 million children has scored little improvement from what it was a year ago, and even two years ago.
That prompted the Children's Campaign -- a nonprofit advocacy group for maternal and children's health care and welfare based in Tallahassee -- to charge that the Florida Legislature failed to seize on an opportunity to spend more of this year's fat revenue surplus on children's needs.
Specifically, the Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2006 Kids Count Data Book study showed:
· Overall, Florida rose from 35th to 33rd place among all 50 states measured in 10 focus areas dealing with child well-being.
· Florida slipped in three primary categories, with 8.5 percent of the state's babies born underweight, 70 deaths from all causes for every 100,000 teenagers and 9 percent of teens either not attending school or not holding a paying job.
· Other categories remained about the same, with 8 percent living in extreme poverty, 42 percent being in low-income families, and 15 percent lacking health-insurance coverage.
House Fiscal Council Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, went to bat for legislators, noting this year's regular session appropriated enough funding to cover every child who qualifies for the state's KidCare health insurance program. He said payments to foster parents are to increase by $60 a month. And Negron pointed out that lawmakers approved the largest annual education spending increase in state history, appropriating $1.77 billion -- or 8.7 percent more spending for every student.
But the amount of money ponied up is only part of the story. What happens with that money and how it is used comprise the real barometer the public wants to watch. Spending millions on ineffective programs is little more than throwing good money after bad. Spending thousands on programs that yield good results is a wiser way to make tax-dollar investments.
Negron then hit the bull's-eye in his counter-argument.
"The primary responsibility for the well-being of children rests with the parents, not the government," he said.
So, does that mean we need to fund parenting classes in high school so that young adults can better understand how to become responsible breadwinners and family caretakers? How about funding free vocational training for young adults who might have fallen through the cracks in high school, entered the job market and learned an important life lesson as they matured -- that they can't qualify for anything more than a low-paying job?
Negron said the Legislature funds only those child-advocacy programs that actually work. But is that true? How do we know what works? The Casey Foundation report indicates very little is working, despite all the tax dollars being spent.
And that's the bottom line: results. If the Casey Foundation's report is credible, we're learning that the effectiveness of our programs for children aren't working very well. Our results have been about the same for at least two years, perhaps longer. And it's a good bet nobody knows why, because nobody is fielding any kind of assessments that will tell us.
Maybe it's time for a fresh look.
Opinion
Pensacola News Journal
June 30, 2006 Source: Pensacola News Journal |