STANDING UP FOR MOMS AND FLORIDA FAMILIES
Supporting Active Fatherhood
“There are more than 18 million children in our country who live without a father in their home. This has a severe impact on children, and often leads to dropping out of school, crime, and substance abuse. Incredibly, there are those who diminish the importance of fatherhood and the nuclear family – we will not let that happen in our state. I am proud to say we are doing everything we can to support involved fatherhood in Florida.”
– Governor Ron DeSantis
“Kids that have fathers in the household are more likely to go to college and just have overall better life success. I think DeSantis took a positive step in passing legislation to promote fathers being in households.”
– Elijah, Orlando
Supporting Florida’s Foster Families
Governor DeSantis has shown his commitment to supporting foster families by increasing monthly payments to those who serve as caregivers to foster children, increasing monthly support to cover childcare for foster children, and expanding postsecondary education opportunities for foster children. The Freedom First Budget includes nearly $361 million to provide services for foster parent support and adoption services. Because of this commitment, Florida has the best results for child permanency among the country’s ten most populous states:
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Lowest
- Average length of time in foster care
- Percentage of children in foster care for more than five years
- Percentage of children waiting for adoption who have spent over five years in foster care
- Average length of stay for children waiting to be adopted
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Highest
- Percentage of children adopted from foster care by relatives
Hope Florida - A Pathway to Prosperity:
Uniting communities through ‘Hope Navigators’ to guide Floridians on an individualized path to prosperity, economic self-sufficiency, and hope.
Spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis, Hope Florida utilizes ‘Hope Navigators’ to guide Floridians on an individualized path to prosperity by focusing on community collaboration between the private sector, faith-based community, non-profits, and government entities, to break down traditional community silos, in an effort to maximize resources and uncover opportunities.
Hope Navigators are essential in helping individuals identify their unique and immediate barriers to prosperity, develop long term-goals, map out a strategic plan, and work to ensure all sectors of the community have a ‘seat at the table’ and are part of the solution.
Hope Florida’s Care Portal technology connects the needs of struggling Florida families with faith and community partners. A Hope Navigator identifies a need, inputs it into the Care Portal, and a real-time message is sent to all participating organizations.
Beneficiaries include, but are not limited to, struggling single parents, pregnant mothers battling addiction, children aging out of the foster care system, and foster and adoptive parents.
Prioritizing Care for Seniors
Governor DeSantis understands the importance of putting our seniors first. The Governor prioritized seniors during the pandemic and ensured their rights and well-being were preserved. Governor DeSantis made sure that seniors were the first to receive COVID treatment and that senior care facilities had ample supplies of COVID tests.
Governor DeSantis signed the No Patient Left Alone Act, which guarantees Florida families the right to visit their loved ones in hospitals, hospices, and long-term care facilities.
Florida has also led the nation in raising awareness and expanding access to monoclonal antibody treatments. Wally and Doris Cortese, a couple from Cape Coral who have been married for 62 years, were two Floridians who utilized monoclonal treatments and made full recoveries from COVID.
