About Us
A Message from Florida Children’s Services Council Chair Linda Lanier
Ask most Florida families what matters most to them and they will probably tell you the same thing – the stability of their jobs, their finances and giving their children the best opportunities to succeed in life. Clearly, Florida’s elected leaders have gotten the message about jobs and the economy. We must also be sure that Florida’s children are part of the conversation in the race toward prosperity.
Lawmakers will face tough choices again this year in balancing the need to fund critical services, such as health care, public safety, and education with the need to invest in initiatives that stimulate the economy. As our elected leaders weigh these choices, the Florida Children’s Services Council encourages investment in our most critical and precious resource: our children.
Certainly, as child and family advocates, we see firsthand the benefits of early intervention and prevention programs focused on children and their caregivers. Additionally, investments in children are wise economic investments that pay dividends in the form of children who are healthy, ready to learn, and prepared to succeed. Not only that, money invested in children today minimizes the demand on state-funded services tomorrow, such as health care, juvenile detention, and remedial education.
Costs for state-funded health care are lowered when more babies are born healthy and stay healthy. Adopting healthy practices early in life will likely lead to maintenance of a healthy lifestyle into adulthood. Children who are ready to learn do better in school and are less likely to drop out or join a gang.
Developing a highly-trained and highly-skilled workforce for tomorrow requires a good education today. Adequately preparing our children to be contributing members of our society, and giving them the skills they need to be productive employees, starts well before Kindergarten. Quality early learning experiences through school readiness programs and VPK are where the seeds of future academic success are sown. By fully funding these programs now, we are putting a down payment on the talent pool that will eventually lead our state’s businesses and drive our economy.
The choices made in the coming months, and the ways in which our elected officials choose to spend available funds, have the potential to produce happy, healthy children with bright futures ahead. At the same time, we set Florida on a path toward prosperity. Children’s Services Councils look forward to working with lawmakers this session to ensure investments in children are a top funding priority.
