The Florida Senate is set to hear HB 7065, a priority piece of legislation for Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R-Palm Harbor), that would designate $70 million for addressing Florida’s “fatherhood crisis.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved the bill and full Senate consideration is its next stop.
Provisions within the bill include launching a “Responsible Fatherhood” website providing fathers with resources, designating June as “Responsible Fatherhood Month,” and increasing stipends for students who transition out of foster care.
“(We) know the importance of fatherhood, know that when a child has a father in their life, they have every opportunity to thrive, and they do better than those that don’t have that same opportunity,” said Florida State Sen. Aaron Bean (R-Fernandina Beach). Bean is the Senate companion sponsor to the House legislation.
Much of the $70 million in funding will go toward grants to assist fathers in finding jobs, covering child support, and getting parental education.
The bill has received bipartisan support from Democrats including Florida State Rep. Ramon Alexander (D-Tallahassee).
“These young people, they don’t have a deficit in talent,” said Alexander. “They just have a deficit in opportunity.”
Sprowls said that legislative analysis of Florida’s fatherhood crisis indicates that children without fathers are much more likely to end up in jail and involved in criminal enterprises.
“From poverty to crime, to incarnation, just about every negative outcome that we see that faces boys here and across the country can be linked back to an absent father in the home,” said Sprowls.
The legislation also will direct the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to coordinate care when a child is involved in both agencies. As well, foster care caregivers would receive a monthly stipend of $200 for early learning and child care.
The Florida Capital Star reached out to bill sponsors but did not immediately hear back for additional comment.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Father and Son” by Max Pixel.
