For the third year in a row, Gov. Jeb Bush has offered a budget that reflects a solid commitment to Florida's most vulnerable citizens. Despite his continuing penchant for smaller government (and the state's need to cover a larger-than-expected Medicaid shortfall), Bush has proposed sizeable increases in the programs that protect and serve abused children, dependent seniors and people with mental illness or developmental disabilities.

But the social-services budget is not without flaws. In his zeal to trim governmental bureaucracy, the governor proposes a budget that threatens to undercut vital health services to Florida's low-income pregnant women.

The proposed budget would reduce, by 30 percent, the state monies that now go to support nearly three dozen coalitions of Healthy Start, the award-winning program championed by former Gov. Lawton Chiles that provides prenatal care to poor women.

If approved, the cuts would winnow the number of coalitions from 32 to 22 and force many coalitions to cover larger service areas with fewer dollars. While leaders of the state Department of Health downplay the move as a mere administrative consolidation, Healthy Start providers are concerned that pregnant women and children will be the ones to come up short.

"I thought the state had figured out that providing prenatal care was best for families and cheaper in the long run," said Carol Brady, president of the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions. "Why are we going backwards?"

State lawmakers, some of whom have voiced similar concerns, have every reason to resist this step backward. Even under current funding levels, Healthy Start is able to meet only 50 percent of the statewide need for prenatal care. Once a baby is born, most coalitions have enough money to continue providing services for only six weeks, despite legislative authority allowing them to monitor maternal and child health for three years after birth.

Healthy Start needs more state support, not less.

Bush's proposed rollback blots a proposed social-services budget that is otherwise commendable for its farsightedness. The governor has recommended enough money to hire 186 new child-abuse investigators, serve almost 7,000 additional developmentally disabled Floridians, assist hundreds of mental health clients being displaced by the closure of Arcadia's G. Pierce Wood Hospital and protect 8,000 additional elders from precipitous nursing-home placement. Lawmakers should add poor pregnant women to the list of vulnerable Floridians who deserve protection from budget-cutters.

Back to Opinion

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

From the Times
Opinion page