In honor of Election Day today HOME wants to tell you about a movement that we support in honor of homeless children in our community and all children in Florida. It's called the Children's Movement of Florida -- a citizen-led, non-partisan movement to educate political, business and civic leaders, and all parents about the urgent need to make the well-being and education of our infants, toddlers and all other children Florida's highest priority.
The Children’s Movement of Florida believes that the well-being and education of our children in Florida must be the highest priority of government, business, non-profit institutions and families. The economic future of our state and the stability of the communities we live in depend on achieving this goal. The major objective of the citizen-led, non-partisan Children’s Movement of Florida is to inform the political, business and civic leaders, and the parents and people of this state, about this issue – and encourage them to make the well-being and education of our children our highest priority, including in the way we invest our public resources.
According to the Movement's website the organization's "mission is not about raising taxes, but rather about raising children. Florida's children deserve to be our first priority when deciding how the state's resources are spent, especially when it comes to programs -- such as preschool, quality child care and prenatal care -- that make a real difference in their lives and futures."
The Children's Movement is not about politics, but about standing up for children and working to make changes that will bring a better quality of life to all children in Florida. The movement believes that by almost every objective standard, Florida ranks poorly in measure after measure in how we invest in children. Some examples include:
- Hundreds of thousands of our children are not covered by health insurance.
- The state's prekindergarten program does not meet most national standards.
- Early screening and treatment programs for children with special needs are poorly coordinated, difficult to access and of inconsistent quality.
- A quarter of our public high school students do not graduate.
- Florida's businesses and community organizations are not committed to strengthening child mentoring and parent skill-building programs.
According to the movement more than 800,000 Florida children do not have health insurance, leaving the state behind only Texas in the percentage of uninsured children. About 30 percent of Florida’s public school third graders cannot read with even minimum proficiency. More than half of our high school sophomores cannot read at grade level. Florida spends $51,000 to keep a juvenile incarcerated in a secure facility, while it spends less than $7,000 to keep a child in public school.
The movement hopes to improve these measures by making sure children have access to health insurance and quality health care, enhanced quality standards for the state's pre-kindergarten program, improved screening and treatment of special needs, a statewide parental support and information program and high-quality, widely available mentoring programs for young people.
Multiple studies show that investing in children during the crucial first five years of life helps them attain their full potential and avoids devoting much larger sums to remedial programs later in life, saving vast sums of money for taxpayers in the long run.
The Children's Movement of Florida is supported by a broad and non-partisan coalition. The movement's 27-member statewide steering committee includes 12 Republicans, 12 Democrats and three independents. The movement does not endorse candidates. Its activities are funded solely through private donations – no public funds are involved. The movement does not advocate new or higher statewide taxes, but rather insists that children's issues receive the highest priority and a much larger share of current resources.
For more information about the origins, objectives and leaders of The Children's Movement of Florida, and about the current state of Florida's children, please visit http://childrensmovementflorida.org/
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