DCF requests funding, lists priorities

hands woman expresses the concept of family

The Department of Children and Families is requesting more than $250 million from the Legislature for fiscal year 2018-19.

Kimberly McMurray, chief financial officer of the department, laid out a list of specific initiatives Wednesday to the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee.

DCF’s funding requests were organized into four goals:

— Expand and better coordinate community and behavioral health services. 

— Improve the quality and care and increase patient and staff safety at state mental health treatment facilities. 

— Keep vulnerable children and families safe through improved assessment of risks and more meaningful engagement with families and communities. 

— Increase capacity of professional staff to better meet the needs of vulnerable Floridians. 

One notable portion was a $27 million trust fund request to continue the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis federal grant funding, which is in its second year.

The largest line-item request, $69 million, pertained to ACCESS Florida funding. The ACCESS system connects Floridians with public assistance and economic self-sufficiency programs.

The agency says its mission is to work with communities to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.

Danny McAuliffe

Danny is a contributor at floridapolitics.com. He is a graduate of Fordham Law School and Florida State University, where he served as the editor of the FSView & Florida Flambeau. Reach him at [email protected].



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