Danny McAuliffe
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.
