A.G. GancarskiAt-risk girls in Northeast Florida are poised to get a helping hand from the Legislature.
Senate and House budget conference committees agreed to slot $400,000 to Girl Matters, a program serving girls as young as 5 and as old as 17 in Duval, Baker, St. Johns, Nassau and Clay counties, fulfilling a priority of Sen. Jennifer Bradley.
Girl Matters’ goal is to keep these young girls from falling through the cracks.
According to the funding request, “63 girls will receive intensive therapeutic services and an additional 72 girls will be served through groups at the detention center or in teen court.”
Northeast Florida needs this resource particularly, which will be channeled via the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center.
“Girls in the First Coast region reported greater risk factors than girls statewide in every category: physical and sexual abuse, mental health needs, self-mutilation, suicidal ideation and attempts, and family risk factors on the DJJ PACT Assessment.”
A group of 40 “stakeholders representing law enforcement, judicial, education, mental health, citizen-leaders, volunteers will be trained in gender responsive skills building to improve quality of services and continuity of care,” the funding request adds.
Expectations are high, with recidivism slated to drop 90% among this cohort, with 100% seeing improved mental health.
Though this issue appears to be resolved, the budget process has days to go.
Budget conference subcommittees will meet throughout the week to resolve differences in each area. When remaining issues reach an impasse, they will be “bumped” to the full budget conference committee.
Lawmakers must reach an agreement on a final spending plan by May 2 to meet the 72-hour “cooling off” period required by the state constitution before they can vote on the budget to avoid pushing the Regular Session past its scheduled May 5 end date.
