Healthy Start, Healthy Families and child-welfare providers ask delegation for expanded staffing, recurring funds and statutory fix for fatherhood program

Representatives from the Healthy Start Coalition, Helping People Succeed and Communities Connected for Kids urged the Okeechobee County Legislative Delegation on Wednesday to increase recurring funding for core maternal-child health and early-intervention services and to consider a statutory change to expand fatherhood program eligibility.

The requests matter because presenters said current staffing and caseloads limit program quality, that new electronic prenatal risk screening will increase referrals, and that a statutory eligibility restriction prevents many fathers from accessing the Team Dad fatherhood program.

Andrea Medellin, representing the local Healthy Start Coalition, said the coalition is seeking the remainder of a prior year appropriation and…