Many of our Florida doctors selected parent education and child abuse as areas of interest. There are various ways to advocate for these important issues, including helping connect patient’s parents with resources about parenting and early intervention, or writing opinion-editorials for your local paper. Docs For Tots can help facilitate these advocacy efforts by connecting you with organizations working to improve the healthy development of young children in the state.
Healthy Families Florida
Healthy Families Florida (http://www.healthyfamiliesfla.org/) is addressing the needs of Florida’s young children and families through a community-based, voluntary home visiting program. The program is designed to promote positive parent/child interaction and healthy childhood growth and development, thereby preventing child abuse and neglect.
Healthy Families Florida goals are to:
- Enhance parents' ability to create stable and nurturing home environments
- Prevent the incidence of child abuse and neglect
- Promote child health and development
- Increase parents' ability to develop positive parent-child relationships
- Ensure that families' social and medical needs are met
The program is sponsored by the Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida and the State of Florida Department of Children and Families, and has awarded 36 community grants that will provide services to families living in targeted areas in 53 Florida counties.
Healthy Families Florida builds on and coordinates with existing home visiting and family support services that are available (such as Florida's Healthy Start Initiative, Head Start, Florida First Start and Parents as Teachers), giving parents the tools they need to help them cope better during stressful times and help their children grow and develop in a healthy way.
If you are interested in getting involved with Healthy Families Florida, or if you would like to learn more about ways to advocate in your local Florida community, please contact dft@docsfortots.org.
