DeSantis Signs Bill Allocating $466,200 to Pregnancy, Parenting Resources

Photo byRon DeSantis Facebook photo

According to Florida’s House of Representatives, the “transition to parenthood can be an overwhelming life event, with more than half of parents reporting feeling inadequately prepared”, and while Florida already has a variety of resources for new and expectant parents, it lacks a dedicated, comprehensive website. House Bill 415 proposed to fill that need by allocating funds to creating this website.

Effective as of July 1, 2024, the Department of Health (DOH) is required to consult with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and Department of Children and Families (DCF) to create and maintain a website supplying links and information regarding private and public materials to help new and expectant parents.

“Clear and conspicuous links to the website” must be included on the websites of the DOH, AHCA, and DCF, but this website must be separate from these organizations’ own websites. In addition, the DOH is responsible for the website’s creation, and the website needs to be up and running by January 1, 2025.

At least seven specific categories of information are required to be made available on the website, which are as follows:

-Maternal Health Services
-Social Services
-Prenatal and Postnatal Services
-Adoption Services
-Financial Assistance
-Paternal Educational and Mentorship Programs
-Pregnancy and Parenting Educational Materials

To aid the DOH in this law’s implementation, the bill allots the DOH a non-recurring sum of $466,200 for the 2024 to 2025 year. These funds will be allocated from the Administrative Trust Fund.

This figure was estimated as follows:

$300 - uniform resource locator (URL) domain name
$261,900 - advance website designer
$194,000 - project management
$10,000 - information technology (IT) support
Total: $466,200

House Bill 415 was originally prepared by the Health Policy Committee, filed on November 13, 2023; and passed in a divided decision in the Senate and House with votes of 27-12 and 83-33, respectively. It was presented to Governor DeSantis on May 7, 2024, and he approved it on May 17, 2024.

For complete details on this new law, click here to read both pages of House Bill 415. For the official summary of the bill, click here.

Article by Ema Tibbetts