Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently declared this to be the “Year of the Parent” during the current legislative session, and he re-emphasized that on Monday as he signed a new measure aimed at bolstering traditional families.
The bill will provide fathers with a greater opportunity to spend more time at home with their at-risk children, Newsmax reported.
“If you look over the last many decades, one of the worst social trends has been the decline of fatherhood. We do have, in many instances, a fatherhood crisis in this country,” DeSantis said ahead of the signing at the training facility for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa.
“When you take kids that do not have a father present in their upbringing, the chance of them dropping out of school, getting involved in trouble with the law, having other difficulties, increases dramatically,” he added.
Florida Politics reported that the legislation passed both the Florida House and Senate with unanimous consent. The report also noted that the legislation provides $60.2 million for fatherhood programs that will help fund mentorship programs and while also setting aside tens of millions of dollars to support dads.
“This is the kind of thing that is going to change the lives of children throughout the state of Florida for generations to come,” said Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Republican.
“This is going to be tremendous and be such a big help to fathers in Florida, agencies that support fathers in Florida,” noted Tony Dungy, the former head coach of the Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts and founder of the Dungy Family Foundation.
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