Supportive Communities

For Florida's communities to thrive and for children to grow up to become contributing adults who take their personal and community responsibilities seriously, a stable neighborhood environment that nurtures and supports the four generations represented in our communities is essential. To maximize satisfaction, commitment and retention, employers need to provide high-quality jobs and supportive workplaces that support employees' personal and family well-being. It is our desire that all communities are supportive of families raising children as measured by:

• Increase in the percentage of communities providing access to affordable, high quality early education and care.
• Increase in the percentage of people living in communities that provide activities and primary supports for young children (e.g., arts, recreation, resource centers) including those with special health care and developmental needs.
• Increase in affordable housing (e.g., less than 30 percent of income is spent on standard housing).
• Reduction in the percentage of people living in inadequate or no housing (e.g., homeless, overcrowded, housing lacking supports for individuals with needs for special physical accommodations, homes lacking complete plumbing and lacking a complete kitchen; substandard, condemned).
• Reduction in the rate of housing discrimination complaints.
• Increase in the percentage of people who volunteer an average of one hour or more per week in their community.
• Increase in the percentage of people making contributions to initiatives or charities in their communities through service contributions or through monetary or other donations.
• Increase in the voter participation rate.
• Increase in the percentage of employers (i.e., public, private and non-profit) involved in identifying and developing quality early education and care options for their community.
• Increase in the percentage of employers (i.e., public, private and non-profit) providing work-family benefits (e.g., flex-time or part-time employment, paid sick days for parents to attend to children's illnesses, sick child care options, time off for patent-teacher conferences, time off for classroom volunteer opportunities).

If these positive outcomes can be achieved, when Florida's infants and young children become older we will impact spending and save taxpayer resources by:

• Reducing the growth rate in juvenile detention facility use and costs.
• Reducing the growth rate of expenditures associated with homeless services.
• Reducing the growth rate of costs associated with employee absenteeism and turnover.
• Increasing the tax base due to home ownership, stable employment and increased productivity.
• Reducing the growth rate of costs due to vandalism and juvenile crime.

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