By Tom Flanigan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-961051.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – Thousands of colorful pinwheels are now spinning in the wind all over Florida. Tom Flanigan reports they're a symbol for the ongoing effort to prevent child abuse in the Sunshine State.
Florida's First Lady Ann Scott says she has a personal investment in the fight against child abuse.
"Through my volunteer work at Liberty Youth Ranch, home for abandoned, abused, neglected and orphaned children, I have seen devastating child abuse and neglect."
Besides the human cost, Florida Sheriffs Association President Steve Casey says there's also a heavy taxpayer burden.
"Conservative estimates for just child welfare, healthcare, special education, and juvenile justice costs, put the price tag of serving a single abused child at over $64,000 a year."
There is a state-backed program called Healthy Families that helps stop child abuse. This year, the program served more than eight-thousand families with a combination of state and local funding. Speakers at Friday's "Pinwheels for Prevention" event at the Florida Department of Children and Families headquarters in Tallahassee urged Florida lawmakers to continue the state's funding share of just over eighteen million dollars.