Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would see $70 million invested into programs that help support “responsible fatherhood” in Florida through awareness campaigns.
Bill HB7065, a child welfare bill, encourages fathers to take “active participation in their children’s lives.”
The law will make the Department of Children and Families and Department of Juvenile Justice “identify and meet the needs of dually-involved children within a specified timeframe,” CBS12 says.
The month of June will also be designated as “Responsible Fatherhood Month.”
DeSantis announced the bill at a press conference where he was joined by two of his children, with other children around him. “In Florida, we are not going to be following this propaganda,” DeSantis said.
The bill was signed at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers training facility along with former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Dungy is a spokesperson for All-Pro Dad, a fatherhood nonprofit in the state.
Governor Ron DeSantis signs legislation to provide $70 million to promote fatherhood at the Bucs indoor facility as Tony Dungy looks on. pic.twitter.com/FShFxdqHcU
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) April 11, 2022
According to The Post Millennial, Dungy spoke highly of the bill’s commitment to the role of fatherhood; “I had a dad who was around me all the time and supported me and I thought everyone was like that. I got to my job and the National Football League started interviewing our players and started to understand not everyone had that same blessing that I had.”
“It really got driven home to me my first year here in Tampa when I got the job. Legendary man here by the name of Abe Brown, and if you’re here know the name of Brown Prison Ministry. He wanted me to go with him. And I went on the first trip, expecting to see grizzled hard, tough, older guys. And what I met were 19 and 20 and 21-year-old kids, like my boys.
“I remember driving home from that trip and asking Reverend Brown, ‘how do those young boys get here?’ And he told me, it’s not socio-economic. It’s not racial. It’s not education. It’s none of that. 95 percent of these boys did not grow up with their dads. And that hit me. That hit me very hard. And shortly after that, we’re able to start All-Pro ad and really try to do what we could do to help,” he said.
