Reduced Teen Pregnancy

When children have children, both mom and baby are often trapped in a lifetime of struggle. Governor Chiles and Lt. Governor Buddy MacKay visited communities and teen pregnancy initiatives across the state to help find community-based solutions to the problem.

Under the Chiles/MacKay administration, the Department of Health developed abstinence and family planning efforts. Comprehensive school health services helped reduce the teen birth rate by providing school nurses to work with at-risk teens. Every dollar spent on family planning services saved at least $4.40 in medical, nutritional and welfare costs.

With these efforts, the administration saw Florida's teen birth rate drop dramatically. In 1997, Florida's teen birth rate decreased to 58.2 births per 1,000 females age 15 to 19, representing a decline of 16 percent since 1990 when one out of seven infants was born to a teenage mother. There was also a dramatic decrease in repeat teen births from 20 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 1997.

Enforced Child Support

In 1994, Governor Chiles and the Florida Legislature transferred responsibility for collecting child support from HRS to the Department of Revenue. This transfer benefitted thousands of Florida parents who depend on child support to make ends meet and stay off welfare.

Statewide, collections grew to $540.5 million during FY 1996-97, representing a nearly 40 percent increase since the program moved to the Department of Revenue. Employee productivity rose by nearly 21 percent since FY 1993-94 to $212,358 collected per worker annually.

The department also intensified the crackdown on "deadbeat dads"- arresting violators in surprise sweeps.