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Helios Education Foundation Awards Florida College System Foundation $50,000 for Students Impacted by Hurricanes

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Grant will support Florida College System students impacted

The Florida College System Foundation is pleased to announce a $50,000 grant awarded by Helios Education Foundation with the purpose of linking emergency funds to students impacted by the hurricanes who need short-term resources to assist with continuing to pursue their education and achieve their goals.
Grant funds will be used to help students cover the cost of sudden, unexpected and unbudgeted expenses. These include expenses such as replacement books, transportation, housing, utilities, childcare, and other expenses.
Students who were impacted may request up to $500 and colleges are encouraged to use this money as matching funds. Students enrolled in the 19 of 28 colleges located in a disaster area declared by FEMA are eligible to receive funds.
With the financial support from Helios Education Foundation, this will help students stay on track to complete their education.  “Providing students short-term, financial assistance to ensure completion of their long-term postsecondary goal is an investment in them and in our state – one we are proud to make,” said Paul J. Luna, President and CEO, Helios Education Foundation.
Tami Cullens, Chair of the Florida College System Foundation, said, “This generous contribution from Helios Education Foundation will make a substantial impact on those students affected in these communities who are financially struggling to continue pursuing their higher education dreams.”
About the Helios Education Foundation

Helios Education Foundation is dedicated to creating opportunities for individuals in Arizona and Florida to achieve a postsecondary education. Our work is driven by our four fundamental beliefs in Community, Equity, Investment, and Partnership, and we invest in initiatives across the full education continuum.
In Arizona, where Latino students comprise the largest percentage of the K-12 public school population, the Foundation is implementing its Arizona Latino Student Success initiative focused on preparing all students — especially Latino students — for success in college and career. Through our Florida Regional Student Success Initiative, Helios is helping first-generation, low-income and minority students from the state’s large population centers in Tampa, Orlando and Miami achieve a postsecondary education.
Since 2006, the Foundation has invested over $200 million in education programs and initiatives in both states. To learn more about our efforts, visit us online at www.helios.org.
About the Florida College System

The Florida College System is the primary access point to undergraduate education for Floridians, including recent high school graduates and returning adult students. The 28 member colleges of the Florida College System respond quickly and efficiently to meet the demand of employers by aligning certificate and degree programs with regional workforce needs. For more information, click here.
For more information about the Florida Department of Education, visit www.fldoe.org.

FWC approves changes to Gulf greater amberjack season

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At its December meeting in Gainesville, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) set the greater amberjack recreational season in Gulf state waters to open May 1-31 and Aug. 1-Oct. 31. This change is similar to pending changes in Gulf federal waters.
Greater amberjack is overfished and undergoing overfishing, and the season has closed increasingly early in recent years due to federal quotas being met or exceeded. This new season structure will optimize recreational fishing opportunities in both the spring and fall while minimizing harvest during the spawning season, helping to rebuild the stock.
Greater amberjack is currently closed to recreational harvest in Gulf state and federal waters. State waters will remain closed through April 30, 2018.
For more information or to view the presentations given at the Commission meeting, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings” then click on the link below “Next Meeting.”

Pembroke Pines man claims share of $550,000 LUCKY MONEY™ jackpot

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Jorge Velasquez poses with his wife and oversized check after claiming his $275,000
share of the $550,000 LUCKY MONEY™ jackpot from the November 21, 2017, drawing.

The Florida Lottery announces that Jorge Velasquez, 56, of Pembroke Pines, claimed his $275,000 share of the $550,000 LUCKY MONEY™ jackpot from the November 21, 2017, drawing at Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. The other jackpot-winning ticket, purchased in Pompano Beach, was claimed on December 1, 2017.
Velasquez chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $204,551.71. He purchased his winning LUCKY MONEY Quick Pick ticket from Publix, located at 18341 Pine Boulevard in Pembroke Pines. The retailer received a bonus commission of $1,000 for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.
The next LUCKY MONEY drawing will be tomorrow, December 8, 2017, at 11:15 p.m. ET, with a $800,000 jackpot. The LUCKY MONEY drawings are broadcast on 17 carrier stations throughout the state. Winning numbers are available on the Lottery website, at retailers statewide and by phone at (850) 921-PLAY.

FWC approves several changes to Gulf cobia management

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At its December meeting in Gainesville, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) took final action to approve several changes to the management of cobia in state waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
These changes are based on stakeholder input and concerns from anglers, and will further promote sustainable management of this fishery.
Approved changes will go into effect Feb. 1, 2018, and include:

  • Creating a Gulf/Atlantic management boundary defining all state waters north of the Monroe-Collier county line as “Gulf state waters” for purposes of managing cobia.
  • Making the recreational and commercial bag limits for cobia in Gulf state waters the same by reducing the commercial limit from two to one fish per person.
  • Reducing the recreational and commercial vessel limit in Gulf state waters from six to two cobia per vessel, per day.

The current 33-inch minimum size limit will not change.
For more information or to view the presentations given at the Commission meeting, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings,” then click on the link below “Next Meeting.”

FWC discusses regional bay scallop seasons

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At its December meeting in Gainesville, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) discussed draft changes that would create regionally-specific bay scallop open seasons and would allow a trial scalloping season in state waters off Pasco County in 2018. Stakeholder input gathered over the past year was presented to the Commission along with an overview of the bay scallop fishery, an update on the status of scallops in St. Joseph Bay, and proposed management changes for the fishery.
This draft proposal includes both long- and short-term changes and will be brought back before the Commission at the February meeting for a final public hearing.
Regionally-specific open seasons, if approved, would mean the timing of the summer bay scallop season would vary across the allowable harvest area to provide a better scalloping experience for the public and maximize the benefits to various regions. For some regions, that means having a season that starts later so that scallops are bigger when the season begins and for other areas, that means having a season that starts during early summer to allow for more opportunities for those on summer break.
Allowing a short trial season in Pasco County, which has been closed to harvest since 1994, would likely provide an economic benefit to the county and create opportunities for local residents to scallop in their nearby waters.
If approved in February, long-term regionally-specific open seasons would include:

  • Franklin County through northwestern Taylor County (including Carrabelle, Lanark, and St. Marks): July 1 through Sept. 24.
  • The remaining portion of Taylor County and all of Dixie County (including Keaton Beach and the Steinhatchee area): the third Saturday in June through Sept. 10.
  • Levy, Citrus and Hernando counties (including Cedar Key, Crystal River and Homosassa): July 10 through Sept. 10.

If approved in February, the following open seasons will be created by executive order for 2018 only:

  • St. Joseph Bay and Gulf County: Aug. 17 through Sept. 30, 2018.
  • Pasco County: Establish a 10-day open season to run July 20-29, 2018.

The FWC will set a long-term season in St. Joseph Bay once the population in that area has more fully rebuilt.
Share your input on these season changes by visiting MyFWC.com/SaltwaterComments or emailing [email protected]. You can also learn more by viewing a workshop presentation at MyFWC.com/Fishing (click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Public Comments/Workshops” and “Workshops.”
For more information or to view the presentations given at the Commission meeting, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings,” then click on the link below “Next Meeting.”

FWC discusses draft rule to extend the permit spawning season closure inside the Special Permit Zone

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At its December meeting in Gainesville, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) discussed a draft change to extend the spawning season closure for permit inside the Special Permit Zone. This draft proposal was approved and will be brought back before the Commission at the February 2018 meeting.
The proposed change, if approved in February, will add April to the existing May-through-July season closure for the harvest of permit inside the SPZ, which includes all state and federal waters south of Cape Sable on the Gulf coast and south of Cape Florida on the Atlantic coast.
Recent research confirms spawning-size permit are visiting known aggregation sites from April through July.
To comment on this proposal, visit MyFWC.com/SaltwaterComments or email [email protected].
For more information or to view the presentations given at the Commission meeting, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings” then click on the link below “Next Meeting.”

Florida Babies are "Collateral Damage" in the Opioid Crisis

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Passidomo makes the case in new video for a
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Pilot Project

Senator Kathleen Passidomo today released a video highlighting the devastating impact the ongoing opioid crisis is having on Florida’s babies. The Senate Health and Human Services Budget Committee will today hear Senate Bill 434, Passidomo’s proposal to establish a Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Pilot Project.
“We have a responsibility to the babies being born into the devastation of the opioid crisis,” said Passidomo. “The Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Pilot Project takes important steps toward ensuring these babies are not left behind while we as a society work toward tackling the larger crisis we are facing.”
SB 434 Background
Most of babies in a hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (“NICU”) are there because they are critically ill, suffering from complications due to prematurity, difficult delivery, or some other birth-related malady.  In addition, there often are babies admitted to the NICU who are suffering from drug withdrawal because their drug-addicted mothers continued to use or abuse opioids (both prescription and illegal drugs) during their pregnancies.  The babies born to these mothers suffer from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (“NAS”).
Illicit substances and prescription drugs that cause drug dependence and addiction in the mother also cause the fetus to become addicted. At birth, the baby’s dependence on the substance continues. However, since the drug is no longer available, the baby’s central nervous system becomes overstimulated causing the symptoms of withdrawal – many of the same symptoms experienced by adults.
In order to manage the more painful symptoms of withdraw, babies are given morphine, methadone, phenobarbital, chlorpromazine, diazepam, clonidine, or a combination of these drugs to provide symptomatic relief.  The severity of the symptoms and the length of time a baby is given pharmacological treatment vary depending on the type of substance used by the mother, the last time it was used, and whether the baby is full-term or premature.
Why is SB 434 Needed?
Currently, the only place to treat NAS babies who require pharmacological treatment is in the NICU.  The cost to the hospital system and Medicaid is enormous.  It is estimated that the mean length of hospital stay for a NAS baby is 23 days (verses 2.1 days per full-term, non-NAS baby) and the average cost is $93,400 per NAS baby (verses $3,500 per full-term, non-NAS baby).  These are only averages.  There are cases of NAS babies requiring NICU care for two months or more. The cost for over 80% of all NAS babies is covered by Medicaid.
But much of the equipment and services available in the NICU are there for critically ill babies.  After a NAS baby is stabilized, most of the equipment/services of a NICU are not needed during a baby’s withdrawal period.
Moreover, after stabilization, the NICU is not always the best place for a recovering NAS baby.  In the NICU, all babies are attached to monitors restricting movement.  The NAS babies tend to be overstimulated due to bright lights, loud noises/alarms, and busy surroundings.  Babies are typically fed every three hours even if they are not yet awake.  There is also minimal support for families and decreased access to social services.
Imagine spending literally hours trying to calm an inconsolable NAS baby in the NICU and finally getting that baby to fall asleep, only to have an alarm – possibly his own, maybe an alarm for the baby in the next bed – jerk the NAS baby awake and the cycle of crying starts all over again.
While a NICU is not the best place for a recovering NAS baby, it is currently the only option available for these babies in Florida if they require pharmacological treatment.
What does SB 434 do?
If adopted, SB 434 will authorize the Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA”), in consultation with the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”), to establish a pilot project to license one or more facilities to treat NAS babies after stabilization, offering a community-based, lower cost, more baby-centric alternative.
AHCA, in consultation with DCF, will be given authority to adopt regulations, including, among other things, requirements for a facility’s:

  • Staffing
  • Physical plant and its maintenance
  • Programs, services, and care provided to infants being treated
  • Maintenance of medical records and other relevant information

SB 434 also specifies minimum requirements in order to obtain a license and participate in the pilot project.
Much is unknown about the appropriate treatment for NAS infants or the long-term effects on the infants of the current treatments.  Accordingly, SB 434 directs the Department of Health to contract with a Florida state university to study the risks, benefits, cost differentials, and transition of infants to specified social service providers.
The type of facility envisioned by SB 434 is a home-like environment with individual rooms providing minimal stress on the babies; a quiet, dark environment; slow, gentle handling to ease the pain of withdrawal, and accommodations for eligible mothers to breast feed and bond with their babies during the withdrawal process.  All medical services will be overseen by a medical director and will be staffed with at least 2 registered nurses for each 12-hour shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Since these babies are not critically ill, they will generally not be attached to monitors measuring their heart and respiratory rates.  This, along with the elimination of the associated alarms, will increase the babies’ comfort and reduce the chance of overstimulation.  Each baby will dictate when it is fed.  Breastfeeding and skin-on-skin contact with the mother will be encouraged.  Trained volunteer snugglers will be available to comfort and cuddle babies who are otherwise inconsolable.  An established weaning protocol will be developed, adopted, and supervised by the medical director who will be a local neonatologist.  Age appropriate, developmental care will be provided for the infants. Basic childcare, follow up care for NAS babies, and good parenting classes will be available for mothers and fathers.  Parents will also be taught infant CPR and the safe sleep initiative.  The facility will work with social services providers to educate parents and transition babies after discharge.
This type of private facility will provide more appropriate care for NAS babies given by registered nurses and overseen by a medical director for a fraction of the cost incurred by hospitals.  Due to a greatly reduced overhead and NAS-specific care rather than the critical care provided in a NICU, it is estimated that the cost per baby per day at the private facility would be approximately $800 verses approximately $4,000  in a NICU – a savings of 80%.

Florida Babies are “Collateral Damage” in the Opioid Crisis

Posted on

Passidomo makes the case in new video for a
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Pilot Project

Senator Kathleen Passidomo today released a video highlighting the devastating impact the ongoing opioid crisis is having on Florida’s babies. The Senate Health and Human Services Budget Committee will today hear Senate Bill 434, Passidomo’s proposal to establish a Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Pilot Project.

“We have a responsibility to the babies being born into the devastation of the opioid crisis,” said Passidomo. “The Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Pilot Project takes important steps toward ensuring these babies are not left behind while we as a society work toward tackling the larger crisis we are facing.”

SB 434 Background

Most of babies in a hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (“NICU”) are there because they are critically ill, suffering from complications due to prematurity, difficult delivery, or some other birth-related malady.  In addition, there often are babies admitted to the NICU who are suffering from drug withdrawal because their drug-addicted mothers continued to use or abuse opioids (both prescription and illegal drugs) during their pregnancies.  The babies born to these mothers suffer from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (“NAS”).

Illicit substances and prescription drugs that cause drug dependence and addiction in the mother also cause the fetus to become addicted. At birth, the baby’s dependence on the substance continues. However, since the drug is no longer available, the baby’s central nervous system becomes overstimulated causing the symptoms of withdrawal – many of the same symptoms experienced by adults.

In order to manage the more painful symptoms of withdraw, babies are given morphine, methadone, phenobarbital, chlorpromazine, diazepam, clonidine, or a combination of these drugs to provide symptomatic relief.  The severity of the symptoms and the length of time a baby is given pharmacological treatment vary depending on the type of substance used by the mother, the last time it was used, and whether the baby is full-term or premature.

Why is SB 434 Needed?

Currently, the only place to treat NAS babies who require pharmacological treatment is in the NICU.  The cost to the hospital system and Medicaid is enormous.  It is estimated that the mean length of hospital stay for a NAS baby is 23 days (verses 2.1 days per full-term, non-NAS baby) and the average cost is $93,400 per NAS baby (verses $3,500 per full-term, non-NAS baby).  These are only averages.  There are cases of NAS babies requiring NICU care for two months or more. The cost for over 80% of all NAS babies is covered by Medicaid.

But much of the equipment and services available in the NICU are there for critically ill babies.  After a NAS baby is stabilized, most of the equipment/services of a NICU are not needed during a baby’s withdrawal period.

Moreover, after stabilization, the NICU is not always the best place for a recovering NAS baby.  In the NICU, all babies are attached to monitors restricting movement.  The NAS babies tend to be overstimulated due to bright lights, loud noises/alarms, and busy surroundings.  Babies are typically fed every three hours even if they are not yet awake.  There is also minimal support for families and decreased access to social services.

Imagine spending literally hours trying to calm an inconsolable NAS baby in the NICU and finally getting that baby to fall asleep, only to have an alarm – possibly his own, maybe an alarm for the baby in the next bed – jerk the NAS baby awake and the cycle of crying starts all over again.

While a NICU is not the best place for a recovering NAS baby, it is currently the only option available for these babies in Florida if they require pharmacological treatment.

What does SB 434 do?

If adopted, SB 434 will authorize the Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA”), in consultation with the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”), to establish a pilot project to license one or more facilities to treat NAS babies after stabilization, offering a community-based, lower cost, more baby-centric alternative.

AHCA, in consultation with DCF, will be given authority to adopt regulations, including, among other things, requirements for a facility’s:

  • Staffing
  • Physical plant and its maintenance
  • Programs, services, and care provided to infants being treated
  • Maintenance of medical records and other relevant information

SB 434 also specifies minimum requirements in order to obtain a license and participate in the pilot project.

Much is unknown about the appropriate treatment for NAS infants or the long-term effects on the infants of the current treatments.  Accordingly, SB 434 directs the Department of Health to contract with a Florida state university to study the risks, benefits, cost differentials, and transition of infants to specified social service providers.

The type of facility envisioned by SB 434 is a home-like environment with individual rooms providing minimal stress on the babies; a quiet, dark environment; slow, gentle handling to ease the pain of withdrawal, and accommodations for eligible mothers to breast feed and bond with their babies during the withdrawal process.  All medical services will be overseen by a medical director and will be staffed with at least 2 registered nurses for each 12-hour shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Since these babies are not critically ill, they will generally not be attached to monitors measuring their heart and respiratory rates.  This, along with the elimination of the associated alarms, will increase the babies’ comfort and reduce the chance of overstimulation.  Each baby will dictate when it is fed.  Breastfeeding and skin-on-skin contact with the mother will be encouraged.  Trained volunteer snugglers will be available to comfort and cuddle babies who are otherwise inconsolable.  An established weaning protocol will be developed, adopted, and supervised by the medical director who will be a local neonatologist.  Age appropriate, developmental care will be provided for the infants. Basic childcare, follow up care for NAS babies, and good parenting classes will be available for mothers and fathers.  Parents will also be taught infant CPR and the safe sleep initiative.  The facility will work with social services providers to educate parents and transition babies after discharge.

This type of private facility will provide more appropriate care for NAS babies given by registered nurses and overseen by a medical director for a fraction of the cost incurred by hospitals.  Due to a greatly reduced overhead and NAS-specific care rather than the critical care provided in a NICU, it is estimated that the cost per baby per day at the private facility would be approximately $800 verses approximately $4,000  in a NICU – a savings of 80%.

Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area explore the outdoors event rescheduled to Jan. 27

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On Saturday, Jan. 27, the Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area will host a day of fun and exploration celebrating Florida’s 75-year history of conserving native species and habitats on its wildlife management areas.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invites the public to enjoy this free, family-friendly Tosohatchee WMA event, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The FWC originally planned to hold the event on Saturday, Dec. 9 but had to reschedule due to inclement weather.
Only about 15 minutes from downtown Orlando, Tosohatchee WMA has woodlands and waterways reminiscent of Florida in the 1940s, when the first wildlife management area was created in the state. Osceola wild turkey and white-tailed deer roam here. Purple gallinules and roseate spoonbills pick their way through marshes flowing into the St. Johns River. Bald eagles and swallow-tailed kites can be spotted, as well as flocks of migratory birds such as painted buntings making their winter stopovers.
“Tosohatchee is a spectacular piece of old Florida. We are a great getaway from urban areas,” said FWC wildlife biologist Tom Shupe.
Participants at the Tosohatchee event will have opportunities to go on hay rides with biologists, meet FWC law enforcement officers and their K-9 companions, admire and judge the finalists submitted in the year-long WMA photo contest, and learn about the science behind the comeback of the Osceola wild turkey, which only lives in Florida.
“The 75th anniversary of Florida’s wildlife management areas inspired us in 2017 to throw outdoors celebrations all year long, from bioblitzes and bird-watching tours to geocaching and photo contests and volunteer work days,” said Jerrie Lindsey, who leads the FWC’s Public Access Services Office. “The Tosohatchee event tops off our quest to get more people out on WMAs enjoying both the wildlife and the recreational opportunities. We invite you to keep coming back to our WMAs year after year.”
“Wildlife management areas throughout the state give people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to experience beautiful areas that Florida is conserving for wildlife,” said David Johnson, head of the FWC’s Wildlife and Habitat Management Section that manages the WMAs. “There are a variety of outdoor activities, ranging from hunting and fishing to wildlife viewing, hiking, biking and primitive camping. There is also the simple pleasure of taking a leisurely drive through a WMA and stopping along the way for a picnic.”
What other fun activities can you expect at the Tosohatchee event?
You can experience muzzle-loading and campfire cooking demonstrations, check out the variety of hands-on activities for kids, join Florida Trail Association volunteers on short woodland walks and take tours on how to identify native plants.
More about the WMAs’ 75th anniversary and the experiences that WMAs offer to Floridians and visitors all year-long is at MyFWC.com/WMA75.

Sen. Bill Nelson statement on Jerusalem

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Following is a statement from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) on the president’s announcement on Jerusalem:
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. The U.S. embassy will remain in Tel Aviv for now and the United States should continue to do its part to help bring about a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians through a two-state solution.”