This is a bill that has strong and growing support in the community and it would be unfortunate to see the enthusiasm for this life-saving measure lost as a result of delay and inaction. Although it's too early to say exactly what will be in my next budget, I can assure you that it will continue to reflect the strong emphasis I have placed on preserving and improving the quality of our schools. Inherent in that commitment will be my support for efforts to reduce class size in our schools, to expand professional development opportunities for our teachers, and to assure the safety of our children. Our children are our future, and they have a right to learn in an environment that is free from worry and full of encouragement. Those sessions provided new insight into these issues and will lead to some key initiatives that will be advanced in my next budget.
Children also have to be healthy and ready to learn, in order to succeed in school.
The State's new Children's Health Insurance Program is helping to do just that - providing coverage to some 3,800 previously uninsured children in our county. We have gone further to cover another 300 children who are not eligible for the state program, by enrolling them in our County-funded Care for Kids effort. I intend to expand this effort so that no child of a low-income family that needs health care will be turned away. We have done a great deal to increase resources in our child welfare agencies, but quite frankly, we need to do more. We need to add more caseworkers to handle the rising number of calls and referrals coming into our child protective service offices.