Danitra Grays, 23, with her 2-year-old daughter, Naiyla King, play on a swing at Charles Hadley Park on July 21, 2026 in Miami. Grays participates in the Young Parents Project, which supports highly vulnerable young parents at risk of reentering the child welfare or juvenile justice systems during the challenges of early parenthood. The program is ending after losing funding from Citrus Health.
Photography by AL DIAZ
adiaz@miamiherald.com
I read with dismay that a program I helped to start in 2005 has been defunded by Citrus Family Care Network as of July 31.
For many years, the evidence-based Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy’s Young Parents Project (YPP) has partnered with Citrus to serve some of our most vulnerable youth: teen girls who are pregnant or already parenting, many of whom have endured unimaginable trauma.
The need to help young parents and their babies became evident to me while I was a judge on the 11th Circuit Juvenile Court. There was very little assistance available at that time for children in the child welfare and juvenile Justice system who were parents or pregnant.
Working with FSU, our community, the state Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Families, we created a system to help our young parents and babies called the Young Parents Project. It has helped hundreds of young parents and their children stay out of the system by breaking the generational hold of trauma on those families.
Their budget is less than one-half of 1% of the money that Citrus receives from the state each year. YPP has been serving young parents and their children for more than 20 years. This has saved Florida taxpayers millions of dollars in potential child welfare costs and long-term societal costs.
Our program has provided a critical extra layer of support. With a dedicated team of social workers, nurses and mental health specialists, we ensure these young people (ages 11-18) stay enrolled in school, receive prenatal care and make healthy choices during pregnancy. We assist with postnatal planning, navigating the challenges of caring for a newborn, returning to school or work and securing childcare. Equally important, we offer therapy to help them process their trauma, heal and break the cycle of abuse and neglect for future generations.
We also work with teen fathers, fostering attachment and encouraging supportive roles. No other program exists in Florida that provides this level of service to these children.
Decades of evidence-based outcomes demonstrate that the YPP is a wise community investment.
The decision to defund this program strips away vital support from young women who need it the most. Ultimately, the whole community is responsible under the community-based care mandate to find the funds necessary to continue to care for these mothers and babies in a proven program like YPP.
I request that Citrus reconsider its decision. I request that our child welfare community join me in requesting that the funding for YPP be restored.
Lester Langer is a retired Miami-Dade County circuit judge, sitting senior judge and Supreme Court certified circuit civil mediator.