APOPKA, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that Floridians would be receiving more financial assistance for housing and rentals through the CARES Act.
The announcement was made at the Wellington Park Apartments in Apopka, Florida.
DeSantis said $75 million in CARES Act money will go towards helping Floridians with rental and mortgage assistance. He said that due to the coronavirus pandemic people have had " a profound disruption to [their] lives."
"Hundreds of thousands of Floridians who may have already had difficulty making ends meet are now suffering even more, losing a job, not being able to find a job, having to figure out how to pay for child care while schools were in distance learning," DeSantis said.
He said through the financial assistance given by the CARES Act, families will have one less thing to worry about.
Also during the announcement, DeSantis provided an update on the state's COVID-19 numbers and reopening plans.
DeSantis said that hospitals have more hospital bed availability now then at the beginning of the pandemic. He also said that in Florida "we have capacity, we have the ability to care for people."
He also continued to relate the increase in positive cases for the state to an increase in testing saying that testing is going "going through the roof."
"... The number of tests being conducted are unlike anything we thought we would be able to accomplish,” DeSantis said.
During a roundtable discussion Thursday, Governor DeSantis was joined by First Lady Casey DeSantis where they discussed the effects of COVID-19 on mental health.
"We talk about our kids, but we need to talk about the parents," Casey DeSantis said. "Everyone is enduring this crisis."
Also present during the roundtable was the Department of Children and Families Secretary Chad Poppell.
Poppell said during the pandemic there has been a decrease in calls to the DCF Child Abuse Hotline, and that was not due to a decrease in cases.
"The child abuse hotline, every year when school lets out, sees around a 25% reduction in calls," he said. "That's because our number one mandatory reporter of child abuse, are our teachers."
Due to most school's quick conclusion and switch to distant learning in March, those mandated reporters have not had in-person contact with their students which Poppell says has led to a greater lag in calls to the hotline.
"So instead of having a two, two-and-a-half-month break where teachers don't get to see the kids, we're working on a much longer period of time," he said. "And so that's one of the things that we're actually very concerned about."
Not only are children experiencing a big change due to the pandemic but also veterans and elderly who are used to having in-person contact with family, friends and their support network.