Taylor Hatch, speaking, Shevaun Harris, and Bob Asztalos, who head the Department of Children and Families, Agency for Health Care Administration, and Agency for Persons with Disabilities, respectively, during an April 10, 2026, press conference on child abuse prevention. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
Representatives of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ health care agencies came together Friday to recognize April as National Child Abuse Awareness Prevention Month.
At the same time, they touted the state’s Medicaid and Hope Florida programs as key components in helping keeping parents and Florida children safe.
Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris lauded the state’s Medicaid managed care plans for the mental health services they provide enrollees as well as for providing care to women and children.
However, Harris never mentioned that the state is appealing U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard’s Jan. 9 ruling in a class action finding the state violated the rights of hundreds of thousands of Medicaid recipients, mostly women and children, by sending them faulty termination notices that violated their constitutional rights to due process.
Court rules Florida Medicaid termination letters fly in face of federal law
“They are primarily pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children. And as is evident from the applicable income standards, these individuals are the poorest of the poor,” Morales Howard wrote in a 273-page ruling.
In her order, Morales Howard directed the state to send Medicaid revised termination notices to roughly 500,000 low-income people whose benefits the state terminated for financial reasons following the pandemic and were not subsequently re-enrolled in the safety-net health care program.
The notices were required to include information about how to appeal the termination decision and how to potentially be reimbursed for past medical bills that would have been covered by Medicaid had they not been wrongfully terminated.
Harris headed the Department of Children and Families at the time of the Medicaid unwinding, the term given to the process of returning state Medicaid programs to pre-pandemic policies following the expiration of the Covid-19 public health emergency. DCF determines Medicaid eligibility in Florida.
On Friday, Harris defended the decision to challenge the order, saying the state disagreed with the judge.
“We find that the entity responsible, the federal entity responsible for monitoring the agency’s actions, found zero deficiencies. I think that that’s a pretty compelling argument, and the notices included individuals rights. And so, we stand by that, that individuals knew who to contact, where to go if they wanted to appeal any decisions.”
When pressed about the decision to challenge the ruling, Harris said: “Every recipient on our Medicaid program is important. Every day we work tirelessly to make sure they are getting the care that they need. We do that in the way we monitor our health plans. We do that in looking at our coverage policies, making sure that they’re adequate. Our Medicaid recipients are of paramount importance.”
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Although the event was to promote child abuse prevention month, Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch repeatedly in her remarks touched on the Hope Florida program and the purported savings it has brought to the state.
Hope Florida is an initiative that uses volunteer Hope “navigators” to assist people who want to transition off Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that provides access to food benefits.
Meanwhile, the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity tied to first Lady Casey DeSantis, has been in the headlines for more than a year after the disclosure that $10 million negotiated and received from a Medicaid vendor was passed on to the foundation. The foundation then steered money to two nonprofit organizations that wound up passing money to a political committee controlled by Attorney General James Uthmeier, at the time was Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff.
A Leon County grand jury was convened and a report is believed to have been issued earlier this year. It has not been publicly released, though. Florida law allows people named in grand jury reports to ask a judge to excise certain parts, or all, of a report, officially called a presentment.
Uthmeier wouldn’t say this week whether he has challenged the findings and is trying to keep parts of the report from being made public.
Adding to the controversy is the DeSantis administration’s inconsistent messaging about the alleged savings Hope Florida has delivered.
During her recent Senate confirmation process for AHCA secretary, Harris was asked numerous questions about Hope Florida, including how the savings were tallied. Harris did not, though, answer questions about whether Hope Florida data, either the projected savings or numbers of clients served, included 23,000 people who lost food benefits as a result of new work requirements.
Gov. DeSantis has bragged, “Hope Florida is leading tens of thousands of Floridians off of government reliance and into prosperity and self-sufficiency,” and that the program was “saving taxpayers millions of dollars — nearly $800 million over the next decade.”
On Friday, DCF’s Hatch said 35,000 people have been assisted by the Hope Florida program and have either reduced or eliminated their reliance on public assistance. As a result of the Hope Florida program, Hatch said, the state would save more than $1.45 billion “over 10 years.”
And as Hatch brought the press conference to an end, she again made Hope Florida program the priority, promoting a Hope Florida call line over a state-dedicated hotline to report child abuse or abandonment or abuse of vulnerable adults.
“Number one, if you’re listening and you are a Floridian in need of assistance, please call 833 Get Hope to be connected with support to meet your specific needs and your specific goals,” Hatch said.
She continued: “If you are aware of a child or vulnerable adult that is experiencing abuse or neglect, the Florida abuse hotline is available 24/7 and is standing by to connect with you.”