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Florida pledges $5.2 million for mental health services for children

'It's really a game changer for a lot of people,' says First Lady Casey DeSantis
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PANAMA CITY, Fla. — The state of Florida wants to improve mental health services for children.

Speaking at the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida in Panama City on Friday morning, First Lady Casey DeSantis announced a $5.2 million grant for the coalition, which will expand telemental health services in six counties in Florida's Panhandle.

"As we're in this pandemic, we're really realizing that this is an invaluable tool for a lot of people to access mental health needs, because this has taken such a tool on so many people," DeSantis said. "It's really a game changer for a lot of people."

The grant will also be used to rebuild infrastructure at the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida.

"They're going to be helping everything from playgrounds to everything within the child care facility," DeSantis said.

The coalition serves more than 3,400 children across Florida's Panhandle.