Lawmakers push to expand free swimming lessons for children

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(The Center Square) – A bill that would allow older children to apply for taxpayer-funded swimming lessons advanced in the state Senate on Thursday. 

Senate Bill 428 would expand eligibility in Florida’s Swim Lesson Voucher Program from ages 1 to 4 to ages 1 to 7. The measure cleared the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, while its companion bill in the House is ready for a floor vote. 

The program has garnered much interest since it was created in 2024 to prevent child drownings. Families with incomes of no more than 200% of federal poverty guidelines are eligible to use the vouchers for free swimming lessons with providers listed on the Department of Health’s website. The vouchers are provided until all of the program’s funding has been exhausted, according to the website.

The program received $843,400 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, but interest far exceeded availability. Of the more than 16,000 applications received in the first year, 4,945 were awarded vouchers.

The legislature increased the program's funding to $1 million for the 2025-2026 fiscal year and required the health department to prioritize applications from active military families and families of autistic children.

Maija Hahn, a speech language pathologist and autism specialist who supports expanding the program, said water safety is not just optional but urgent for children with autism.

“Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in Florida, but for children with autism, the risk is exponentially higher,” Hahn said during the committee meeting. “Research shows that they are approximately 160 times more likely to die from drowning than their neurotypical peers. Nearly 50% of children with autism will wander or elope from safe environments and when they do, water is the most common site of fatal outcomes.”

Florida has seen between 350 to 500 drowning deaths per year since 2005. Children between the ages of 1 and 7 made up nearly 20% of the state’s drowning deaths in 2024, according to Sen. Clay Yarborough, a Jacksonville Republican who introduced the bill. He said studies indicate swimming lessons are associated with an 88% reduction in risk for drowning.

Yarborough said expanding the age eligibility would bring the program in line with study recommendations from the YMCA and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Will Moffitt, a 15-year-old volunteer swim instructor who urged legislators last year to expand the program, said it currently ends as children reach the age when they can learn to swim independently.

“I believe that including elementary school children in the swim voucher program is critically important for reducing Florida’s high drowning death rates,” said Moffitt. “My experience as a swim instructor led me to do this. I first began volunteering as a swim instructor three years ago. During my first summer, we had about 25 elementary school aged children and only one to two certified instructors. With so many kids and so few resources, we simply couldn’t teach everybody to swim.”

He said he hopes the bill will lead to more resources like qualified swim instructors to meet the demand.