This is kind of frustrating because I can't seem to figure out why html tags sometimes work in my config files and sometimes they don't work. I have a config.json that I am editing for a customized flash widget. All of the html tags work just fine, accept for the 'title'. When I insert a line break into the title:
"title": "Seabird Rehabilitators\n<br />and Transporters", I get this:

The tags in the description are working just fine:
"description:" ...stay with the bird until help arrives. \n<br />\n<br />\n<a <---These are working href=\"http://myfwc.com/education/wildlife/unhook/\"...
I must be missing something very obvious but I am not seeing it!
Wow, you know I have been doing this job for about a year now, and I don't think I ever looked at the default splash widget, I have always worked with our custom splash widget. I guess I just assumed they were virtually the same except for a few modifications. Things can get a little confusing when you are working with widgets that have been modified by different folks, everyone has his/her own way of doing things. Sorry about the confusion! I will mark this as answered since I found the work-around and I hope I didn't waste too much of your time!