F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 559 2024
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to adoptions; amending s. 63.039,
3 F.S.; requiring adoption entities to submit an annual
4 report with certain information to the Department of
5 Children and Families; amending s. 63.097, F.S.;
6 requiring the department to retain an electronic c opy
7 of certain documentation for a certain time period;
8 revising the amount of fees, costs, and expenses
9 authorized to be assessed or paid by an adoption
10 entity; prohibiting fees that are not adoption entity
11 fees or supported by a receipt; amending s. 63.132,
12 F.S.; requiring a court to include a written
13 determination of reasonableness if the court approves
14 fees, costs, and expenses in excess of certain limits;
15 authorizing a court to reject fees, costs, and
16 expenditures that are not supported by a receipt;
17 amending s. 409.1662, F.S.; requiring certain
18 information to be included in the annual report the
19 department submits to the Governor and Legislature;
20 amending s. 409.167, F.S.; providing a purpose for a
21 statewide adoption exchange; requiring the photo
22 listing component of the exchange to be accessible
23 only to certain persons; requiring consent from
24 certain children before their photo is listed;
25 requiring the department or a community-based care
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26 lead agency, instead of the districts of the
27 department, to refer certain children to the adoption
28 exchange; removing provisions requiring a child to be
29 placed on the exchange after a certain time period;
30 providing an effective date.
31
32 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
33
34 Section 1. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (1) of
35 section 63.039, Florida Statutes, to read:
36 63.039 Duties Duty of an adoption entity to prospective
37 adoptive parents; sanctions.—
38 (1) An adoption entity placing a minor for adoption has an
39 affirmative duty to follow the requirements of this chapter and
40 specifically the following provisions, which protect and promote
41 the well-being of persons being adopted and their parents and
42 prospective adoptive parents by promoting certainty, finality,
43 and permanency for such persons. The adoption entity must:
44 (k) Annually report to the department the number of
45 adoptions that did not involve an adoption by a relative or
46 stepparent or an adoption of a child from the child welfare
47 system.
48 Section 2. Subsection (1), paragraph (f) of subsection
49 (2), subsection (3), and paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of
50 section 63.097, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
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51 63.097 Fees.—
52 (1)(a) When the adoption entity is an agency, fees may be
53 assessed if such fees they are approved by the department within
54 the process of licensing the agency and if the fees they are
55 for:
56 1.(a) Foster care expenses;
57 2.(b) Preplacement and postplacement social services; or
58 and
59 3.(c) Agency facility and administrative costs.
60 (b) The department must retain an electronic copy of the
61 documentation submitted by the agency for the approval of such
62 fees. Such documentation must be retained by the department
63 until the child is 18 years of age.
64 (2) The following fees, costs, and expenses may be
65 assessed by the adoption entity or paid by the adoption entity
66 on behalf of the prospective adoptive parents:
67 (f) The following professional fees:
68 1. A reasonable hourly fee, not to exceed $100 per hour
69 without prior court approval, or flat fee, not to exceed $5,000
70 without prior court approval, necessary to provide legal
71 representation to the adoptive parents or adoption entity in a
72 proceeding filed under this chapter.
73 2. A reasonable hourly fee or flat fee, not to exceed
74 $1,500 without prior court approval, for contact with the parent
75 related to the adoption. In determining a reasonable hourly fee
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76 under this subparagraph, the court must consider if the tasks
77 done were clerical or of such a nature that the matter could
78 have been handled by support staff at a lesser rate than the
79 rate for legal representation charged under subparagraph 1. Such
80 tasks include, but need not be limited to, transportation,
81 transmitting funds, arranging appointments, and securing
82 accommodations.
83 3. A reasonable hourly fee for counseling services
84 provided to a parent or a prospective adoptive parent by a
85 psychologist licensed under chapter 490 or a clinical social
86 worker, marriage and family therapist, or mental health
87 counselor licensed under chapter 491, or a counselor who is
88 employed by an adoption entity accredited by the Council on
89 Accreditation of Services for Children and Families to provide
90 pregnancy counseling and supportive services.
91 (3) Approval of the court is not required until the total
92 of the amounts permitted under subsection (2) exceeds:
93 (a) $7,500 $5,000 in professional legal or other fees;
94 (b) $1,000 $800 in court costs; or
95 (c) $5,000 in reasonable and necessary living and medical
96 expenses; or
97 (d) $1,500 in other fees necessary to comply with the
98 requirements of this chapter.
99 (5) The following fees, costs, and expenses are
100 prohibited:
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101 (c) Any fee on the affidavit which is not a fee of the
102 adoption entity, is not supported by a receipt, and does not
103 specify the service that was provided and for which the fee is
104 being charged, such as a fee for facilitation, acquisition, or
105 other similar service, or which does not identify the date the
106 service was provided, the time required to provide the service,
107 the person or entity providing the service, and the hourly fee
108 charged.
109 Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 63.132, Florida
110 Statutes, is amended to read:
111 63.132 Affidavit of expenses and receipts.—
112 (3) The court must issue a separate order approving or
113 disapproving the fees, costs, and expenses itemized in the
114 affidavit. The court may approve only fees, costs, and
115 expenditures allowed under s. 63.097. An order approving fees,
116 costs, and expenses that exceed the limits set in s. 63.097 must
117 include a written determination of reasonableness. The court may
118 reject in whole or in part any fee, cost, or expenditure listed
119 if the court finds that the expense is any of the following:
120 (a) Contrary to this chapter.
121 (b) Not supported by a receipt, if requested, if the
122 expense is not a fee of the adoption entity.
123 (c) Not a reasonable fee or expense, considering the
124 requirements of this chapter and the totality of the
125 circumstances.
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126 Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 409.1662, Florida
127 Statutes, is amended to read:
128 409.1662 Children within the child welfare system;
129 adoption incentive program.—
130 (4) REPORT.—The department shall report annually by
131 November 15 to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and
132 the Speaker of the House of Representatives on all of the
133 following:
134 (a) The negotiated targets set for, outcomes achieved by,
135 and incentive payments made to each lead agency during the
136 previous fiscal year.
137 (b) The report shall also discuss the program enhancements
138 made by each lead agency and its subcontracted providers to
139 achieve negotiated outcomes under this section.
140 (c) The number of adoptions that did not involve an
141 adoption by a relative or stepparent or an adoption of a child
142 from the child welfare system.
143 (d) The number of children who entered the child welfare
144 system because of an adoption dissolution after their adoptions,
145 which did not involve relatives or stepparents and the children
146 were not otherwise in the child welfare system, from an adoption
147 entity were finalized.
148 (e) The reasons why an adoption dissolution occurred for
149 each child under paragraph (d), if known.
150 (f) The average cost of fees assessed by an adoption
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151 entity which require department approval under s. 63.097. Such
152 information must be segmented by region and comparable to a
153 statewide average cost.
154 Section 5. Subsections (5) and (6) of section 409.167,
155 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsection (4) and (5),
156 respectively, and subsections (1), (2), and (4), and present
157 subsection (5) are amended, to read:
158 409.167 Statewide adoption exchange; establishment;
159 responsibilities; registration requirements; rules. —
160 (1) The Department of Children and Families shall
161 establish, either directly or through purchase, a statewide
162 adoption exchange, with a photo listing component, which shall
163 serve all authorized licensed child-placing agencies in the
164 state for the purpose of facilitating family-matching between
165 prospective adoptive parents and children as a means of
166 recruiting adoptive families for children who have been legally
167 freed for adoption and who have been permanently placed with the
168 department or a licensed child-placing agency. The exchange
169 shall provide, in accordance with rules established by the
170 department descriptions and photographs of such children, as
171 well as any other information deemed useful to licensed child-
172 placing agencies in facilitating family-matching between
173 prospective adoptive parents and children in the recruitment of
174 adoptive families for each child. The photo listing component of
175 the adoption exchange must be in a format that is accessible
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176 only to persons who have completed or are in the process of
177 completing an adoption home study. A child who is 12 years of
178 age or older must be consulted before his or her photo is listed
179 updated monthly.
180 (2)(a) Each district of The department or a community-
181 based care lead agency shall refer each child in its care who
182 has been legally freed for adoption to the adoption exchange no
183 later than 30 days after the date of acceptance by the
184 department for permanent placement. The referral must be
185 accompanied by a photograph and description of the child.
186 (b) The department shall establish criteria by which the
187 department or the community-based care lead agency a district
188 may determine that a child need not be registered with the
189 adoption exchange. Within 30 days after the date of accept ance
190 by the department for permanent placement, the name of the child
191 accepted for permanent placement must be forwarded to the
192 statewide adoption exchange by the department or the community-
193 based care lead agency district together with reference to the
194 specific reason why the child should not be placed on the
195 adoption exchange. If the child has not been placed for adoption
196 within 3 months after the date of acceptance by the department
197 for permanent placement, the district shall provide the adoption
198 exchange with the necessary photograph and information for
199 registration of the child with the adoption exchange and the
200 child shall be placed on the exchange. The department shall
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201 establish procedures for monitoring the status of children who
202 are not placed on the adoption exchange within 30 days after the
203 date of acceptance by the department for permanent placement.
204 (4) The adoption exchange shall provide the photo listing
205 service to all licensed child-placing agencies and, in
206 accordance with rules established by the department, to all
207 appropriate citizen groups and other organizations and
208 associations interested in children's services.
209 (4)(5) Children who are registered with the statewide
210 adoption exchange and for whom there is no available family
211 resource must shall be registered with existing regional and
212 national adoption exchanges, consistent with the restrictions in
213 this section.
214 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
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