Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

The Florida Senate
                                 HOUSE MESSAGE SUMMARY
         Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs
                                                                                      [2021s00096.hms.docx]
BILL:                   CS/CS/SB 96
INTRODUCER:            Senator Book and Senator Brodeur
SUBJECT:                Child Welfare
DATE:                   April 28, 2021
 I.Amendments Contained in Message:
        House Amendment – 854919 (body with title)
II.Summary of Amendments Contained in Message:
        The strike-all amendment consolidates all or part of SB 96, SB 92, SB 900, HB 1093, and SB
        1844, with minimal amendments, as summarized below.
        CS/CS/SB 96
        The strike-all includes the following provisions from SB 96: (a) child abuse hotline under s.
        39.101, F.S.; (b) child abuse reporting under s. 39.201, F.S.; (c) confidentiality of records and
        reports of abuse, abandonment, or neglect under s. 39.202, F.S.; (d) penalties relating to failure to
        report under s. 39.205, F.S.; (e) cross-reporting requirements created under s. 39.208, F.S.; (f)
        protective investigations in institutional abuse cases under s. 39.302, F.S.; (g) child advocacy
        centers under s. 39.3035, F.S.; (h) multidisciplinary legal representation model (MLRM)
        program created under s. 39.4092, F.S.; (j) parenting partnerships under s. 409.1415, F.S.; (i)
        local animal control or cruelty ordinances under s. 828.27, F.S.; and (k) education practices
        commission under s. 1012.795, F.S.
        SB 96 is modified with respect to the provisions under s. 39.2015, F.S., relating to critical
        incident rapid response teams (CIRRT) to establish modified quality assurance investigations of
        sexual abuse allegations of certain children who are placed in out-of-home care effective October
        1, 2021. SB 96 is also modified with respect to the reporting requirements related to the MLRM
        to impose a timeframe from October 1, 2022 through October 1, 2025.
        The strike-all adds a provision that directs the Division of Law to add s. 39.101, F.S., to part II of
        ch. 39, F.S. It also removes the following provisions from SB 96: (a) animal cruelty; (b) sexual
        performance of a child under s. 827.071, F.S.; (c) sexual activities involving animals under s.
        828.126, F.S.; and (d) offense severity ranking chart under s. 921.022, F.S.
        SB 92
BILL: CS/CS/SB 96                                                                                   Page 2
      The following provisions from SB 92 are included in the strike-all: (a) the family finding
      program under s. 39.4015, F.S.; (b) kinship navigator under s. 39.5086, F.S.; (c) conflicts of
      interest on the board of managing entities (ME) created under s. 394.90825, F.S., and lead
      agencies under s. 409.987, F.S.; and (d) information the DCF is required to post on its website
      under s. 409.996, F.S.
      The strike-all includes modified language from SB 92 requiring MEs and lead agencies to post
      information on its website to include certain salary information and copies of the last three years
      of their Form 990 tax returns. It also modifies the provisions related to development of an
      alternative approach when a lead agency is unable to competitively procure services.
      Further, the following provisions in SB 92 are not in the strike-all: (a) the provision that changes
      current law from aspiring to requiring the DCF to provide certain information to caregivers; (b)
      the modifications relating to community alliances under s. 20.19, F.S.; and (c) the creation of a
      child and well-being system.
      SB 900
      The strike-all adopts the following provisions in SB 900, including: (a) confidential reports and
      records of abuse, abandonment, or neglect under s. 39.202, F.S.; and (b) parenting partnerships
      under s. 409.1415, F.S. It modifies SB 900 with respect to the provision related to increasing the
      capacity for the number of children placed in family foster homes, and authorizes the DCF to
      adopt rules to establish criteria for requesting a waiver and criteria to approve such waivers.
      The strike-all does not include the following provisions: (a) defines “voluntary services” under s.
      39.01, F.S.; (b) modification to the supervised living arrangement types for continuing care for
      youth adults under s. 39.6251, F.S.; and (c) safe houses and safe foster homes under s. 409.1678,
      F.S.
      HB 7039
      The strike-all incorporates the following provisions from HB 7039: (a) requires the protective
      investigator to assess and take appropriate actions to protect children who are not the subject of
      the alleged sexual abuse allegations and who are accessible to the alleged perpetrator; (b)
      requires lead agencies to publish on its website information regarding case managers who are
      assigned 25 or more cases, and include a statement regarding being contracted with the DCF in
      certain publications; (c) requires the DCF to conduct an annual review of specified financial
      information of lead agencies, including developing a plan to achieve financial viability and
      requiring a report to be submitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
      Representative, and the Governor; (d) requires lead agencies to fund increased costs of services
      in certain circumstances; and (e) eliminates an obsolete provision under current law that requires
      the Florida Institute for Child Welfare to evaluate the Guardianship Assistance Program.
      HB 1093
BILL: CS/CS/SB 96                                                                                  Page 3
      The amendment adopts all of the provisions in HB 1093 to amend s. 39.4085, F.S., as follows:
      (a) clarifies the goals to be achieved with respect to dependent children; (b) specifies the DCF’s
      requirements regarding children’s rights, including obligations to educate children of their rights
      and documents specified efforts; and (c) district school boards’ authority to establish education
      on child abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
      HB 1447
      The amendment adopts the provisions of HB 1447 which creates a Commission on Mental
      Health and Substance Abuse (Commission) adjunct to the DCF. The purpose of the Commission
      is to examine the methods of services provided in the State and improve the effectiveness of the
      programs. The amendment provides for the composition of the Commission, its duties and other
      requirements, such as report that must be submitted within a specified time. The creation of this
      Commission was a recommendation of the 3rd Report of the 20th Statewide Grand Jury.
Statutes affected: 
S 96 Filed: 39.201, 39.202, 409.1415, 827.071, 828.126, 828.27, 921.0022, 39.301, 119.071, 322.09, 934.03
S 96 c1: 39.201, 39.202, 409.1415, 827.071, 828.126, 828.27, 921.0022, 39.301, 119.071, 322.09, 934.03
S 96 c2: 39.201, 39.202, 409.1415, 827.071, 828.126, 828.27, 921.0022, 39.301, 119.071, 322.09, 934.03
S 96 e1: 39.201, 39.4015, 39.4085, 39.5086, 409.175, 409.988, 828.27, 119.071, 934.03
S 96 er: 39.201, 39.4015, 39.4085, 39.5086, 409.175, 409.988, 828.27, 119.071, 934.03