ENROLLED
       2009 Legislature             CS for CS for SB 126, 1st Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                              2009126er
    1  
    2         An act relating to the confidential records of
    3         children; creating s. 39.00145, F.S.; requiring that
    4         the case record of a child under the supervision or in
    5         the custody of the Department of Children and Family
    6         Services be maintained in a complete and accurate
    7         manner; specifying who has access to the case record;
    8         authorizing the court to directly release the child’s
    9         records to certain entities; providing that entities
   10         that have access to confidential information
   11         concerning a child may share it with other entities
   12         that provide services benefiting children; providing
   13         for exceptions for the sharing of confidential
   14         information under certain circumstances; amending s.
   15         39.202, F.S.; expanding the list of persons or
   16         entities that have access to child abuse records;
   17         revising how long the department must keep such
   18         records; requiring the department to provide notice of
   19         how the child’s records may be obtained after the
   20         child leaves the department’s custody; authorizing the
   21         department to adopt rules; providing an effective
   22         date.
   23  
   24  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   25  
   26         Section 1. Section 39.00145, Florida Statutes, is created
   27  to read:
   28         39.00145Records concerning children.—
   29         (1)The case record of every child under the supervision of
   30  or in the custody of the department, the department’s authorized
   31  agents, or providers contracting with the department, including
   32  community-based care lead agencies and their subcontracted
   33  providers, must be maintained in a complete and accurate manner.
   34  The case record must contain, at a minimum, the child’s case
   35  plan required under part VIII of this chapter and the full name
   36  and street address of all shelters, foster parents, group homes,
   37  treatment facilities, or locations where the child has been
   38  placed.
   39         (2)Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
   40  all records in a child’s case record must be made available for
   41  inspection, upon request, to the child who is the subject of the
   42  case record and to the child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, or
   43  attorney.
   44         (a)A complete and accurate copy of any record in a child’s
   45  case record must be provided, upon request and at no cost, to
   46  the child who is the subject of the case record and to the
   47  child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, or attorney.
   48         (b)The department shall release the information in a
   49  manner and setting that are appropriate to the age and maturity
   50  of the child and the nature of the information being released,
   51  which may include the release of information in a therapeutic
   52  setting, if appropriate. This paragraph does not deny the child
   53  access to his or her records.
   54         (c)If a child or the child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem,
   55  or attorney requests access to the child’s case record, any
   56  person or entity that fails to provide any record in the case
   57  record under assertion of a claim of exemption from the public
   58  records requirements of chapter 119, or fails to provide access
   59  within a reasonable time, is subject to sanctions and penalties
   60  under s. 119.10.
   61         (d)For the purposes of this subsection, the term
   62  “caregiver” is limited to parents, legal custodians, permanent
   63  guardians, or foster parents; employees of a residential home,
   64  institution, facility, or agency at which the child resides; and
   65  other individuals legally responsible for a child’s welfare in a
   66  residential setting.
   67         (3)If a court determines that sharing information in the
   68  child’s case record is necessary to ensure access to appropriate
   69  services for the child or for the safety of the child, the court
   70  may approve the release of confidential records or information
   71  contained in them.
   72         (4)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all state
   73  and local agencies and programs that provide services to
   74  children or that are responsible for a child’s safety, including
   75  the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Health,
   76  the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Agency for
   77  Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Education, the
   78  Department of Revenue, the school districts, the Statewide
   79  Guardian Ad Litem Office, and any provider contracting with such
   80  agencies, may share with each other confidential records or
   81  information that are confidential or exempt from disclosure
   82  under chapter 119 if the records or information are reasonably
   83  necessary to ensure access to appropriate services for the
   84  child, including child support enforcement services, or for the
   85  safety of the child. However:
   86         (a)Records or information made confidential by federal law
   87  may not be shared.
   88         (b)This subsection does not apply to information
   89  concerning clients and records of certified domestic violence
   90  centers, which are confidential under s. 39.908 and privileged
   91  under s. 90.5036.
   92         Section 2. Paragraph (r) is added to subsection (2) of
   93  section 39.202, Florida Statutes, and subsection (7) of that
   94  section is amended, to read:
   95         39.202 Confidentiality of reports and records in cases of
   96  child abuse or neglect.—
   97         (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), access to such
   98  records, excluding the name of the reporter which shall be
   99  released only as provided in subsection (5), shall be granted
  100  only to the following persons, officials, and agencies:
  101         (r)Persons with whom the department is seeking to place
  102  the child or to whom placement has been granted, including
  103  foster parents for whom an approved home study has been
  104  conducted, the designee of a licensed residential group home
  105  described in s. 39.523, an approved relative or nonrelative with
  106  whom a child is placed pursuant to s. 39.402, preadoptive
  107  parents for whom a favorable preliminary adoptive home study has
  108  been conducted, adoptive parents, or an adoption entity acting
  109  on behalf of preadoptive or adoptive parents.
  110         (7) The department shall make and keep reports and records
  111  of all cases under this chapter relating to child abuse,
  112  abandonment, and neglect and shall preserve the records
  113  pertaining to a child and family until 7 years after the last
  114  entry was made or until the child who is the subject of the
  115  record is 30 is 18 years of age, whichever date is first
  116  reached, and may then destroy the records. Department records
  117  required by this chapter relating to child abuse, abandonment,
  118  and neglect may be inspected only upon order of the court or as
  119  provided for in this section.
  120         (a)Within 90 days after the child leaves the department’s
  121  custody, the department shall give a notice to the person having
  122  legal custody of the child, or to the young adult who was in the
  123  department’s custody, which specifies how the records may be
  124  obtained.
  125         (b)The department may adopt rules regarding the format,
  126  storage, retrieval, and release of such records.
  127         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.