Florida Senate - 2009 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for CS for CS for SB 1276 Barcode 615968 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . Floor: 2/AD/2R . 04/27/2009 06:47 PM . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Senator Dockery moved the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete lines 97 - 108 4 and insert: 5 Section 3. Section 39.00145, Florida Statutes, is created 6 to read: 7 39.00145 Records concerning children.— 8 (1) The case record of every child under the supervision of 9 or in the custody of the department, the department’s authorized 10 agents, or providers contracting with the department, including 11 community-based care lead agencies and their subcontracted 12 providers, must be maintained in a complete and accurate manner. 13 The case record must contain, at a minimum, the child’s case 14 plan required under part VIII of this chapter and the full name 15 and street address of all shelters, foster parents, group homes, 16 treatment facilities, or locations where the child has been 17 placed. 18 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, 19 all records in a child’s case record must be made available for 20 inspection, upon request, to the child who is the subject of the 21 case record and to the child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, or 22 attorney. 23 (a) A complete and accurate copy of any record in a child’s 24 case record must be provided, upon request and at no cost, to 25 the child who is the subject of the case record and to the 26 child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, or attorney. 27 (b) The department shall release the information in a 28 manner and setting that are appropriate to the age and maturity 29 of the child and the nature of the information being released, 30 which may include the release of information in a therapeutic 31 setting, if appropriate. This paragraph does not deny the child 32 access to his or her records. 33 (c) If a child or the child’s caregiver, guardian ad litem, 34 or attorney requests access to the child’s case record, any 35 person or entity that fails to provide any record in the case 36 record under assertion of a claim of exemption from the public 37 records requirements of chapter 119, or fails to provide access 38 within a reasonable time, is subject to sanctions and penalties 39 under s. 119.10. 40 (d) For purposes of this subsection, the term “caregiver” 41 is limited to parents, legal custodians, permanent guardians, or 42 foster parents; employees of a residential home, institution, 43 facility, or agency at which the child resides; and other 44 individuals legally responsible for a child’s welfare in a 45 residential setting. 46 (3) If a court determines that sharing information in the 47 child’s case record is necessary to ensure access to appropriate 48 services for the child or for the safety of the child, the court 49 may approve the release of confidential records or information 50 contained in them. 51 (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all state 52 and local agencies and programs that provide services to 53 children or that are responsible for a child’s safety, including 54 the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Health, 55 the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Agency for 56 Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Education, the 57 Department of Revenue, the school districts, the Statewide 58 Guardian Ad Litem Office, and any provider contracting with such 59 agencies, may share with each other confidential records or 60 information that are confidential or exempt from disclosure 61 under chapter 119 if the records or information are reasonably 62 necessary to ensure access to appropriate services for the 63 child, including child support enforcement services, or for the 64 safety of the child. However: 65 (a) Records or information made confidential by federal law 66 may not be shared. 67 (b) This subsection does not apply to information 68 concerning clients and records of certified domestic violence 69 centers, which are confidential under s. 39.908 and privileged 70 under s. 90.5036. 71 Section 4. Paragraphs (r) and (s) are added to subsection 72 (2) of section 39.202, Florida Statutes, and subsection (7) of 73 that section is amended, to read: 74 39.202 Confidentiality of reports and records in cases of 75 child abuse or neglect.— 76 (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), access to such 77 records, excluding the name of the reporter which shall be 78 released only as provided in subsection (5), shall be granted 79 only to the following persons, officials, and agencies: 80 (r) Persons with whom the department is seeking to place 81 the child or to whom placement has been granted, including 82 foster parents for whom an approved home study has been 83 conducted, the designee of a licensed residential group home 84 described in s. 39.523, an approved relative or nonrelative with 85 whom a child is placed pursuant to s. 39.402, preadoptive 86 parents for whom a favorable preliminary adoptive home study has 87 been conducted, adoptive parents, or an adoption entity acting 88 on behalf of preadoptive or adoptive parents. 89 (s) A physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459, 90 a psychologist licensed under chapter 490, or a mental health 91 professional licensed under chapter 491 engaged in the care or 92 treatment of the child. 93 (7) The department shall make and keep reports and records 94 of all cases under this chapterrelating to child abuse,95abandonment, and neglectand shall preserve the records 96 pertaining to a child and familyuntil 7 years after the last97entry was made oruntil the child who is the subject of the 98 record is 30is 18years of age,whichever date is first99reached,and may then destroy the records.Department records100required by this chapter relating to child abuse, abandonment,101and neglect may be inspected only upon order of the court or as102provided for in this section.103 (a) Within 90 days after the child leaves the department’s 104 custody, the department shall give a notice to the person having 105 legal custody of the child, or to the young adult who was in the 106 department’s custody, which specifies how the records may be 107 obtained. 108 (b) The department may adopt rules regarding the format, 109 storage, retrieval, and release of such records. 110 111 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 112 And the title is amended as follows: 113 Delete lines 7 - 10 114 and insert: 115 central abuse hotline; creating s. 39.00145, F.S.; requiring 116 that the case record of a child under the supervision or in the 117 custody of the Department of Children and Family Services be 118 maintained in a complete and accurate manner; specifying who has 119 access to the case record; authorizing the court to directly 120 release the child’s records to certain entities; providing that 121 entities that have access to confidential information concerning 122 a child may share it with other entities that provide services 123 benefiting children; providing for exceptions for the sharing of 124 confidential information under certain circumstances; amending 125 s. 39.202, F.S.; expanding the list of persons or entities that 126 have access to child abuse records; revising how long the 127 department must keep such records; requiring the department to 128 provide notice of how the child’s records may be obtained after 129 the child leaves the department’s custody; authorizing the 130 department to adopt rules;