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The Florida Senate

2013 Florida Statutes

SECTION 1678
Safe harbor for children who are victims of sexual exploitation.
F.S. 409.1678
409.1678 Safe harbor for children who are victims of sexual exploitation.
(1) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Child advocate” means an employee of a short-term safe house who has been trained to work with and advocate for the needs of sexually exploited children. The advocate shall accompany the child to all court appearances, meetings with law enforcement officials, and the state attorney’s office and shall serve as a liaison between the short-term safe house and the court.
(b) “Safe house” means a living environment that has set aside gender-specific, separate, and distinct living quarters for sexually exploited children who have been adjudicated dependent or delinquent and need to reside in a secure residential facility with staff members who are awake 24 hours a day. A safe house shall be operated by a licensed family foster home or residential child-caring agency as defined in s. 409.175, including a runaway youth center as defined in s. 409.441. Each facility must be appropriately licensed in this state as a residential child-caring agency as defined in s. 409.175 and must have applied for accreditation within 1 year after being licensed. A safe house serving children who have been sexually exploited must have available staff or contract personnel who have the clinical expertise, credentials, and training to provide services identified in paragraph (2)(b).
(c) “Secure” means that a facility providing services is supervised 24 hours a day by staff members who are awake while on duty.
(d) “Sexually exploited child” means a dependent child who has suffered sexual exploitation as defined in s. 39.01(67)(g) and is ineligible for relief and benefits under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 22 U.S.C. ss. 7101 et seq.
(e) “Short-term safe house” means a shelter operated by a licensed residential child-caring agency as defined in s. 409.175, including a runaway youth center as defined in s. 409.441, that has set aside gender-specific, separate, and distinct living quarters for sexually exploited children. In addition to shelter, the house shall provide services and care to sexually exploited children, including food, clothing, medical care, counseling, and appropriate crisis intervention services at the time they are taken into custody by law enforcement officials or department personnel.
(2)(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, pursuant to rules of the department, each circuit of the department shall address the child welfare service needs of sexually exploited children as a component of the circuit’s master plan. This determination shall be made in consultation with local law enforcement officials, runaway and homeless youth program providers, local probation departments, local community-based care and social services, local guardians ad litem, public defenders, state attorney’s offices, and child advocates and services providers who work directly with sexually exploited youth.
(b) The lead agency, not-for-profit agency, or local governmental entity providing safe-house services is responsible for security, crisis intervention services, general counseling and victim-witness counseling, a comprehensive assessment, residential care, transportation, access to behavioral health services, recreational activities, food, clothing, supplies, infant care, and miscellaneous expenses associated with caring for these children; for necessary arrangement for or provision of educational services, including life skills services and planning services for the successful transition of residents back to the community; and for ensuring necessary and appropriate health care and dental care.
(c) This section does not prohibit any provider of these services from appropriately billing Medicaid for services rendered, from contracting with a local school district for educational services, or from obtaining federal or local funding for services provided, as long as two or more funding sources do not pay for the same specific service that has been provided to a child.
(d) The lead agency, not-for-profit agency, or local governmental entity providing safe-house services has the legal authority for children served in a safe-house program, as provided in chapter 39 or this chapter, as appropriate, to enroll the child in school, to sign for a driver license for the child, to cosign loans and insurance for the child, to sign for medical treatment of the child, and to authorize other such activities.
(e) All of the services specified in this section may, to the extent possible provided by law and with funding authorized, be available to all sexually exploited children whether they are accessed voluntarily, as a condition of probation, through a diversion program, through a proceeding under chapter 39, or through a referral from a local community-based care or social service agency.
(3) The local circuit administrator may, to the extent that funds are available, in conjunction with local law enforcement officials, contract with an appropriate not-for-profit agency having experience working with sexually exploited children to train law enforcement officials who are likely to encounter sexually exploited children in the course of their law enforcement duties on the provisions of this section and how to identify and obtain appropriate services for sexually exploited children. Circuits may work cooperatively to provide such training, and such training may be provided on a regional basis. The department shall assist circuits in obtaining any available funds for the purposes of conducting law enforcement training from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the United States Department of Justice.
(4) The department may adopt rules necessary to administer this section.
History.s. 6, ch. 2012-105.