CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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5 ORIGINAL STAMP BELOW
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11 The Committee on Family Law & Children offered the following:
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13 Amendment (with title amendment)
14 Remove from the bill: Everything after the enacting
15 clause
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17 and insert in lieu thereof:
18 Section 1. Section 409.1671, Florida Statutes, is
19 amended to read:
20 409.1671 Foster care and related services;
21 privatization.--
22 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that to
23 encourage the Department of Children and Family Services shall
24 privatize the provision of to contract with competent
25 community-based agencies to provide foster care and related
26 services statewide. As used in this section, the term
27 "privatize" means to contract with competent, community-based
28 agencies. The department shall submit a plan to accomplish
29 privatization statewide, through a competitive process, phased
30 in over a 3-year period beginning January 1, 2000. This plan
31 is to be submitted by July 1, 1999, to the President of the
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
2 Governor, and the minority leaders of both houses. This plan
3 must be developed with local community participation,
4 including, but not limited to, input from community-based
5 providers that are currently under contract with the
6 department to furnish community-based foster care and related
7 services, and must include a methodology for determining and
8 transferring all available funds, including federal funds that
9 the provider is eligible for and agrees to earn and that
10 portion of general revenue funds which is currently associated
11 with the services that are being furnished under contract. The
12 methodology must provide for the transfer of funds
13 appropriated and budgeted for all services and programs that
14 have been incorporated into the project, including all
15 management, capital (including current furniture and
16 equipment), and administrative funds to accomplish the
17 transfer of these programs. This methodology must address
18 expected workload and at least the 3 previous years'
19 experience in expenses and workload. With respect to any
20 district or portion of a district in which privatization
21 cannot be accomplished within the 3 years' timeframe, the
22 department must clearly state in its plan the reasons the
23 timeframe cannot be met and the efforts that should be made to
24 remediate the obstacles, which may include alternatives to
25 total privatization, such as public private partnerships. As
26 used in this section, the term "related services" means By
27 privatizing these services, the support and commitment of
28 communities to the reunification of families and care of
29 children and their families will be strengthened, and
30 efficiencies as well as increased accountability will be
31 gained. These services may include family preservation,
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 independent living, emergency shelter, residential group care,
2 foster care, therapeutic foster care, intensive residential
3 treatment, postadjudication legal services, foster care
4 supervision, postadjudication case management, postplacement
5 supervision, permanent foster care, family reunification, the
6 filing of a petition for the termination of parental rights,
7 and adoption. Unless otherwise provided for, beginning in
8 fiscal year 1999 - 2000, either the State Attorney or the
9 Office of the Attorney General shall provide child welfare
10 legal services, pursuant to Chapter 39, and other relevant
11 provisions, in Sarasota, Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee
12 Counties. Such legal services shall commence upon and be
13 effective, as soon as determined reasonably feasible by the
14 respective State Attorney or the Office of the Attorney
15 General, after the privatization of associated programs and
16 child protective investigations has occurred. When a private
17 nonprofit agency has received case management
18 responsibilities, transferred from the state under this
19 section, for a child who is sheltered or found to be dependent
20 and who is assigned to the care of the privatization project,
21 the agency may act as the child's guardian for the purpose of
22 registering the child in school if a parent or guardian of the
23 child is unavailable and his or her whereabouts cannot
24 reasonably be ascertained. The private nonprofit agency may
25 also seek emergency medical attention for such a child, but
26 only if a parent or guardian of the child is unavailable, his
27 or her whereabouts cannot reasonably be ascertained, and a
28 court order for such emergency medical services cannot be
29 obtained because of the severity of the emergency or because
30 it is after normal working hours. However, the provider may
31 not consent to sterilization, abortion, or termination of life
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 support. If a child's parents' rights have been terminated,
2 the nonprofit agency shall act as guardian of the child in all
3 circumstances.
4 (2) The department may contract for the delivery,
5 administration, or management of protective services, the
6 services specified in subsection (1) relating to foster care,
7 and other related services or programs, as appropriate. The
8 department shall retain responsibility for the quality of
9 contracted services and programs and shall ensure that
10 services are delivered in accordance with applicable federal
11 and state statutes and regulations.
12 (3)(a) The department shall establish a quality
13 assurance program for privatized the privatization of
14 services. The quality assurance program may be performed by a
15 national accrediting organization such as the Council on
16 Accreditation of Services for Families and Children, Inc.
17 (COA) or the Council on Accreditation of Rehabilitation
18 Facilities (CARF). The department shall develop a request for
19 proposal for such oversight. This program must be developed
20 and administered at a statewide level. The Legislature intends
21 that the department be permitted to have limited flexibility
22 to use funds for improving quality assurance. To this end,
23 effective January 1, 2000, the department may transfer up to
24 0.125 percent of the total funds from categories used to pay
25 for these contractually provided services, but the total
26 amount of such transferred funds may not exceed $300,000 in
27 any fiscal year. When necessary, the department may establish,
28 in accordance with s. 216.177, additional positions that will
29 be exclusively devoted to these functions. Any positions
30 required under this paragraph may be established,
31 notwithstanding ss. 216.262(1)(a) and 216.351. The quality
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 assurance program must include standards for each specific
2 component of these services. The department, in consultation
3 with the community-based agencies that are undertaking the
4 privatized projects, shall establish minimum thresholds for
5 each component of service, consistent with standards
6 established by the Legislature. Each program operated under
7 pursuant to contract with a community-based agency must be
8 evaluated annually by the department or by an objective
9 competent entity designated by the department under the
10 provisions of the quality assurance program. The evaluation
11 must be financed from cost savings associated with the
12 privatization of services. The department shall submit an
13 annual report regarding quality performance, outcome measure
14 attainment, and cost efficiency to the President of the
15 Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
16 minority leader of each house of the Legislature, and the
17 Governor no later than January 31 of each year for each
18 project in operation during the preceding fiscal year,
19 beginning in 1998. The quality assurance program must be
20 funded through administrative savings generated by this act.
21 (b) The department shall establish and operate a
22 comprehensive system to measure and report annually the
23 outcomes and effectiveness of the services that have been
24 privatized. The department shall use these findings in making
25 recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature for future
26 program and funding priorities in the child welfare system.
27 (4)(a) The community-based agency must comply with
28 statutory requirements and agency rules regulations in the
29 provision of contractual services. Each foster home,
30 therapeutic foster home, emergency shelter, or other placement
31 facility operated by the community-based agency or agencies
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 must be licensed by the Department of Children and Family
2 Services under chapter 402 or this chapter. Each
3 community-based agency must be licensed as a child-caring or
4 child-placing agency by the department under this chapter. The
5 department, in order to eliminate or reduce the number of
6 duplicate inspections by various program offices, shall
7 coordinate inspections required pursuant to licensure of
8 agencies under this section.
9 (b) A community-based agency providing contractual
10 services under this section may be issued a Medicaid provider
11 number pursuant to s. 409.907 to enable the agency to maximize
12 federal support for these services under the state's Medicaid
13 plan. A community-based agency must also participate in and
14 cooperate with any federal program that will assist in the
15 maximization of federal support for those services, as
16 directed by the department.
17 (5) Beginning January 1, 1999, and continuing at least
18 through December 31, 1999, the Department of Children and
19 Family Services shall privatize all foster care and related
20 services in district 5 while continuing to contract with the
21 current model programs in districts 1, 4, and 13, and in
22 subdistrict 8A, and shall expand the subdistrict 8A pilot
23 program to incorporate Manatee County. Planning for the
24 district 5 privatization shall be done by providers that are
25 currently under contract with the department for foster care
26 and related services and shall be done in consultation with
27 the department. A lead provider of the district 5 program
28 shall be competitively selected and must demonstrate the
29 ability to provide necessary comprehensive services through a
30 local network of providers Beginning in fiscal year 1996-1997,
31 the Department of Children and Family Services shall establish
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 a minimum of five model programs. These models must be
2 established in the department's districts 1, 4, and 13; in
3 subdistrict 8A; and in a fifth district to be determined by
4 the department, with the concurrence of the appropriate
5 district health and human services board. For comparison of
6 privatization savings, the fifth model program must be
7 contracted with a competent for-profit corporation. Providers
8 of these model programs may be selected from a single source
9 pursuant to s. 287.057(3)(c) and must be established,
10 community-based organizations within the district or
11 subdistrict. Contracts with organizations responsible for the
12 model programs must shall include the management and
13 administration of all privatized services specified in
14 subsection (1), except for funds necessary to manage the
15 contract. However, the department may use funds for contract
16 management only after obtaining written approval from the
17 Executive Office of the Governor. The request for such
18 approval must include, but is not limited to, a statement of
19 the proposed amount of such funds and a description of the
20 manner in which such funds will be used. If the
21 community-based organization selected for a model program
22 under this subsection is not a Medicaid provider, the
23 organization shall be issued a Medicaid provider number
24 pursuant to s. 409.907 for the provision of services currently
25 authorized under the state Medicaid plan to those children
26 encompassed in this model and in a manner not to exceed the
27 current level of state expenditure.
28 (6) Each district and subdistrict that participates in
29 the model program effort or any future privatization effort as
30 described in this section must thoroughly analyze and report
31 the complete direct and indirect costs of delivering these
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 services through the department and the full cost of
2 privatization, including the cost of monitoring and evaluating
3 the contracted services.
4 Section 2. Section 415.5071, Florida Statutes, is
5 created to read:
6 415.5071 Sheriffs of Pasco and Pinellas Counties to
7 provide child protective investigative services; procedures;
8 funding.--
9 (1) As described in this section, the Department of
10 Children and Family Services shall, by the end of fiscal year
11 1999-2000, transfer all responsibility for child protective
12 investigations for Pinellas County and Pasco County to the
13 sheriff of that county in which the child abuse, neglect, or
14 abandonment is alleged to have occurred. Each sheriff is
15 responsible for the provision of all child protective
16 investigations in his or her county. Each individual who
17 provides these services must complete the training provided to
18 and required of protective investigators employed by the
19 Department of Children and Family Services.
20 (2) During fiscal year 1998-1999, the Department of
21 Children and Family Services and each sheriff's office shall
22 enter into a contract for the provision of these services.
23 Funding for the services will be appropriated to the
24 Department of Children and Family Services, and the department
25 shall transfer to the respective sheriffs for the duration of
26 fiscal year 1998-1999, funding for the investigative
27 responsibilities assumed by the sheriffs, including federal
28 funds that the provider is eligible for and agrees to earn and
29 that portion of general revenue funds which is currently
30 associated with the services that are being furnished under
31 contract, and including, but not limited to, funding for all
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 investigative, supervisory, and clerical positions; training;
2 all associated equipment; furnishings; and other fixed capital
3 items. The contract must specify whether the department will
4 continue to perform part or none of the child protective
5 investigations during the initial year. The sheriffs may
6 either conduct the investigations themselves or may, in turn,
7 subcontract with municipal officials or private agencies to
8 have those officials or agencies conduct the investigations.
9 The contract must specify whether the services are to be
10 performed by departmental employees or by an agency or persons
11 determined by the sheriff. During this initial year, the
12 department is responsible for quality assurance, and the
13 department retains the responsibility for the performance of
14 all child protective investigations. The department must
15 identify any barriers to transferring the entire
16 responsibility for child protective services to the sheriffs'
17 offices and must pursue avenues for removing any such barriers
18 by means including, but not limited to, applying for federal
19 waivers. By January 15, 1999, the department shall submit to
20 the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
21 Representatives, and the chairs of the Senate and House
22 committees that oversee departmental activities a report that
23 describes any remaining barriers, including any that pertain
24 to funding and related administrative issues. Unless the
25 Legislature, on the basis of that report or other pertinent
26 information, acts to block a transfer of the entire
27 responsibility for child protective investigations to the
28 sheriffs' offices, the sheriffs of Pasco County and Pinellas
29 County, beginning in fiscal year 1999-2000, shall assume the
30 entire responsibility for such services, as provided in
31 subsection (3).
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 (3)(a) Beginning in fiscal year 1999-2000, the
2 sheriffs of Pasco County and Pinellas County have the
3 responsibility to provide all child protective investigations
4 in their respective counties.
5 (b) The sheriffs of Pasco County and Pinellas County
6 shall operate, at a minimum, in accordance with the
7 performance standards established by the Legislature for
8 protective investigations conducted by the Department of
9 Children and Family Services.
10 (c) Funds for providing child protective
11 investigations in Pasco County and Pinellas County must be
12 appropriated directly to the respective sheriffs' offices.
13 Funds for the child protective investigations may not be
14 integrated into the sheriffs' regular budgets. Budgetary data
15 and other data relating to the performance of child protective
16 investigations must be maintained separately from all other
17 records of the sheriffs' offices.
18 (d) Program performance evaluation shall be based on
19 criteria mutually agreed upon by the respective Sheriffs and a
20 committee of five persons appointed by the Governor and
21 selected from those persons serving on the Department of
22 Children and Family Services district 5 Health and Human
23 Services Board. Two of the Governor's appointees must be
24 residents of Pasco County and two of the Governor's appointees
25 must be residents of Pinellas County. Such appointees shall
26 serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The individuals
27 appointed must have demonstrated experience in outcome
28 evaluation, social service areas of protective investigation,
29 or child welfare supervision. The committee shall submit an
30 annual report regarding quality performance, outcome measure
31 attainment and cost efficiency, to the President of the
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to
2 the Governor, no later than January 31 of each year the
3 sheriffs are receiving general appropriations to provide child
4 protective investigations.
5 Section 3. Subsection (2) of Section 768.28, Florida
6 Statutes, is amended to read:
7 (2) As used in this act, "state agencies or
8 subdivisions" include the executive departments, the
9 Legislature, the judicial branch (including public defenders),
10 and the independent establishments of the state; counties and
11 municipalities; community-based agencies that have contracted
12 with the Department of Children and Family Services pursuant
13 to s. 409.1671 or s. 415.5071; and corporations primarily
14 acting as instrumentalities or agencies of the state,
15 counties, or municipalities, including the Spaceport Florida
16 Authority.
17 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1 of the
18 year in which enacted.
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21 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
22 And the title is amended as follows:
23 remove from the title of the bill: everything before the
24 enacting clause
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26 and insert in lieu thereof:
27 A bill to be entitled
28 An act relating to the privatization of foster
29 care and related services; amending s.
30 409.1671, F.S.; providing legislative intent;
31 defining the terms "privatize" and "related
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
hbd-06 Bill No. HB 3217
Amendment No. (for drafter's use only)
1 services"; requiring the Department of Children
2 and Family Services to develop a plan to
3 accomplish statewide privatization within a
4 specified time period and to submit the plan to
5 the Governor and to designated legislative
6 officials by a specified date; providing plan
7 requirements; requiring the department to state
8 whether and why privatization cannot be
9 accomplished in a particular district or
10 portion of a district and how the department
11 will address the obstacles to privatization;
12 providing for legal services; requiring that
13 child welfare legal services be provided by
14 specified providers; providing for case
15 management responsibilities; providing for
16 quality assurance; providing requirements for
17 and restrictions upon funding for
18 privatization; creating s. 415.5071, F.S.;
19 providing for a model program for child
20 protective investigative services, to be
21 initiated in a specified district; requiring
22 the department to contract with the sheriffs in
23 that district; providing responsibilities of
24 the department; requiring a report; providing
25 for funding; providing for the creation of a
26 specified committee which shall submit a
27 required report; amending s. 768.28, Florida
28 Statutes; amending the definition of the term
29 "state agencies or subdivisions" with respect
30 to specified agencies; providing an effective
31 date.
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