House Bill 3591
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 3591
By Representative Lynn
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child advocacy centers;
3 prescribing standards for membership of child
4 advocacy centers in the Florida Network of
5 Children's Advocacy Centers, Inc.; providing
6 responsibilities of the network board of
7 directors and guidelines with respect to
8 allocation to eligible child advocacy centers
9 of certain moneys appropriated to the network;
10 providing an effective date.
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12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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14 Section 1. In order to become eligible for a full
15 membership in the Florida Network of Children's Advocacy
16 Centers, Inc., a child advocacy center in this state shall:
17 (1) Be a private, nonprofit incorporated agency.
18 (2) Have a neutral, child-focused facility where joint
19 Department of Children and Family Services and law enforcement
20 interviews take place with children in appropriate cases of
21 suspected child sexual and physical abuse. All
22 multidisciplinary agencies shall have a place to interact with
23 the child as investigative or treatment needs require.
24 (3) Have a minimum designated staff that is supervised
25 and approved by the local board of directors.
26 (4) Have a multidisciplinary case review team that
27 meets on a regularly scheduled basis or as the caseload of the
28 community requires. The team shall consist of representatives
29 from the Office of the State Attorney, the Department of
30 Children and Family Services, mental health and law
31 enforcement entities, and the child advocacy center staff.
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 3591
560-159-97
1 Medical personnel and a victim's advocate shall also be part
2 of the team.
3 (5) Provide case tracking of child abuse cases seen
4 through the center. A center shall also collect data on the
5 number of child abuse cases seen at the center by sex, race,
6 age, and other relevant data; the number of cases referred for
7 prosecution; and the number of cases referred for mental
8 health therapy.
9 (6) Provide referrals for medical exams and mental
10 health therapy. The center shall provide followup on cases
11 referred for mental health therapy.
12 (7) Provide training for various disciplines in the
13 community that deal with child abuse.
14 (8) Have an interagency commitment covering those
15 aspects of agency participation in a multidisciplinary
16 approach to the handling of child sexual and serious physical
17 abuse cases.
18 (9) Provide assurance that volunteers at the center
19 are trained and screened by appropriate resources.
20 Section 2. Any child advocacy center within this state
21 that meets the standards of section 1 and is certified by the
22 Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, Inc., as being
23 a full member in the organization shall be eligible to receive
24 state funds that are appropriated by the Legislature for the
25 Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, Inc.
26 Section 3. Any new child advocacy center within this
27 state that desires to become certified by the network may
28 request and receive initial funding if approved by the board
29 of directors of the network. Any center failing to meet the
30 standards established in section 1 for a period of 1 year or
31 longer shall not be eligible to receive state funding.
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida House of Representatives - 1998 HB 3591
560-159-97
1 Section 4. The network board of directors shall be
2 responsible for allocating state-appropriated funds to
3 existing and new child advocacy centers which meet the
4 standards of section 1.
5 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
6 law.
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9 HOUSE SUMMARY
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Prescribe standards for membership of child advocacy
11 centers in the Florida Network of Children's Advocacy
Centers, Inc. Provides responsibilities of the network
12 board of directors and guidelines with respect to
allocation to eligible child advocacy centers of certain
13 moneys appropriated to the network.
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