House Bill 4153e1
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to juvenile justice; amending
3 s. 985.309, F.S.; providing funding for boot
4 camps operated by the department, a county, or
5 municipal government, contingent upon specific
6 appropriation, local funding, or state and
7 local funding; requiring boot camps operated by
8 a sheriff to be under his or her supervisory
9 jurisdiction and authority as determined by a
10 contract between the department and the
11 sheriff; providing for placement of children
12 eligible for boot camp placement in boot camp
13 in or nearest to the judicial circuit in which
14 they were adjudicated; requiring exceptions to
15 a boot camp placement; deleting requirement
16 that the department charge and a county or
17 municipal government pay a monitoring fee;
18 clarifying consequences for a department,
19 county or municipal boot camp failing to comply
20 with department rules for boot camps; deleting
21 authorization by the department to institute
22 injunctive proceedings against a county or
23 municipal boot camp for failing to comply with
24 department rules for boot camps; providing an
25 effective date.
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27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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29 Section 1. Section 985.309, Florida Statutes, is
30 amended to read:
31 985.309 Boot camp for children.--
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 (1) Contingent upon specific appropriation, the
2 department shall implement and operate a boot camp program to
3 provide an intensive educational and physical training and
4 rehabilitative program for appropriate children.
5 (2) Contingent upon local funding, or specific
6 appropriation and local funding, the department or a county or
7 municipal government may implement and operate a boot camp
8 program to provide an intensive educational and physical
9 training and rehabilitative program for appropriate children.
10 Boot camps implemented and operated by a sheriff shall be
11 under his or her supervisory jurisdiction and authority as
12 determined by a contract between the department and the
13 sheriff.
14 (2)(3) A child may be placed in a boot camp program if
15 he or she is at least 14 years of age but less than 18 years
16 of age at the time of adjudication and has been committed to
17 the department for any offense that, if committed by an adult,
18 would be a felony, other than a capital felony, a life felony,
19 or a violent felony of the first degree.
20 (3) A child committed to the department and eligible
21 for placement in a boot camp shall be placed in a boot camp in
22 or nearest to the judicial circuit in which the child was
23 adjudicated, unless such a placement would not be in the best
24 interest of the child or the boot camp was unable to accept
25 the child.
26 (4) The department, county, or municipality operating
27 the boot camp program shall screen children sent to the boot
28 camp program, so that only those children who have medical and
29 psychological profiles conducive to successfully completing an
30 intensive work, educational, and disciplinary program may be
31 admitted to the program. The department shall adopt rules for
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 use by the department, county, or municipality operating the
2 boot camp program for screening such admissions.
3 (5) The program shall include educational assignments,
4 work assignments, and physical training exercises. Children
5 shall be required to participate in educational, vocational,
6 and substance abuse programs and to receive additional
7 training in techniques of appropriate decisionmaking, as well
8 as in life skills and job skills. The program shall include
9 counseling that is directed at replacing the criminal
10 thinking, beliefs, and values of the child with moral
11 thinking, beliefs, and values.
12 (6) A boot camp operated by the department, a county,
13 or a municipality must provide for the following minimum
14 periods of participation:
15 (a) A participant in a low-risk residential program
16 must spend at least 2 months in the boot camp component of the
17 program and 2 months in aftercare.
18 (b) A participant in a moderate-risk residential
19 program must spend at least 4 months in the boot camp
20 component of the program and 4 months in aftercare.
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22 This subsection does not preclude the operation of a program
23 that requires the participants to spend more than 4 months in
24 the boot camp component of the program or that requires the
25 participants to complete two sequential programs of 4 months
26 each in the boot camp component of the program.
27 (7) The department shall adopt rules for use by the
28 department, county, or municipality operating the boot camp
29 program which provide for disciplinary sanctions and
30 restrictions on the privileges of the general population of
31 children in the program.
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 (8) The department shall conduct quarterly inspections
2 and evaluations of each department, county, or, municipal
3 government boot camp program to determine whether the program
4 complies with department rules for continued operation of the
5 program. The department shall charge, and the county or
6 municipal government shall pay, a monitoring fee equal to 0.5
7 percent of the direct operating costs of the boot camp
8 program. The operation of a If a county or municipal
9 government boot camp program that fails to pass the
10 department's quarterly inspection and evaluation, such failure
11 shall cause the department to terminate the program unless the
12 program complies with department rules within 3 months or
13 unless there are documented extenuating circumstances. if the
14 deficiency causing the failure is material, must be terminated
15 if the deficiency is not corrected by the next quarterly
16 inspection.
17 (9) If a department-operated boot camp fails to pass
18 the department's quarterly inspection and evaluation, the
19 department must take necessary and sufficient steps to ensure
20 and document program changes to achieve compliance with
21 department rules. If the department-operated boot camp fails
22 to achieve compliance with department rules within 3 months
23 and if there are no documented extenuating circumstances, the
24 department must notify the Executive Office of the Governor
25 and the Legislature of the corrective action taken.
26 Appropriate corrective action may include, but is not limited
27 to:
28 a. contracting out for the operation of the boot camp;
29 b. initiating appropriate disciplinary action against
30 all employees whose conduct or performance is deemed to have
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 materially contributed to the program's failure to meet
2 department rules;
3 c. redesigning the program; or
4 d. realigning the program.
5 (10)(9) The department shall keep records and monitor
6 criminal activity, educational progress, and employment
7 placement of all boot camp program participants in department,
8 county, and municipal boot camp programs after their release
9 from the program. The department must publish an outcome
10 evaluation study of each boot camp program within 18 months
11 after the fourth platoon has graduated.
12 (11)(10) A child in any boot camp program who becomes
13 unmanageable or medically or psychologically ineligible must
14 be removed from the program.
15 (12)(11)(a) The department may contract with private
16 organizations for the operation of its boot camp program and
17 aftercare.
18 (b) A county or municipality may contract with private
19 organizations for the operation of its boot camp program and
20 aftercare.
21 (13)(12)(a) The Juvenile Justice Standards and
22 Training Commission shall either establish criteria for
23 training all contract staff or provide a special training
24 program for department, county, and municipal boot camp
25 program staff, which shall include appropriate methods of
26 dealing with children who have been placed in such a stringent
27 program.
28 (b) Administrative staff must successfully complete a
29 minimum of 120 contact hours of commission-approved training.
30 Staff who have direct contact with children must successfully
31 complete a minimum of 200 contact hours of commission-approved
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 training, which must include training in the counseling
2 techniques that are used in the boot camp program, basic
3 cardiopulmonary resuscitation and choke-relief, and the
4 control of aggression.
5 (c) All training courses must be taught by persons who
6 are certified as instructors by the Division of Criminal
7 Justice Standards and Training of the Department of Law
8 Enforcement and who have prior experience in a juvenile boot
9 camp program. A training course in counseling techniques need
10 not be taught by a certified instructor but must be taught by
11 a person who has at least a bachelor's degree in social work,
12 counseling, psychology, or a related field.
13 (d) A person may not have direct contact with a child
14 in the boot camp program until he or she has successfully
15 completed the training requirements specified in paragraph
16 (b), unless he or she is under the direct supervision of a
17 certified drill instructor or camp commander.
18 (13)(a) The department may institute injunctive
19 proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction against a
20 county or a municipality to:
21 1. Enforce the provisions of this chapter or a minimum
22 standard, rule, regulation, or order issued or entered
23 pursuant thereto; or
24 2. Terminate the operation of a facility operated
25 pursuant to this section.
26 (b) The department may institute proceedings against a
27 county or a municipality to terminate the operation of a
28 facility when any of the following conditions exist:
29 1. The facility fails to take preventive or corrective
30 measures in accordance with any order of the department.
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HB 4153, First Engrossed
1 2. The facility fails to abide by any final order of
2 the department once it has become effective and binding.
3 3. The facility commits any violation of this section
4 constituting an emergency requiring immediate action as
5 provided in this chapter.
6 4. The facility has willfully and knowingly refused to
7 comply with the screening requirement for personnel pursuant
8 to s. 985.01 or has refused to dismiss personnel found to be
9 in noncompliance with the requirements for good moral
10 character.
11 (c) Injunctive relief may include temporary and
12 permanent injunctions.
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