House Bill 4153er
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1
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 appropriation to the Eckerd Youth Alternatives
26 program; providing appropriations to specified
27 programs of the Department of Juvenile Justice
28 and the Department of Elderly Affairs;
29 providing an effective date.
30
31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 Section 1. Section 985.309, Florida Statutes, is
2 amended to read:
3 985.309 Boot camp for children.--
4 (1) Contingent upon specific appropriation, the
5 department shall implement and operate a boot camp program to
6 provide an intensive educational and physical training and
7 rehabilitative program for appropriate children.
8 (2) Contingent upon local funding, or specific
9 appropriation and local funding, the department or a county or
10 municipal government may implement and operate a boot camp
11 program to provide an intensive educational and physical
12 training and rehabilitative program for appropriate children.
13 Boot camps implemented and operated by a sheriff shall be
14 under his or her supervisory jurisdiction and authority as
15 determined by a contract between the department and the
16 sheriff.
17 (2)(3) A child may be placed in a boot camp program if
18 he or she is at least 14 years of age but less than 18 years
19 of age at the time of adjudication and has been committed to
20 the department for any offense that, if committed by an adult,
21 would be a felony, other than a capital felony, a life felony,
22 or a violent felony of the first degree.
23 (3) A child committed to the department and eligible
24 for placement in a boot camp shall be placed in a boot camp in
25 or nearest to the judicial circuit in which the child was
26 adjudicated, unless such a placement would not be in the best
27 interest of the child or the boot camp was unable to accept
28 the child.
29 (4) The department, county, or municipality operating
30 the boot camp program shall screen children sent to the boot
31 camp program, so that only those children who have medical and
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 psychological profiles conducive to successfully completing an
2 intensive work, educational, and disciplinary program may be
3 admitted to the program. The department shall adopt rules for
4 use by the department, county, or municipality operating the
5 boot camp program for screening such admissions.
6 (5) The program shall include educational assignments,
7 work assignments, and physical training exercises. Children
8 shall be required to participate in educational, vocational,
9 and substance abuse programs and to receive additional
10 training in techniques of appropriate decisionmaking, as well
11 as in life skills and job skills. The program shall include
12 counseling that is directed at replacing the criminal
13 thinking, beliefs, and values of the child with moral
14 thinking, beliefs, and values.
15 (6) A boot camp operated by the department, a county,
16 or a municipality must provide for the following minimum
17 periods of participation:
18 (a) A participant in a low-risk residential program
19 must spend at least 2 months in the boot camp component of the
20 program and 2 months in aftercare.
21 (b) A participant in a moderate-risk residential
22 program must spend at least 4 months in the boot camp
23 component of the program and 4 months in aftercare.
24
25 This subsection does not preclude the operation of a program
26 that requires the participants to spend more than 4 months in
27 the boot camp component of the program or that requires the
28 participants to complete two sequential programs of 4 months
29 each in the boot camp component of the program.
30 (7) The department shall adopt rules for use by the
31 department, county, or municipality operating the boot camp
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 program which provide for disciplinary sanctions and
2 restrictions on the privileges of the general population of
3 children in the program.
4 (8) The department shall conduct quarterly inspections
5 and evaluations of each department, county, or, municipal
6 government boot camp program to determine whether the program
7 complies with department rules for continued operation of the
8 program. The department shall charge, and the county or
9 municipal government shall pay, a monitoring fee equal to 0.5
10 percent of the direct operating costs of the boot camp
11 program. The operation of a If a county or municipal
12 government boot camp program that fails to pass the
13 department's quarterly inspection and evaluation, such failure
14 shall cause the department to terminate the program unless the
15 program complies with department rules within 3 months or
16 unless there are documented extenuating circumstances. if the
17 deficiency causing the failure is material, must be terminated
18 if the deficiency is not corrected by the next quarterly
19 inspection.
20 (9) If a department-operated boot camp fails to pass
21 the department's quarterly inspection and evaluation, the
22 department must take necessary and sufficient steps to ensure
23 and document program changes to achieve compliance with
24 department rules. If the department-operated boot camp fails
25 to achieve compliance with department rules within 3 months
26 and if there are no documented extenuating circumstances, the
27 department must notify the Executive Office of the Governor
28 and the Legislature of the corrective action taken.
29 Appropriate corrective action may include, but is not limited
30 to:
31 a. contracting out for the operation of the boot camp;
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 b. initiating appropriate disciplinary action against
2 all employees whose conduct or performance is deemed to have
3 materially contributed to the program's failure to meet
4 department rules;
5 c. redesigning the program; or
6 d. realigning the program.
7 (10)(9) The department shall keep records and monitor
8 criminal activity, educational progress, and employment
9 placement of all boot camp program participants in department,
10 county, and municipal boot camp programs after their release
11 from the program. The department must publish an outcome
12 evaluation study of each boot camp program within 18 months
13 after the fourth platoon has graduated.
14 (11)(10) A child in any boot camp program who becomes
15 unmanageable or medically or psychologically ineligible must
16 be removed from the program.
17 (12)(11)(a) The department may contract with private
18 organizations for the operation of its boot camp program and
19 aftercare.
20 (b) A county or municipality may contract with private
21 organizations for the operation of its boot camp program and
22 aftercare.
23 (13)(12)(a) The Juvenile Justice Standards and
24 Training Commission shall either establish criteria for
25 training all contract staff or provide a special training
26 program for department, county, and municipal boot camp
27 program staff, which shall include appropriate methods of
28 dealing with children who have been placed in such a stringent
29 program.
30 (b) Administrative staff must successfully complete a
31 minimum of 120 contact hours of commission-approved training.
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 Staff who have direct contact with children must successfully
2 complete a minimum of 200 contact hours of commission-approved
3 training, which must include training in the counseling
4 techniques that are used in the boot camp program, basic
5 cardiopulmonary resuscitation and choke-relief, and the
6 control of aggression.
7 (c) All training courses must be taught by persons who
8 are certified as instructors by the Division of Criminal
9 Justice Standards and Training of the Department of Law
10 Enforcement and who have prior experience in a juvenile boot
11 camp program. A training course in counseling techniques need
12 not be taught by a certified instructor but must be taught by
13 a person who has at least a bachelor's degree in social work,
14 counseling, psychology, or a related field.
15 (d) A person may not have direct contact with a child
16 in the boot camp program until he or she has successfully
17 completed the training requirements specified in paragraph
18 (b), unless he or she is under the direct supervision of a
19 certified drill instructor or camp commander.
20 (13)(a) The department may institute injunctive
21 proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction against a
22 county or a municipality to:
23 1. Enforce the provisions of this chapter or a minimum
24 standard, rule, regulation, or order issued or entered
25 pursuant thereto; or
26 2. Terminate the operation of a facility operated
27 pursuant to this section.
28 (b) The department may institute proceedings against a
29 county or a municipality to terminate the operation of a
30 facility when any of the following conditions exist:
31
6
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 1. The facility fails to take preventive or corrective
2 measures in accordance with any order of the department.
3 2. The facility fails to abide by any final order of
4 the department once it has become effective and binding.
5 3. The facility commits any violation of this section
6 constituting an emergency requiring immediate action as
7 provided in this chapter.
8 4. The facility has willfully and knowingly refused to
9 comply with the screening requirement for personnel pursuant
10 to s. 985.01 or has refused to dismiss personnel found to be
11 in noncompliance with the requirements for good moral
12 character.
13 (c) Injunctive relief may include temporary and
14 permanent injunctions.
15 Section 2. The sum of $1,000,000 is appropriated from
16 nonrecurring General Revenue to the Eckerd Youth Alternatives
17 program to match private funds on a dollar for dollar basis.
18 The department shall disburse up to the full amount of this
19 appropriation, depending upon the amount of private matching
20 funds obtained and may not use these funds for any other
21 purpose.
22 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 1998.
23 Section 4. A total of $1,063,900 in nonrecurring
24 General Revenue Funds is appropriated in Special Categories -
25 Grants and Aids - Contracted Services in the Department of
26 Juvenile Justice for D-FY-IT Drug Free Youth in Town, a drug
27 prevention program for youth in schools, and for Miami Love
28 Youth At Risk Program, a prevention program for youth at risk
29 of delinquent behavior, and for Grants in Aid to local
30 governments and nonprofit organizations - Uleta Park Community
31 Center.
7
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
ENROLLED
1998 Legislature HB 4153, Second Engrossed
1 Section 5. The sum of $200,000 is appropriated from
2 the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Elderly Affairs
3 for the provision of essential home health care services to
4 senior citizens in Dade County by United Home Health Care, a
5 not-for-profit corporation. This is a nonrecurring
6 appropriation for fiscal year 1998-1999.
7 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
8