Senate Bill 2478
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2478
By Senator Dawson-White
30-654A-99
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Relative Caregiver
3 Program; amending s. 39.5085, F.S.; providing
4 that a relative caregiver is eligible for
5 assistance under the program following the
6 long-term placement of a child with the
7 caregiver pursuant to a court order or an order
8 of guardianship; providing that the relative
9 caregiver of a special needs child is eligible
10 to receive a specified amount of assistance
11 under the program; providing that a relative
12 caregiver who adopts a mentally retarded,
13 physically handicapped, or emotionally
14 handicapped child is eligible to receive the
15 adoption subsidy provided to adoptive parents;
16 providing an effective date.
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18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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20 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 39.5085, Florida
21 Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:
22 39.5085 Relative Caregiver Program.--
23 (2)(a) The Department of Children and Family Services
24 shall establish and operate the Relative Caregiver Program
25 pursuant to eligibility guidelines established in this section
26 as further implemented by rule of the department. The Relative
27 Caregiver Program shall, within the limits of available
28 funding, provide financial assistance to relatives who are
29 within the fifth degree by blood or marriage to the parent or
30 stepparent of a child and who are caring full-time for that
31 child in the role of substitute parent as a result of a
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2478
30-654A-99
1 departmental determination of child abuse, neglect, or
2 abandonment and subsequent placement with the relative
3 pursuant to this chapter. Such placement may be either
4 court-ordered temporary legal custody to the relative under s.
5 39.508(9)(a)4. pursuant to s. 39.508(9), or court-ordered
6 placement in the home of a relative under protective
7 supervision of the department under s. 39.508(9)(a)3.,
8 court-ordered placement in the long-term custody of a relative
9 under s. 39.508(9)(a)5., or placement with a relative pursuant
10 to a court order or letter of guardianship pursuant to s.
11 39.508(9). The Relative Caregiver Program shall offer
12 financial assistance to caregivers who are relatives and who
13 would be unable to serve in that capacity without the relative
14 caregiver payment because of financial burden, thus exposing
15 the child to the trauma of placement in a shelter or in foster
16 care.
17 (b) Caregivers who are relatives and who receive
18 assistance under this section must be capable, as determined
19 by a home study, of providing a physically safe environment
20 and a stable, supportive home for the children under their
21 care, and must assure that the children's well-being is met,
22 including, but not limited to, the provision of immunizations,
23 education, and mental health services as needed.
24 (c) Relatives who qualify for and participate in the
25 Relative Caregiver Program are not required to meet foster
26 care licensing requirements under s. 409.175.
27 (d) Relatives who are caring for children placed with
28 them by the child protection system shall receive a special
29 monthly relative caregiver benefit established by rule of the
30 department. The amount of the special benefit payment shall
31 be based on the child's age within a payment schedule
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2478
30-654A-99
1 established by rule of the department and subject to
2 availability of funding. The statewide average monthly rate
3 for children judicially placed with relatives who are not
4 licensed as foster homes may not exceed 82 percent of the
5 statewide average foster care rate, nor may the cost of
6 providing the assistance described in this section to any
7 relative caregiver exceed the cost of providing out-of-home
8 care in emergency shelter or foster care.
9 (e) Children receiving cash benefits under this
10 section are not eligible to simultaneously receive WAGES cash
11 benefits under chapter 414.
12 (f) Within available funding, the Relative Caregiver
13 Program shall provide relative caregivers with family support
14 and preservation services, flexible funds in accordance with
15 s. 409.165, subsidized child care, and other available
16 services in order to support the child's safety, growth, and
17 healthy development. Children living with relative caregivers
18 who are receiving assistance under this section shall be
19 eligible for Medicaid coverage.
20 (g) A relative caregiver with whom a mentally
21 retarded, physically handicapped, or emotionally handicapped
22 child is placed is eligible to receive assistance under the
23 Relative Caregiver Program which is equal to the amount of the
24 subsidy provided to adoptive parents under s. 409.166. If a
25 relative caregiver adopts a mentally retarded, physically
26 handicapped, or emotionally handicapped child following
27 participation in the Relative Caregiver Program, the caregiver
28 is eligible to receive the adoption subsidy provided under s.
29 409.166.
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 2478
30-654A-99
1 (h)(g) The department may use appropriate available
2 state, federal, and private funds to operate the Relative
3 Caregiver Program.
4 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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7 SENATE SUMMARY
8 Provides for assistance under the Relative Caregiver
Program for the relative caregiver of a child who is
9 placed into long-term care with the caregiver under a
court order or an order of guardianship. Provides that
10 the relative caregiver of a special needs child is
eligible to receive assistance under the program which
11 equals the amount of the adoption subsidy provided to
adoptive parents. Provides that a relative caregiver who
12 adopts a child who is mentally retarded, physically
handicapped, or emotionally handicapped is eligible to
13 receive the adoption subsidy provided to adoptive parents
by the Department of Children and Family Services.
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