Senate Bill 0660c1
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 660
By the Committee on Children and Families; and Senators
Brown-Waite and McKay
300-1660A-99
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to foster care and related
3 services; amending s. 409.1671, F.S.; providing
4 that the department transfer to the lead agency
5 documented federal funds earned by the agency
6 in excess of the amount specified in the
7 contract; providing that the earned federal
8 funds be used for providing additional child
9 welfare services; providing that the contract
10 be amended to permit expenditure of federal
11 funds; specifying that an agency that provides
12 foster care and related services pursuant to s.
13 409.1671, F.S., under contract with the
14 Department of Children and Family Services is
15 an instrumentality of the state; providing
16 limitations on certain tort actions brought
17 against the provider; requiring that a contract
18 provide for indemnification of the department
19 and the state due to negligence of the provider
20 or a subcontractor; providing an effective
21 date.
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23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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25 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
26 409.1671, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended and
27 subsection (5) is added to that section to read:
28 409.1671 Foster care and related services;
29 privatization.--
30 (1)(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
31 Department of Children and Family Services shall privatize the
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 660
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1 provision of foster care and related services statewide. As
2 used in this section, the term "privatize" means to contract
3 with competent, community-based agencies. The department
4 shall submit a plan to accomplish privatization statewide,
5 through a competitive process, phased in over a 3-year period
6 beginning January 1, 2000. This plan is to be submitted by
7 July 1, 1999, to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of
8 the House of Representatives, the Governor, and the minority
9 leaders of both houses. This plan must be developed with local
10 community participation, including, but not limited to, input
11 from community-based providers that are currently under
12 contract with the department to furnish community-based foster
13 care and related services, and must include a methodology for
14 determining and transferring all available funds, including
15 federal funds that the provider is eligible for and agrees to
16 earn and that portion of general revenue funds which is
17 currently associated with the services that are being
18 furnished under contract. Notwithstanding the provisions of s.
19 215.425, the department shall transfer to the lead agency in
20 the district in which the funds were earned all documented
21 federal funds that it receives as a result of foster care and
22 related services furnished by a lead agency and that exceed
23 the amount identified in the contract for services to the lead
24 agency. The lead agency shall use any such funds for the sole
25 purpose of providing additional child welfare services in the
26 district in which the funds were earned. The department shall
27 amend the lead agency's contract to permit expenditure of
28 these funds. The methodology must provide for the transfer of
29 funds appropriated and budgeted for all services and programs
30 that have been incorporated into the project, including all
31 management, capital (including current furniture and
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 660
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1 equipment), and administrative funds to accomplish the
2 transfer of these programs. This methodology must address
3 expected workload and at least the 3 previous years'
4 experience in expenses and workload. With respect to any
5 district or portion of a district in which privatization
6 cannot be accomplished within the 3-year timeframe, the
7 department must clearly state in its plan the reasons the
8 timeframe cannot be met and the efforts that should be made to
9 remediate the obstacles, which may include alternatives to
10 total privatization, such as public-private partnerships. As
11 used in this section, the term "related services" means family
12 preservation, independent living, emergency shelter,
13 residential group care, foster care, therapeutic foster care,
14 intensive residential treatment, foster care supervision, case
15 management, postplacement supervision, permanent foster care,
16 and family reunification. Unless otherwise provided for,
17 beginning in fiscal year 1999-2000, either the state attorney
18 or the Office of the Attorney General shall provide child
19 welfare legal services, pursuant to chapter 39 and other
20 relevant provisions, in Sarasota, Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee
21 Counties. Such legal services shall commence and be
22 effective, as soon as determined reasonably feasible by the
23 respective state attorney or the Office of the Attorney
24 General, after the privatization of associated programs and
25 child protective investigations has occurred. When a private
26 nonprofit agency has received case management
27 responsibilities, transferred from the state under this
28 section, for a child who is sheltered or found to be dependent
29 and who is assigned to the care of the privatization project,
30 the agency may act as the child's guardian for the purpose of
31 registering the child in school if a parent or guardian of the
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 660
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1 child is unavailable and his or her whereabouts cannot
2 reasonably be ascertained. The private nonprofit agency may
3 also seek emergency medical attention for such a child, but
4 only if a parent or guardian of the child is unavailable, his
5 or her whereabouts cannot reasonably be ascertained, and a
6 court order for such emergency medical services cannot be
7 obtained because of the severity of the emergency or because
8 it is after normal working hours. However, the provider may
9 not consent to sterilization, abortion, or termination of life
10 support. If a child's parents' rights have been terminated,
11 the nonprofit agency shall act as guardian of the child in all
12 circumstances.
13 (5) Any community-based agency that provides foster
14 care and related services to children and families under
15 contract with the Department of Children and Family Services
16 pursuant to s. 409.1671 is deemed to be a corporation acting
17 primarily as an instrumentality of the state, and the
18 limitations on tort actions contained in s. 768.28 apply to
19 any action brought against the community-based agency with
20 respect to such foster care and related services if the agency
21 is acting within the scope of and pursuant to guidelines
22 established in the contract with or by rule of the Department
23 of Children and Family Services. A contract with the
24 Department of Children and Family Services covered by this
25 section must provide for the indemnification of the department
26 and the state by the agency for any liabilities actually
27 incurred by the department or the state due to the intentional
28 or negligent acts or omissions of the community-based agency,
29 its employees, or subcontractors, up to the limits established
30 in s. 768.28 in addition to all defense costs and reasonable
31 attorney's fees incurred by the department or the state.
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 660
300-1660A-99
1 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
2 law.
3
4 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
5 SB 660
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7 Amends s. 409.1671, F.S., clarifying that community-based
agencies under contract with the Department of Children and
8 Family Services to provide foster care and related services
pursuant to s. 409.1671, F.S., are deemed an instrumentality
9 of the state.
10 Specifies that limitations on tort actions contained in s.
768.28, F.S., apply only to those foster care and related
11 services which the community-based agency provides under
contract with the department.
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Specifies that limitations on tort actions contained in s.
13 768.28, F.S., will apply to persons or agencies that
subcontract with the community-based agency to provide
14 services required in the agency's contract with the
department.
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Specifies that the department must transfer federal funds that
16 are earned by the community-based agency in excess of those
specified in the contract to that agency in the district in
17 which the funds were earned.
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