CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1910
Amendment No.
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 Senator Cowin moved the following amendment:
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13 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
14 On page 19, between lines 21 and 22,
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16 insert:
17 Section 11. Present paragraph (c) of subsection (13)
18 of section 409.175, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as
19 paragraph (e) and new paragraphs (c) and (d) are added to that
20 section to read:
21 409.175 Licensure of family foster homes, residential
22 child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies.--
23 (13)
24 (c) In consultation with foster parents, each district
25 or lead agency shall develop a plan for making the completion
26 of the required training as convenient as possible for
27 potential foster parents and emergency-shelter parents. The
28 plan should include, without limitation, such strategies as
29 providing training in nontraditional locations and at
30 nontraditional times. The plan must be revised at least
31 annually and must be included in the information provided to
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1910
Amendment No.
1 each person applying to become a foster parent or
2 emergency-shelter parent.
3 (d) Upon a foster home becoming licensed, the
4 department or its agent must provide the foster parent with
5 information regarding the anticipated date of placement of a
6 foster child; and, if a child is not placed in that home
7 within 60 days, the department must provide monthly status
8 reports and explanations to the foster parent regarding
9 placement of children in the home.
10 Section 12. Section 409.1753, Florida Statutes, is
11 created to read:
12 409.1753 Foster care; duties.--
13 (1) The department shall ensure that, within each
14 district, each foster home is given a telephone number for the
15 foster parent to call during normal working hours whenever
16 immediate assistance is needed and the child's caseworker is
17 unavailable. This number must be staffed and answered by
18 individuals possessing the knowledge and authority necessary
19 to assist foster parents.
20 (2) To the extent practicable, the department or its
21 agent shall assign new foster care cases, in ways that
22 minimize the number of caseworkers who must interact with a
23 given foster home. Each district or designated agent of the
24 department shall annually develop a written plan that
25 describes actions that will be taken to minimize the number of
26 caseworkers with whom each foster parent must interact and
27 must provide a copy of the plan to all licensed foster homes.
28 (3) Unless a child's safety is at risk, as documented
29 in the child's case file, the department or its agent shall
30 provide at least 2 weeks' notice to the child and his or her
31 foster parent prior to the child being moved to another
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1910
Amendment No.
1 placement in order to provide sufficient time for all parties,
2 including the child and the foster parent, to plan for the
3 move.
4 Section 13. Any funds appropriated for the
5 establishment of model dependency court pilot programs for
6 Fiscal Year 2000-2001 in the 5th, 10th, and 17th judicial
7 circuits shall be used for the purpose of hiring general
8 masters to hear cases referred by the presiding judge and for
9 related support for the dependency division pilot project. The
10 Office of the State Courts Administrator shall evaluate the
11 utilization of general masters and related support for the
12 dependency division pilot project in the furtherance of
13 permanency for children. The results of this evaluation shall
14 be reported to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of
15 the House of Representatives by December 1, 2001.
16 Section 14. (1) A work group is established in the
17 Department of Children and Family Services for the purpose of
18 evaluating child abuse and neglect reports involving children
19 who were referred to child protection teams but for whom the
20 appointments were not kept. The department shall include on
21 the work group members of the child protection team staff of
22 the Children's Medical Services of the Department of Health,
23 child protective investigators, child welfare legal services
24 attorneys, and representatives of appropriate law enforcement
25 agencies, and other persons, as appropriate. The work group is
26 directed to evaluate reports that are made from July 1, 2000
27 through December 31, 2000, which meet the criteria. The
28 evaluation should distinguish among the types of maltreatment
29 reported in analyzing the reasons appointments were not kept;
30 follow-up activities by child protection teams; follow-up
31 activities by the child protection investigators; actions by
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1910
Amendment No.
1 child welfare legal attorneys; case histories, including
2 previous reports of abuse or neglect, previous dependency
3 actions, any known subsequent reports of abuse or neglect; and
4 any other factors the work group considers pertinent.
5 (2) The work group shall report its findings to the
6 Department of Children and Family Services and the Department
7 of Health with recommendations for process improvements and
8 policy changes to reduce the incidence of unkept appointments.
9 The Department of Children and Family Services shall report
10 the findings of the work group, with recommendations for any
11 statutory changes, to the Legislature by November 1, 2001.
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13 (Redesignate subsequent sections.)
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17 And the title is amended as follows:
18 On page 2, line 24, after the semicolon,
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20 insert:
21 amending s. 409.175, F.S.; requiring a plan for
22 streamlining foster parent training; requiring
23 that certain information be provided to
24 licensed foster homes; creating s. 409.1753,
25 F.S.; specifying duties of the Department of
26 Children and Family Services or its agents
27 regarding foster care; providing for dependency
28 court pilot programs; requiring a report;
29 establishing a work group within the Department
30 of Children and Family Services; providing
31 duties; requiring reports;
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