House Bill 2149

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

        By the Committee on General Appropriations and
    Representative Villalobos





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Department of Juvenile

  3         Justice; creating s. 985.3045, F.S.; providing

  4         eligibility requirements for funding and

  5         accountability standards for juvenile justice

  6         prevention activities; requiring all entities

  7         that receive or use state appropriations

  8         through contracts or grants for prevention

  9         services to conform to certain established

10         prevention strategies and to collect minimum

11         outcome data relative to the performance

12         measures; providing requirements for

13         state-funded private sector service providers;

14         requiring the department to submit a report,

15         present findings, and make recommendations to

16         the Legislature; requiring any panel

17         established to make recommendations to the

18         Governor or Legislature to use such

19         accountability standards; exempting

20         children-in-need-of-services and

21         families-in-need-of-services programs; creating

22         s. 985.2155, F.S.; imposing daily subsistence

23         fees for children in detention or commitment

24         programs of the department; allowing the

25         department to engage the assistance of a

26         private collection agency or the Department of

27         Revenue in collecting required maintenance and

28         daily subsistence fees; limiting the total

29         amount of the maintenance and daily subsistence

30         fees to the actual cost of care; providing an

31         effective date.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

    187-867A-00






  1  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  2

  3         Section 1.  Section 985.3045, Florida Statutes, is

  4  created to read:

  5         985.3045  Eligibility for funding and accountability

  6  standards for juvenile justice prevention activities.--

  7         (1)  Funding for juvenile justice prevention activities

  8  shall be as provided through legislative appropriations.

  9         (2)  All entities that receive or use state

10  appropriations through contracts or grants to fund juvenile

11  justice prevention services shall design the programs

12  providing such services to further one or more strategies

13  established to target risk factors associated with entering or

14  reentering the juvenile justice system. The following program

15  strategies for preventing juvenile crime are hereby

16  authorized:

17         (a)  Programs designed to encourage school attendance

18  by at-risk youth, which may include special assistance to

19  youth to address identified deficiencies in academic

20  performance.

21         (b)  Programs designed to engage at-risk youth in

22  wholesome activities during nonschool hours or other times

23  when juvenile crime is most likely to occur.

24         (c)  Programs designed to help at-risk youth avoid gang

25  activity and otherwise avoid engaging in violent activities.

26         (d)  Programs designed to help at-risk youth acquire

27  the skills they need to find meaningful employment, which may

28  include job-placement assistance.

29

30  The department may establish other program strategies to

31  prevent juvenile crime based on documented risk factors.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

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  1         (3)  All entities that receive or use state

  2  appropriations through contracts or grants to fund juvenile

  3  justice prevention services shall, as a condition of receiving

  4  such funds, track uniform statewide outcome measures through a

  5  uniform data-collection methodology developed by the

  6  department to measure criminal activity by program

  7  participants. In addition, the department shall develop

  8  uniform statewide outcome measures and uniform data-collection

  9  methodologies for each program strategy established pursuant

10  to subsection (2). All entities that receive or use state

11  appropriations through contracts or grants to fund juvenile

12  justice prevention services shall, as a condition of receiving

13  such funds, track the applicable measures established pursuant

14  to this subsection as follows:

15         (a)  For programs designed to encourage school

16  attendance, which may include special assistance and tutoring

17  to address identified deficiencies in academic performance,

18  the number of days participants attended school during

19  participation in the program.

20         (b)  For programs designed to engage at-risk youth in

21  productive and wholesome activities during nonschool hours

22  when juvenile crime is most likely to occur, the number of

23  arrests during nonschool hours by program participants.

24         (c)  For programs designed to help youth avoid gangs

25  and otherwise avoid engaging in violent activities, the number

26  of program participants arrested for violent crimes.

27         (d)  For programs designed to help youth acquire the

28  skills they need to find meaningful employment, which may

29  include assistance in finding a suitable employer for youth,

30  the number of program participants who get and maintain

31  employment for at least 180 days.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

    187-867A-00






  1

  2  The department shall develop an outcome measure for each

  3  program strategy it develops that logically relates to the

  4  risk factor addressed by the strategy. In addition to the

  5  statewide outcome measures established pursuant to this

  6  subsection, the department may establish additional outcome

  7  measures unique to each individual program as long as the

  8  measures logically relate to the specific purpose of the

  9  program and the imposition of reporting requirements is not

10  unduly burdensome. Each program shall also maintain output

11  data that, at a minimum, details the number of youth served

12  and the units of service provided. The department shall, to

13  the extent practicable, establish uniform, consistent

14  unit-of-service and unit-cost definitions.

15         (4)  All private sector entities that receive or use

16  state appropriations to fund juvenile justice prevention

17  services shall enter into an agreement with one or more

18  referring entities that work with children on a regular basis,

19  which shall include, but not be limited to, local schools,

20  local law enforcement departments, child welfare agencies, or

21  the department. The agreement must specify the criteria to be

22  used to refer children to the program and must be approved by

23  the department.

24         (5)  The department shall evaluate the performance

25  measures and outcome data of the state-funded juvenile justice

26  prevention services submitted from the agencies or entities

27  under this section. This evaluation shall be the basis for an

28  annual report to the Legislature specifying the number and

29  types of juvenile justice prevention services operating in the

30  state and shall include an assessment of the services relative

31  to their focus areas, performance measures, and outcome data.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

    187-867A-00






  1  The department shall include in the report its findings

  2  concerning the impact of the identified focus areas, minimum

  3  performance measures, and minimum outcome data relative to the

  4  effectiveness of such services in preventing juvenile crime.

  5  The report may contain recommendations to modify either the

  6  program strategies established pursuant to subsection (2) or

  7  the outcome measures established pursuant to subsection (3).

  8  The report shall also identify any other matters that may be

  9  of critical importance to the prevention of juvenile crime.

10  The report shall be due by September 1 of each year. In

11  addition, the report shall recommend appropriate performance

12  standards for each strategy adopted pursuant to subsection (2)

13  and shall report the performance measures and standards as

14  part of its performance-based legislative program budget

15  request pursuant to s. 216.0235.

16         (6)  Any panel established to review juvenile justice

17  prevention projects for the Governor and Legislature shall

18  utilize the outcome measures and other accountability

19  standards provided in subsections (2)-(4) in determining

20  whether a program meets threshold criteria for approval by the

21  panel. In addition, any such panel may utilize outcome data of

22  ongoing programs to determine if they have actually met

23  expectations established as a condition for receiving state

24  funding and may take this information into account in

25  recommending whether programs meet threshold criteria to be

26  recommended to the Governor and Legislature.

27         (7)  This section does not apply to

28  children-in-need-of-services and families-in-need-of-services

29  programs.

30         Section 2.  Section 985.2155, Florida Statutes, is

31  created to read:

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

    187-867A-00






  1         985.2155  Daily subsistence fees.--In addition to the

  2  provisions of this chapter that require the imposition of

  3  maintenance fees, the department shall collect a daily

  4  subsistence fee of $2 for each day a child is in secure,

  5  nonsecure, or home detention care, commitment, or any other

  6  placement provided through the department pursuant to a court

  7  order. The department shall deduct the fee from any accounts

  8  established on behalf of the child prior to disbursing funds

  9  for any other purpose. If the child is unable to pay the daily

10  subsistence fee, the natural or adoptive parents of such

11  child, the natural father of such child born out of wedlock

12  who has acknowledged his paternity in writing before the court

13  or had paternity established by the court, or the guardian of

14  such child's estate, if possessed of assets which under law

15  may be disbursed for the care, support, and maintenance of the

16  child, shall be required to pay the daily subsistence fee. The

17  department shall make all reasonable efforts to collect the

18  daily subsistence fees and court-ordered maintenance fees,

19  including court action or reporting to a credit bureau. In

20  addition, the department may engage the assistance of a

21  collection agency registered and in good standing under

22  chapter 559 or the Department of Revenue in collecting

23  maintenance fees and daily subsistence fees required by this

24  chapter. The court shall take into account the $2 daily

25  subsistence fee required by this section in establishing the

26  maintenance fee required by this chapter so that the total

27  fees assessed do not exceed the actual cost of care.

28         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                HB 2149

    187-867A-00






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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  3
      Provides eligibility requirements for funding and
  4    accountability standards for juvenile justice prevention
      activities. Requires all entities that receive or use
  5    state appropriations through contracts or grants for
      prevention services to conform to certain established
  6    prevention strategies and to collect minimum outcome data
      relative to the performance measures. Provides
  7    requirements for state-funded private sector service
      providers. Requires the Department of Juvenile Justice to
  8    submit a report, present findings, and make
      recommendations to the Legislature. Requires any panel
  9    established to make recommendations to the Governor or
      Legislature to use such accountability standards. Exempts
10    children-in-need-of-services and
      families-in-need-of-services programs.
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12    Imposes daily subsistence fees for children in detention
      or commitment programs of the department. Allows the
13    department to engage the assistance of a private
      collection agency or the Department of Revenue in
14    collecting required maintenance and daily subsistence
      fees. Limits the total amount of the maintenance and
15    daily subsistence fees to the actual cost of care.

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      See bill for details.
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