Senate Bill 2292
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2292
By Senator Burt
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to children in need of
3 services; amending s. 984.225, F.S., relating
4 to powers of disposition; amending the
5 requirements for placing a child in a
6 staff-secure shelter; amending s. 984.226,
7 F.S.; amending the judicial circuits included
8 in a physically-secure-shelter pilot project;
9 providing for waiver of the right to counsel in
10 prescribed circumstances; amending the criteria
11 for placement of a child in a physically secure
12 shelter; providing time limits for placement in
13 a physically secure shelter; providing for
14 judicial review of the status of a child who is
15 placed in a physically secure shelter;
16 providing for referral of a child to the
17 Department of Children and Family Services for
18 dependency or mental health services; directing
19 the Juvenile Justice Accountability Board to
20 submit an implementation report and an
21 evaluation report to the Legislature; requiring
22 the Department of Juvenile Justice to submit
23 proposed legislation and an implementation
24 report; providing an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Subsections (2), (5), and (6) of section
29 984.225, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
30 984.225 Powers of disposition; placement in a
31 staff-secure shelter.--
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2292
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1 (2) The court shall order the parent, guardian, or
2 legal custodian to cooperate with efforts to reunite the child
3 with the family, participate in counseling, and pay all costs
4 associated with the care and counseling provided to the child
5 and family, in accordance with the family's ability to pay as
6 determined by the court. Placement Commitment of a child in a
7 staff-secure shelter under this section is designed to provide
8 residential care on a temporary basis. Such placement
9 commitment does not abrogate the legal responsibilities of the
10 parent, guardian, or legal custodian with respect to the
11 child, except to the extent that those responsibilities are
12 temporarily altered by court order.
13 (5) The department is deemed to have exhausted the
14 reasonable remedies offered under this chapter if, at the end
15 of the placement in a staff-secure shelter commitment period,
16 the parent, guardian, or legal custodian continues to refuse
17 to allow the child to remain at home or creates unreasonable
18 conditions for the child's return. If, at the end of the
19 placement in a staff-secure shelter commitment period, the
20 child is not reunited with his or her parent, guardian, or
21 custodian due solely to the continued refusal of the parent,
22 guardian, or custodian to provide food, clothing, shelter, and
23 parental support, the child is considered to be threatened
24 with harm as a result of such acts or omissions, and the court
25 shall direct that the child be handled in every respect as a
26 dependent child. Jurisdiction shall be transferred to the
27 Department of Children and Family Services and the child's
28 care shall be governed under parts II and III of chapter 39.
29 (6) The court shall review the child's placement in a
30 staff-secure shelter commitment once every 45 days as provided
31 in s. 984.20. The court shall determine if the parent,
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2292
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1 guardian, or custodian has reasonably participated in and
2 financially contributed to the child's counseling and
3 treatment program. The court shall also determine whether the
4 department's efforts to reunite the family have been
5 reasonable. If the court finds an inadequate level of support
6 or participation by the parent, guardian, or custodian prior
7 to the end of the placement commitment period, the court shall
8 direct that the child be handled in every respect as a
9 dependent child. Jurisdiction shall be transferred to the
10 Department of Children and Family Services and the child's
11 care shall be governed under parts II and III of chapter 39.
12 Section 2. Section 984.226, Florida Statutes, is
13 amended to read:
14 984.226 Pilot program for a physically secure
15 facility; contempt of court.--
16 (1) Subject to specific legislative appropriation, the
17 Department of Juvenile Justice shall establish a pilot program
18 to serve the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and
19 Eighteenth Judicial Circuits within a single judicial circuit
20 for the purpose of operating one or more physically secure
21 facilities designated exclusively for the placement of
22 children in need of services who meet the criteria provided in
23 this section and are found in direct contempt or indirect
24 contempt of a valid court order.
25 (2) When If any party files a petition is filed in the
26 Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, or Eighteenth Judicial
27 Circuit alleging that a child is a child in need of services
28 within such judicial circuit, the child must be represented by
29 counsel at each court appearance unless the record in that
30 proceeding affirmatively demonstrates by clear and convincing
31 evidence that the child knowingly and intelligently waived the
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1 right to counsel after being fully advised by the court of the
2 nature of the proceedings and the dispositional alternatives
3 available to the court under this section. If the court
4 decides to appoint counsel for the child and if the child is
5 indigent, the court shall appoint an attorney to represent the
6 child as provided under s. 985.203. Nothing precludes the
7 court from requesting reimbursement of attorney's fees and
8 costs from the nonindigent parent or legal guardian.
9 (3)(2) When If a child is adjudicated as a child in
10 need of services by a court in any of the judicial circuits
11 specified in this section, the court may order the child to be
12 placed in a pilot physically secure facility authorized in
13 this section if is held in direct contempt or indirect
14 contempt of a valid court order, as an alternative to placing
15 the child in a staff-secure facility as provided under s.
16 984.225 or s. 985.216, the court may order that the child be
17 placed within the circuit in a physically secure facility
18 operated under the pilot program. A child may be committed to
19 the facility only if the department, or an authorized
20 representative of the department, verifies to the court that a
21 bed is available for the child at the physically secure
22 facility and the child has:
23 (a) Failed to appear for placement in a staff-secure
24 shelter under s. 984.225, or failed to comply with any other
25 provision of a valid court order relating to such placement
26 and, as a result of such failure, has been found to be in
27 direct or indirect contempt of court; or
28 (b)(a) Run away from a staff-secure shelter following
29 placement under s. 984.225 or s. 984.09. s. 985.216; or
30 (b) Committed at least two prior acts of direct or
31 indirect contempt.
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2 The department or an authorized representative of the
3 department must verify to the court that a bed is available
4 for the child. If a bed is not available, the court shall stay
5 the placement until a bed is available, and the department
6 must place the child's name on a waiting list. The child who
7 has been on the waiting list the longest has first priority
8 for placement in the physically secure shelter.
9 (4)(3) A child may be placed in a physically secure
10 facility for up to 90 5 days for the first commitment and up
11 to 15 days for a second or subsequent commitment. If a child
12 has not been reunited with his or her parent, guardian, or
13 legal custodian at the expiration of the placement in a
14 physically secure shelter, the court may order that the child
15 remain in the physically secure shelter for an additional 30
16 days if the court finds that reunification could be achieved
17 within that period.
18 (5)(a) The court shall review the child's placement
19 once every 45 days as provided in s. 984.20.
20 (b) At any time during the placement of a child in
21 need of services in a physically secure shelter, the
22 department or an authorized representative of the department
23 may submit to the court a report that recommends:
24 1. That the child has received all of the services
25 available from the program and is ready for reunification with
26 a parent or guardian; or
27 2. That the child is unlikely to benefit from
28 continued placement in the physically secure shelter and is
29 more likely to have his or her needs met in a different type
30 of placement.
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1 (c) The court shall determine if the parent, guardian,
2 or custodian has reasonably participated in and has
3 financially contributed to the child's counseling and
4 treatment program.
5 (d) The court shall also determine whether the
6 department's efforts to reunite the family have been
7 reasonable. If the court finds an inadequate level of support
8 or participation by the parent, guardian, or custodian before
9 the end of the placement, the court shall direct that the
10 child be handled as a dependent child, jurisdiction shall be
11 transferred to the Department of Children and Family Services,
12 and the child's care shall be governed by chapter 39.
13 (e) If the child requires residential mental health
14 treatment or residential care for a developmental disability,
15 the court shall refer the child to the Department of Children
16 and Family Services for the provision of necessary services.
17 (6)(4) Prior to being ordered committed to a
18 physically secure facility, the child must be afforded all
19 rights of due process required under s. 985.216. While in the
20 physically secure facility, the child shall receive
21 appropriate assessment, treatment, and educational services
22 that are designed to eliminate or reduce the child's truant,
23 ungovernable, or runaway behavior. The child and family shall
24 be provided with family counseling and other support services
25 necessary for reunification.
26 (7)(5) The court shall order the parent, guardian, or
27 legal custodian to cooperate with efforts to reunite the child
28 with the family, participate in counseling, and pay all costs
29 associated with the care and counseling provided to the child
30 and family, in accordance with the family's ability to pay as
31 determined by the court. Placement Commitment of a child under
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1 this section is designed to provide residential care on a
2 temporary basis. Such placement commitment does not abrogate
3 the legal responsibilities of the parent, guardian, or legal
4 custodian with respect to the child, except to the extent that
5 those responsibilities are temporarily altered by court order.
6 (8)(6) The Juvenile Justice Accountability Board shall
7 monitor the operation of the pilot program and issue a
8 preliminary evaluation report to the President of the Senate
9 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by July 1,
10 2000, and a report that evaluates the effectiveness of the
11 pilot physically secure shelter in reuniting the children
12 served with their parent or guardian and avoiding subsequent
13 out-of-home placements shall be submitted to the Legislature
14 by January 15, 2001 Legislature by December 1, 1998. The
15 Department of Juvenile Justice and the Juvenile Justice
16 Accountability Board shall recommend issue a joint final
17 report to the Legislature, including any proposed legislation
18 concerning the pilot project by January 15, 2001, by December
19 1, 1999.
20 Section 3. The Department of Juvenile Justice shall
21 submit to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
22 House of Representatives, and the Juvenile Justice
23 Accountability Board, within 45 days after this act becomes a
24 law or by August 1, 2000, whichever is earlier, a report that
25 describes departmental efforts to implement the pilot project
26 authorized in this act. The report must include the following
27 data for each judicial circuit included in the pilot project:
28 (1) The number of youths who have been adjudicated as
29 children in need of services since July 1, 1999;
30 (2) The number of available staff-secure shelter beds;
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1 (3) The number of youths who have been placed in
2 staff-secure shelter beds since July 1, 1999, and the average
3 length of stay;
4 (4) The number of physically secure shelter beds
5 available;
6 (5) The number of youths who have been placed in
7 physically secure shelter beds since July 1, 1999, and the
8 average length of stay;
9 (6) The efforts that the department has made, in
10 cooperation with the chief judge, the court administrator, the
11 local bar associations, and other individuals or groups within
12 each judicial circuit, to ensure the appointment of counsel in
13 child-in-need-of-services cases as appropriate under this act;
14 and
15 (7) The efforts that the department has made to
16 educate the public concerning the availability of and access
17 to services to meet the needs of families who have children
18 who are runaways, truants, or ungovernable.
19 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
20 law.
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23 SENATE SUMMARY
24 Specifies additional judicial circuits that are included
in a pilot project to provide physically secure shelters
25 for children in need of services. Provides that the child
may waive his or her right to counsel in specified
26 circumstances. Amends the criteria for placing a child in
a physically secure shelter. Provides time limits for
27 placement in a physically secure shelter. Provides for
judicial review of the status of a child who is placed in
28 a physically secure shelter. Provides for referring a
child to the Department of Children and Family Services
29 for dependency or mental health services. Directs the
Juvenile Justice Accountability Board to submit a report
30 to the Legislature. Requires the Department of Juvenile
Justice to submit proposed legislation and a report.
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