HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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5 ORIGINAL STAMP BELOW
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11 Representative(s) Fiorentino, Harrell, and Melvin offered the
12 following:
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14 Amendment to Amendment (374349) (with title amendment)
15 On page 1, line 18 through page 7, line 23,
16 remove from the amendment: all of said lines
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18 and insert in lieu thereof:
19 Section 1. Section 240.5311, Florida Statutes, is
20 created to read:
21 240.5311 Learning Gateway Project.--
22 (1)(a) There is created the Learning Gateway Project
23 as a pilot program in Manatee, St. Lucie, and Orange Counties
24 to establish an integrated approach for health care providers,
25 educators, and parents to lessen the effects of learning
26 disabilities for young children through prevention, early
27 identification, early education, and appropriate intervention
28 at locations where parents and children routinely go,
29 including but not limited to doctors' offices, school
30 readiness program and child care centers, and schools.
31 Parental consent shall be required for all services provided
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 pursuant to the Learning Gateway Project, including initial
2 contact and further referral for evaluation and services.
3 (b) The Learning Gateway Project shall be guided by an
4 11-member steering committee comprised of a parent of a child
5 who has been diagnosed as having a learning disability, an
6 elementary school teacher with expertise in speech and
7 language, and nine top researchers or practitioners, one each
8 with expertise in the field of:
9 1. Developmental pediatrics.
10 2. Nutrition.
11 3. Children's vision.
12 4. Children's hearing.
13 5. Environmental health and allergies.
14 6. Family medicine.
15 7. Emerging literacy.
16 8. Learning disabilities.
17 9. Brain development.
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19 The Governor shall appoint the parent, the teacher, and the
20 members with expertise in developmental pediatrics, nutrition,
21 and children's vision. The President of the Senate shall
22 appoint the members with expertise in children's hearing,
23 learning disabilities, and brain development. The Speaker of
24 the House of Representatives shall appoint the members with
25 expertise in environmental health and allergies, family
26 medicine, and emerging literacy. The steering committee shall
27 serve in an advisory capacity to the Department of Education
28 and shall be consulted by the department prior to disbursal by
29 the department of amounts in excess of $100,000 for Learning
30 Gateway services. Members of the steering committee shall
31 serve without compensation but are entitled to receive per
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 diem and travel expenses incurred in the performance of their
2 duties.
3 (c) The steering committee shall work collaboratively
4 with all universities in the State University System to make
5 the Learning Gateway Project an innovative project based on
6 state-of-the-art research. Each university shall contribute
7 the time, research, and knowledge of its top faculty and
8 students in the relevant fields of expertise.
9 (2) The Learning Gateway Project shall operate under
10 the guidance of the steering committee and shall consist of
11 Learning Gateway Centers centrally located at convenient and
12 easily accessible sites in each of the pilot counties. The
13 project shall:
14 (a) Use the expertise, resources, faculty, and
15 students within the universities to contribute to the project.
16 As directed by the steering committee of the Learning Gateway
17 Project, the universities may use their students to design
18 brochures, perform research, collect data on community
19 resources and programs, and develop and maintain a website to
20 give parents and families, school readiness and child care
21 personnel, teachers, and health care practitioners throughout
22 each of the pilot counties information about early warning
23 signs of learning disabilities, as well as information about
24 Learning Gateway Centers and community-based programs.
25 (b) Work collaboratively with national, state, and
26 local agencies and public and private health and childhood
27 programs to develop a comprehensive list of medical and
28 nonmedical providers of learning disabilities services for
29 young children within each of the pilot counties.
30 (c) Identify the factors that interfere with or
31 inhibit normal development and learning. The Learning Gateway
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 Project shall bring together research that integrates the
2 disciplines relevant to the diagnosis, causes, treatment, and
3 intervention of early learning disabilities.
4 (d) Provide physicians, health care personnel, school
5 readiness and child care personnel, and school personnel
6 throughout each of the pilot counties with medical and
7 nonmedical intervention strategies that help identify such
8 factors as diet, noise, environmental contaminants, and
9 allergies which inhibit learning. Such information shall be
10 prepared so that it can be appropriately presented as part of
11 routine clinic sessions for immunization visits and visits
12 under the "Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
13 Infants, and Children" (WIC) under s. 383.011 and other
14 well-child appointments.
15 (e) Identify the elements of an effective
16 research-based curriculum for each learning disability.
17 (f) Develop a model system of care, through the
18 establishment of the county Learning Gateway Centers, that
19 builds upon, integrates, and identifies the gaps in existing
20 learning disabilities services for young children.
21 (g) Develop two brochures and a website to distribute
22 information throughout each of the pilot counties.
23 1. One brochure shall be designed to educate parents
24 and families about the importance of prenatal care and
25 nutrition and reading and communicating with the child, and
26 shall identify the early warning signs of disabilities that
27 may lead to learning disabilities and developmental delays.
28 This brochure shall be distributed to parents through all of
29 the pilot county's early childhood programs, including but not
30 limited to programs administered by the local school readiness
31 coalitions, county public health units, healthy start
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 coalitions, and workforce centers.
2 2. One brochure shall be developed to provide
3 physicians, parents, school readiness and child care
4 personnel, and teachers information on the Learning Gateway
5 Project and the Learning Gateway Centers, as well as all the
6 programs, facilities, resources, and services available within
7 each pilot county to address learning disabilities in young
8 children.
9 3. The website shall provide ready access for parents,
10 physicians and other health care personnel, school readiness
11 and child care personnel, and teachers to information
12 regarding the Learning Gateway Project and the Learning
13 Gateway Centers for the purpose of referral and information on
14 the learning disabilities addressed by the project. It shall
15 itemize the resources available for intervention, diagnosis,
16 and treatment, as well as county listings of available related
17 services and providers, indexed by learning disability,
18 throughout the pilot counties.
19 (3)(a) The Learning Gateway Centers shall develop a
20 network of all available services to address learning
21 disabilities in young children within each pilot county and
22 submit the list and description to the Learning Gateway
23 Project for inclusion in the website. The Learning Gateway
24 Centers shall use the list to refer parents to programs or
25 facilities appropriate to meet their child's needs. For the
26 purpose of serving areas of the pilot counties where no
27 services currently exist or where the private providers lack
28 the expertise to diagnose and provide strategies for improved
29 learning, each Learning Gateway Center may use Learning
30 Gateway Project funds to set up clinics to diagnose learning
31 disabilities. The Learning Gateway Centers may provide
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 services to parents, physicians, and other health care
2 providers where there is a gap in the service available from
3 public and private providers; may provide direct service to
4 children who do not receive coverage under state, federal, or
5 private insurance or may contract for specialty services; and
6 may provide for services to children whose parents are
7 dissatisfied with their present services.
8 (b) The Learning Gateway Center in each pilot county
9 shall provide a single point of access for learning
10 disablities screening, assessment, integration of services,
11 linkages of providers, referrals, and services for children
12 and their families. The Learning Gateway Centers shall provide
13 to parents and physicians a one-stop referral center for
14 accurate information on public and private professionals who
15 can assist in determining the physical, emotional,
16 nutritional, environmental, and mental factors that may be
17 interfering with learning and normal development.
18 (c) Staff of the Learning Gateway Centers must be
19 knowledgeable about child development, early identification of
20 learning disabilities, access to needed health care services
21 and health insurance coverage for such services, and state and
22 federal funds available for services in the local area. If
23 the following services are not provided by existing service
24 systems, upon the request of the parent the Learning Gateway
25 Centers shall:
26 1. Conduct appropriate screening or refer for such
27 services.
28 2. Make referrals for needed services and assist
29 families in the application process.
30 3. Provide educational and training classes for
31 parents and families, school readiness and child care
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 personnel, and teachers.
2 (d) The specific services and supports provided by the
3 Learning Gateway Centers may include:
4 1. Speech and language therapy.
5 2. Comprehensive medical screening and referral.
6 3. Multisensory strategies for learning.
7 4. Therapy for learning differences in reading and
8 math.
9 5. Referral for services pursuant to Part B or Part C
10 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
11 (e) The Learning Gateway Centers shall designate a
12 central information and referral access phone number for each
13 center, to improve access to local supports and services for
14 children and their families.
15 (f) Under the guidance of the steering committee, the
16 Learning Gateway Centers shall provide training and updates
17 concerning effective instructional and behavioral practices
18 and interventions based on advances in the field and shall
19 encourage practitioners in designing and implementing
20 research-based practices.
21 (4) By January 2003, the Learning Gateway Project
22 steering committee shall report to the Governor, the President
23 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
24 on the coordination of services; the number and types of
25 referrals made by the Learning Gateway Centers; the measurable
26 improvement in academic performance of children served by the
27 Learning Gateway Centers; and parental satisfaction regarding
28 the services provided pursuant to the Learning Gateway
29 Project.
30 (5) This project shall be implemented subject to the
31 General Appropriations Act. Funds for the project shall be
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 administered by the Department of Education and shall not be
2 used for facilities.
3 Section 2. By October 15, 2001, the Florida Department
4 of Education shall finalize all administrative rule revisions
5 necessary to properly implement the 1997 amendments to the
6 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
7 Section 3. By October 15, 2001, the Florida Department
8 of Education shall report to the Governor, the Speaker of the
9 House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate the
10 additional rule authority it needs, if any, to implement the
11 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
12 Section 4. Nothing in this act shall require or
13 authorize the imposition of additional paperwork for ESE
14 teachers.
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17 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
18 And the title is amended as follows:
19 On page 8, lines 4 through 9, of the amendment
20 remove: all of said lines
21
22 and insert in lieu thereof:
23 creating the Learning Gateway Project as a
24 3-county pilot program to address learning
25 disabilities; providing for administration of
26 the project by an 11-member steering committee
27 in collaboration with the state universities;
28 providing project functions; providing for
29 travel and per diem; providing for Learning
30 Gateway Centers in each pilot county
31
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