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 Substitute Amendment for Amendment (374349) (with title
15 amendment)
16 Remove from the bill: Everything after the enacting clause
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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 and parents to lessen the effects of learning disabilities for
26 young children through prevention, early identification, early
27 education, and appropriate intervention at locations where
28 parents and children routinely go, including but not limited
29 to doctors' offices, school readiness program and child care
30 centers, and schools. Parental consent shall be required for
31 all services provided pursuant to 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, including initial contact and further referral for
2 evaluation and services.
3 (b) The Learning Gateway Project shall be guided by a
4 9-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 seven 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.
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17 The Governor shall appoint the parent, the teacher, and the
18 member with expertise in developmental pediatrics. The
19 President of the Senate shall appoint the members with
20 expertise in nutrition, children's vision, and children's
21 hearing. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall
22 appoint the members with expertise in environmental health and
23 allergies, family medicine, and emerging literacy.
24 (c) The steering committee shall work collaboratively
25 with the University of South Florida, the University of
26 Central Florida, and Florida Atlantic University to make the
27 Learning Gateway Project an innovative project based on
28 state-of-the-art research. Each participating university shall
29 contribute the time, research, and knowledge of its top
30 faculty and students in the relevant fields of expertise.
31 (2) The Learning Gateway Project shall operate under
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 the guidance of the steering committee and shall consist of
2 Learning Gateway Centers centrally located at convenient and
3 easily accessible sites in each of the pilot counties. The
4 project shall:
5 (a) Use the expertise, resources, faculty, and
6 students within the participating universities to contribute
7 to the project. As directed by the steering committee of the
8 Learning Gateway Project, the participating universities may
9 use their students to design brochures, perform research,
10 collect data on community resources and programs, and develop
11 and maintain a website to give parents and families, school
12 readiness and child care personnel, teachers, and health care
13 practitioners throughout each of the pilot counties
14 information about early warning signs of learning
15 disabilities, as well as information about Learning Gateway
16 Centers and community-based programs.
17 (b) Work collaboratively with local agencies and
18 public and private health and childhood programs to develop a
19 comprehensive list of medical and nonmedical providers of
20 learning disabilities services for young children within each
21 of the pilot counties.
22 (c) Identify the factors that interfere with or
23 inhibit normal development and learning. The Learning Gateway
24 Project shall bring together research that integrates the
25 disciplines relevant to the diagnosis, causes, treatment, and
26 intervention of early learning disabilities.
27 (d) Provide physicians, health care personnel, school
28 readiness and child care personnel, and school personnel
29 throughout each of the pilot counties with medical and
30 nonmedical intervention strategies that help identify such
31 factors as diet, noise, environmental contaminants, and
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hek0003 01:11 pm 01018-0046-710983
HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 allergies which inhibit learning. Such information shall be
2 prepared so that it can be appropriately presented as part of
3 routine clinic sessions for immunization visits and visits
4 under the "Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
5 Infants, and Children" (WIC) under s. 383.011 and other
6 well-child appointments.
7 (e) Identify the elements of an effective
8 research-based curriculum for each learning disability.
9 (f) Develop a model system of care, through the
10 establishment of the county Learning Gateway Centers, that
11 builds upon, integrates, and identifies the gaps in existing
12 learning disabilities services for young children.
13 (g) Develop two brochures and a website to distribute
14 information throughout each of the pilot counties.
15 1. One brochure shall be designed to educate parents
16 and families about the importance of prenatal care and
17 nutrition and reading and communicating with the child, and
18 shall identify the early warning signs of disabilities that
19 may lead to learning disabilities and developmental delays.
20 This brochure shall be distributed to parents through all of
21 the pilot county's early childhood programs, including but not
22 limited to programs administered by the local school readiness
23 coalitions, county public health units, healthy start
24 coalitions, and workforce centers.
25 2. One brochure shall be developed to provide
26 physicians, parents, school readiness and child care
27 personnel, and teachers information on the Learning Gateway
28 Project and the Learning Gateway Centers, as well as all the
29 programs, facilities, resources, and services available within
30 each pilot county to address learning disabilities in young
31 children.
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hek0003 01:11 pm 01018-0046-710983
HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 3. The website shall provide ready access for parents,
2 physicians and other health care personnel, school readiness
3 and child care personnel, and teachers, throughout the pilot
4 counties, to information regarding the Learning Gateway
5 Project and the Learning Gateway Centers for the purpose of
6 referral and information on the learning disabilities
7 addressed by the project. It shall itemize the resources
8 available for intervention, diagnosis, and treatment, as well
9 as county listings of available related services and
10 providers, indexed by learning disability.
11 (3)(a) The Learning Gateway Centers shall develop a
12 network of all available services to address learning
13 disabilities in young children within each pilot county and
14 submit the list and description to the Learning Gateway
15 Project for inclusion in the website. The Learning Gateway
16 Centers shall use the list to refer parents to programs or
17 facilities appropriate to meet their child's needs. For the
18 purpose of serving areas of the pilot counties where no
19 services currently exist or where the private providers lack
20 the expertise to diagnose and provide strategies for improved
21 learning, each Learning Gateway Center may use Learning
22 Gateway Project funds to set up clinics to diagnose learning
23 disabilities. The Learning Gateway Centers may provide
24 services to parents, physicians, and other health care
25 providers where there is a gap in the service available from
26 public and private providers; may provide direct service to
27 children who do not receive coverage under state, federal, or
28 private insurance or may contract for specialty services; and
29 may provide for services to children whose parents are
30 dissatisfied with their present services.
31 (b) The Learning Gateway Center in each pilot county
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 shall provide a single point of access for learning
2 disablities screening, assessment, integration of services,
3 linkages of providers, referrals, and services for children
4 and their families. The Learning Gateway Centers shall provide
5 to parents and physicians a one-stop referral center for
6 accurate information on public and private professionals who
7 can assist in determining the physical, emotional,
8 nutritional, environmental, and mental factors that may be
9 interfering with learning and normal development.
10 (c) Staff of the Learning Gateway Centers must be
11 knowledgeable about child development, early identification of
12 learning disabilities, access to needed health care services
13 and health insurance coverage for such services, and state and
14 federal funds available for services in the local area. If
15 the following services are not provided by existing service
16 systems, upon the request of the parent the Learning Gateway
17 Centers shall:
18 1. Conduct appropriate screening or refer for such
19 services.
20 2. Make referrals for needed services and assist
21 families in the application process.
22 3. Provide educational and training classes for
23 parents and families, school readiness and child care
24 personnel, and teachers.
25 (d) The specific services and supports provided by the
26 Learning Gateway Centers may include:
27 1. Speech and language therapy.
28 2. Comprehensive medical screening and referral.
29 3. Multisensory strategies for learning.
30 4. Therapy for learning differences in reading and
31 math.
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 5. Referral for services pursuant to Part B or Part C
2 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
3 (e) The Learning Gateway Centers shall designate a
4 central information and referral access phone number for each
5 center, to improve access to local supports and services for
6 children and their families.
7 (f) Under the guidance of the steering committee, the
8 Learning Gateway Centers shall provide training and updates
9 concerning effective instructional and behavioral practices
10 and interventions based on advances in the field and shall
11 encourage practitioners in designing and implementing
12 research-based practices.
13 (4) By January 2003, the Learning Gateway Project
14 steering committee shall report to the Governor, the President
15 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
16 on the coordination of services; the number and types of
17 referrals made by the Learning Gateway Centers; the measurable
18 improvement in academic performance of children served by the
19 Learning Gateway Centers; and parental satisfaction regarding
20 the services provided pursuant to the Learning Gateway
21 Project.
22 (5) This project shall be implemented subject to the
23 General Appropriations Act. Funds for the project shall be
24 administered by the Department of Education.
25 Section 2. By October 15, 2001, the Florida Department
26 of Education shall finalize all administrative rule revisions
27 necessary to properly implement the 1997 amendments to the
28 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
29 Section 3. By October 15, 2001, the Florida Department
30 of Education shall report to the Governor, the Speaker of the
31 House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate the
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hek0003 01:11 pm 01018-0046-710983
HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 additional rule authority it needs, if any, to implement the
2 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
3 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.
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7 And the title is amended as follows:
8 On page 1, line 2
9 remove the entire title from the bill
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11 and insert in lieu thereof:
12 An act relating to learning disabilities in
13 young children; creating s. 240.5311, F.S.;
14 creating a 3-county pilot Learning Gateway
15 Project to address learning disabilities in
16 young children; providing for administration of
17 the project; providing project functions;
18 providing for Learning Gateway Centers and
19 specifying services of the centers; requiring a
20 report; requiring an appropriation; requiring
21 the Department of Education to finalize all
22 rules by a date certain to implement the
23 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;
24 requiring the Department of Education to report
25 by a specific date on needed rule authority to
26 implement the Individuals with Disabilities
27 Education Act; providing an effective date.
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File original & 9 copies 04/30/01
hek0003 01:11 pm 01018-0046-710983