Senate Bill sb1056

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    Florida Senate - 2001                                  SB 1056

    By Senator Dawson





    30-6A-01

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the care of children;

  3         amending s. 39.5085, F.S., relating to the

  4         Relative Caregiver Program; revising

  5         eligibility guidelines; amending s. 230.2305,

  6         F.S., relating to the prekindergarten early

  7         intervention program; revising the list of

  8         eligible children to include otherwise eligible

  9         children for whom the state is paying a

10         relative caregiver payment; amending s.

11         239.117, F.S., relating to workforce

12         development postsecondary student fees;

13         exempting from the payment of specified fees

14         otherwise eligible students for whom the state

15         is paying a relative caregiver payment;

16         revising eligibility requirements for such

17         students and for certain other students who are

18         eligible to receive this exemption; providing

19         an effective date.

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

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23         Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) and

24  paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 39.5085, Florida

25  Statutes, are amended to read:

26         39.5085  Relative Caregiver Program.--

27         (1)  It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting

28  this section to:

29         (c)  Recognize that permanency in the best interests of

30  the child can be achieved through a variety of permanency

31  options, including long-term relative custody, guardianship,

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    Florida Senate - 2001                                  SB 1056
    30-6A-01




  1  or adoption, by providing additional placement options and

  2  incentives that will achieve permanency and stability for many

  3  children who are otherwise at risk of foster care placement

  4  because of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, but who may

  5  successfully be able to be placed by the dependency court in

  6  the care of such relatives.

  7         (2)(a)  The Department of Children and Family Services

  8  shall establish and operate the Relative Caregiver Program

  9  pursuant to eligibility guidelines established in this section

10  as further implemented by rule of the department. The Relative

11  Caregiver Program shall, within the limits of available

12  funding, provide financial assistance to relatives who are

13  within the fifth degree by blood or marriage to the parent or

14  stepparent of a child and who are caring full-time for that

15  child or for a half-brother or half-sister of that child, in

16  the role of substitute parent as a result of a court's

17  determination that the child is at risk of placement in foster

18  care and a court order from any state court of competent

19  jurisdiction which places the child of child abuse, neglect,

20  or abandonment and subsequent placement with the relative

21  pursuant to this chapter. Such placement may be either

22  court-ordered temporary legal custody to the relative under

23  protective supervision of the department pursuant to s.

24  39.521(1)(b)3., or court-ordered placement in the home of a

25  relative as a permanency option pursuant to s. 39.622.  The

26  Relative Caregiver Program shall offer financial assistance to

27  caregivers who are relatives and who would be unable to serve

28  in that capacity without the relative caregiver payment

29  because of financial burden, thus exposing the child to the

30  trauma of placement in a shelter or in foster care or to the

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    Florida Senate - 2001                                  SB 1056
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  1  trauma of separation from his or her half-brothers or

  2  half-sisters.

  3         Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section

  4  230.2305, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         230.2305  Prekindergarten early intervention program.--

  6         (2)  ELIGIBILITY.--There is hereby created the

  7  prekindergarten early intervention program for children who

  8  are 3 and 4 years of age.  A prekindergarten early

  9  intervention program shall be administered by a district

10  school board and shall receive state funds pursuant to

11  subsection (6). Each public school district shall make

12  reasonable efforts to accommodate the needs of children for

13  extended day and extended year services without compromising

14  the quality of the 6-hour, 180-day program.  The school

15  district shall report on such efforts. School district

16  participation in the prekindergarten early intervention

17  program shall be at the discretion of each school district.

18         (a)  At least 75 percent of the children projected to

19  be served by the district program shall be economically

20  disadvantaged 4-year-old children of working parents,

21  including migrant children or children whose parents

22  participate in the welfare transition program. Other children

23  projected to be served by the district program may include any

24  of the following up to a maximum of 25 percent of the total

25  number of children served:

26         1.  Three-year-old and four-year-old children who are

27  referred to the school system who may not be economically

28  disadvantaged but who are abused, who are prenatally exposed

29  to alcohol or harmful drugs, who are or from foster homes, or

30  who are marginal in terms of Exceptional Student Education

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    Florida Senate - 2001                                  SB 1056
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  1  placement, or for whom the state is paying a relative

  2  caregiver payment under s. 39.5085.

  3         2.  Three-year-old children and four-year-old children

  4  who may not be economically disadvantaged but who are eligible

  5  students with disabilities and served in an exceptional

  6  student education program with required special services,

  7  aids, or equipment and who are reported for partial funding in

  8  the K-12 Florida Education Finance Program.  These students

  9  may be funded from prekindergarten early intervention program

10  funds the portion of the time not funded by the K-12 Florida

11  Education Finance Program for the actual instructional time or

12  one full-time equivalent student membership, whichever is the

13  lesser. These students with disabilities shall be counted

14  toward the 25-percent student limit based on full-time

15  equivalent student membership funded part-time by

16  prekindergarten early intervention program funds.  Also,

17  3-year-old or 4-year-old eligible students with disabilities

18  who are reported for funding in the K-12 Florida Education

19  Finance Program in an exceptional student education program as

20  provided in s. 236.081(1)(c) may be mainstreamed in the

21  prekindergarten early intervention program if such programming

22  is reflected in the student's individual educational plan; if

23  required special services, aids, or equipment are provided;

24  and if there is no operational cost to prekindergarten early

25  intervention program funds.  Exceptional education students

26  who are reported for maximum K-12 Florida Education Finance

27  Program funding and who are not reported for early

28  intervention funding shall not count against the 75-percent or

29  25-percent student limit as stated in this paragraph.

30         3.  Economically disadvantaged 3-year-old children.

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    Florida Senate - 2001                                  SB 1056
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  1         4.  Economically disadvantaged children, children with

  2  disabilities, and children at risk of future school failure,

  3  from birth to age four, who are served at home through home

  4  visitor programs and intensive parent education programs such

  5  as the Florida First Start Program.

  6         5.  Children who meet federal and state requirements

  7  for eligibility for the migrant preschool program but who do

  8  not meet the criteria of "economically disadvantaged" as

  9  defined in paragraph (b), who shall not pay a fee.

10         6.  After the groups listed in subparagraphs 1., 2.,

11  3., and 4. have been served, 3-year-old and 4-year-old

12  children who are not economically disadvantaged and for whom a

13  fee is paid for the children's participation.

14         Section 3.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section

15  239.117, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

16         239.117  Workforce development postsecondary student

17  fees.--

18         (4)  The following students are exempt from the payment

19  of registration, matriculation, and laboratory fees:

20         (c)  A student for whom the state is paying a foster

21  care board payment pursuant to s. 409.145(3) or pursuant to

22  parts II and III of chapter 39 or is paying a relative

23  caregiver payment under s. 39.5085, for whom the permanency

24  planning goal pursuant to part III of chapter 39 is for the

25  student to be in long-term foster care, in the permanent

26  custody of a foster parent or legal custodian, in long-term

27  placement with a relative, under guardianship, in the

28  permanent custody of a relative, or independent living

29  independently, or who is adopted from the Department of

30  Children and Family Services after May 5, 1997. Such an

31  exemption includes fees associated with enrollment in

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    Florida Senate - 2001                                  SB 1056
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  1  vocational-preparatory instruction and completion of the

  2  college-level communication and computation skills testing

  3  program. Such an exemption is shall be available to any

  4  student adopted from the Department of Children and Family

  5  Services after May 5, 1997; however, the exemption remains

  6  shall be valid for no more than 4 years after the date of

  7  graduation from high school.

  8         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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11                          SENATE SUMMARY

12    Revises eligibility guidelines for the Relative Caregiver
      Program. Provides that children for whom the state is
13    paying a relative caregiver payment are eligible for the
      prekindergarten early intervention program and for
14    exemption from paying postsecondary registration,
      matriculation, and laboratory fees, if the children are
15    otherwise eligible. Revises eligibility requirements for
      certain other students who are exempt under s. 239.117,
16    F.S., from paying such postsecondary fees.

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