House Bill hb1729er

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  2         An act relating to the Department of

  3         Corrections; transferring the Office for

  4         Certification and Monitoring of Batterers'

  5         Intervention Programs from the Department of

  6         Corrections to the Department of Children and

  7         Family Services; amending ss. 741.32 and

  8         741.325, F.S.; revising references to conform

  9         to the transfer of the office; amending s.

10         921.0024, F.S.; removing the Department of

11         Corrections' responsibility for preparing

12         sentencing scoresheets; renumbering and

13         amending s. 945.76, F.S.; transferring

14         authority for certain fee assessment and

15         collection from the Department of Corrections

16         to the Department of Children and Family

17         Services; providing an effective date.

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

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21         Section 1.  The Office for Certification and Monitoring

22  of Batterers' Intervention Programs within the Department of

23  Corrections is transferred by a type two transfer, as defined

24  in section 20.06(2), Florida Statutes, to the Department of

25  Children and Family Services. All powers, duties, and

26  functions, rules, records, personnel, property, and unexpended

27  balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds of the

28  Department of Corrections relating to the Office for

29  Certification and Monitoring of Batterers' Intervention

30  Programs are transferred by a type two transfer, as defined in

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    2001 Legislature                                       HB 1729



  1  section 20.06(2), Florida Statutes, to the Department of

  2  Children and Family Services.

  3         Section 2.  Subsection (2) of section 741.32, Florida

  4  Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         741.32  Certification of batterers' intervention

  6  programs.--

  7         (2)  There is hereby established in the Department of

  8  Children and Family Services Corrections an Office for

  9  Certification and Monitoring of Batterers' Intervention

10  Programs. The department may certify and monitor both programs

11  and personnel providing direct services to those persons who

12  are adjudged to have committed an act of domestic violence as

13  defined in s. 741.28, those against whom an injunction for

14  protection against domestic violence is entered, those

15  referred by the department of Children and Family Services,

16  and those who volunteer to attend such programs. The purpose

17  of certification of programs is to uniformly and

18  systematically standardize programs to hold those who

19  perpetrate acts of domestic violence responsible for those

20  acts and to ensure safety for victims of domestic violence.

21  The certification and monitoring shall be funded by user fees

22  as provided in s. 741.327 945.76.

23         Section 3.  Section 741.325, Florida Statutes, is

24  amended to read:

25         741.325  Guideline authority.--The Department of

26  Children and Family Services Corrections shall promulgate

27  guidelines to govern purpose, policies, standards of care,

28  appropriate intervention approaches, inappropriate

29  intervention approaches during the batterers' program

30  intervention phase (to include couples counseling and

31  mediation), conflicts of interest, assessment, program content


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  1  and specifics, qualifications of providers, and credentials

  2  for facilitators, supervisors, and trainees. The department

  3  shall, in addition, establish specific procedures governing

  4  all aspects of program operation, including administration,

  5  personnel, fiscal matters, victim and batterer records,

  6  education, evaluation, referral to treatment and other matters

  7  as needed. In addition, the rules shall establish:

  8         (1)  That the primary purpose of the programs shall be

  9  victim safety and the safety of the children, if present.

10         (2)  That the batterer shall be held accountable for

11  acts of domestic violence.

12         (3)  That the programs shall be at least 29 weeks in

13  length and shall include 24 weekly sessions, plus appropriate

14  intake, assessment, and orientation programming.

15         (4)  That the program be a psychoeducational model that

16  employs a program content based on tactics of power and

17  control by one person over another.

18         (5)  That the programs and those who are facilitators,

19  supervisors, and trainees be certified to provide these

20  programs through initial certification and that the programs

21  and personnel be annually monitored to ensure that they are

22  meeting specified standards.

23         (6)  The intent that the programs be user-fee funded

24  with fees from the batterers who attend the program as payment

25  for programs is important to the batterer taking

26  responsibility for the act of violence, and from those seeking

27  certification. Exception shall be made for those local, state,

28  or federal programs that fund batterers' intervention programs

29  in whole or in part.

30         (7)  Standards for rejection and suspension for failure

31  to meet certification standards.


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  1         (8)  That these standards shall apply only to programs

  2  that address the perpetration of violence between intimate

  3  partners, spouses, ex-spouses, or those who share a child in

  4  common or who are cohabitants in intimate relationships for

  5  the purpose of exercising power and control by one over the

  6  other. It will endanger victims if courts and other referral

  7  agencies refer family and household members who are not

  8  perpetrators of the type of domestic violence encompassed by

  9  these standards. Accordingly, the court and others who make

10  referrals should refer perpetrators only to programming that

11  appropriately addresses the violence committed.

12         Section 4.  Subsection (3) of section 921.0024, Florida

13  Statutes, is amended to read:

14         921.0024  Criminal Punishment Code; worksheet

15  computations; scoresheets.--

16         (3)  A single scoresheet shall be prepared for each

17  defendant to determine the permissible range for the sentence

18  that the court may impose, except that if the defendant is

19  before the court for sentencing for more than one felony and

20  the felonies were committed under more than one version or

21  revision of the guidelines or the code, separate scoresheets

22  must be prepared. The scoresheet or scoresheets must cover all

23  the defendant's offenses pending before the court for

24  sentencing. Either the office of The state attorney or the

25  Department of Corrections, or both where appropriate, shall

26  prepare the scoresheet or scoresheets, which must be presented

27  to the defense counsel for review for accuracy in all cases

28  unless the judge directs otherwise. The defendant's scoresheet

29  or scoresheets must be approved and signed by the sentencing

30  judge.

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  1         Section 5.  Section 945.76, Florida Statutes, is

  2  renumbered as section 741.327, Florida Statutes, and amended

  3  to read:

  4         741.327 945.76  Certification and monitoring of

  5  batterers' intervention programs; fees.--

  6         (1)  Pursuant to s. 741.32, the Department of Children

  7  and Family Services Corrections is authorized to assess and

  8  collect:

  9         (a)  An annual certification fee not to exceed $300 for

10  the certification and monitoring of batterers' intervention

11  programs.

12         (b)  An annual certification fee not to exceed $200 for

13  the certification and monitoring of assessment personnel

14  providing direct services to persons who:

15         1.  Are ordered by the court to participate in a

16  domestic violence prevention program;

17         2.  Are adjudged to have committed an act of domestic

18  violence as defined in s. 741.28;

19         3.  Have an injunction entered for protection against

20  domestic violence; or

21         4.  Agree to attend a program as part of a diversion or

22  pretrial intervention agreement by the offender with the state

23  attorney.

24         (2)  All persons required by the court to attend

25  domestic violence programs certified by the Department of

26  Children and Family Services' Corrections' Office for of

27  Certification and Monitoring of Batterers' Intervention

28  Programs shall pay an additional $30 fee for each 29-week

29  program to the Department of Children and Family Services

30  Corrections.

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  1         (3)  The fees assessed and collected under this section

  2  shall be deposited in the Executive Office of the Governor's

  3  Domestic Violence department's Operating Trust Fund

  4  established in s. 741.01 and directed to the Department of

  5  Children and Family Services to fund the cost of certifying

  6  and monitoring batterers' intervention programs.

  7         Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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