HB 1515 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Future of Florida's Families recommends the
7	following:
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9	Committee Substitute
10	Remove the entire bill and insert:
11	A bill to be entitled
12	An act relating to children and families; providing
13	legislative findings and intent; creating the Commission
14	on Marriage and Family Support Initiatives within the
15	Department of Children and Family Services for
16	administrative purposes; providing for membership;
17	providing scope of activity; requiring the development of
18	certain documents; providing for coordination with other
19	organizations and entities; providing for funding of the
20	commission; repealing ss. 383.0112, 383.0113, and
21	383.0114, F.S., relating to the Commission on Responsible
22	Fatherhood and community-based programs to encourage
23	responsible fatherhood; providing an effective date.
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25	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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27	Section 1. The Commission on Marriage and Family Support
28	Initiatives.--
29	(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.--The Legislature
30	finds that:
31	(a) Families in this state deserve respect and support.
32	Children need support and guidance from both mothers and fathers
33	and families need support and guidance from community systems to
34	help them thrive.
35	(b) There are many problems facing families.
36	(c) Florida is a state rich in diversity, and its
37	population and families come from all over the world,
38	representing many cultures, languages, belief systems, and
39	experiences.
40	(d) While some relationships between mothers and fathers
41	are broken and beyond repair, others can be nurtured and
42	salvaged with the provision of appropriate community support to
43	fathers as well as mothers. For parents, this support may
44	include opportunities to obtain or increase educational levels
45	and employment skills, access to the justice system, support
46	from community agencies to help them become free of substance
47	abuse and violent relationships, and easy and affordable access
48	to relationship-skills education. For some unwed parents, it
49	will be possible and desirable to help them move towards
50	marriage; for others, the optimum goal may be to help them co-
51	parent, spend time with their child, and pay child support
52	regularly.
53	(e) Assisting states to end dependence of low-income
54	parents by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage and
55	assisting states in encouraging the formation and maintenance of
56	two-parent families are two of four stated purposes of federal
57	welfare reform enacted in 1996 which have been largely neglected
58	by states and for which states are now urging Congress to
59	designate 10 percent of all welfare funds, specifically for
60	relationship education and skills development, responsible
61	fatherhood programs, and community support as it seeks to
62	reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act in
63	2004.
64	(f) Public policy should not operate to force people to
65	get married, should not withdraw or diminish benefits to single
66	mothers merely because they are not married, and should not keep
67	people in abusive relationships.
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69	It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to build on the
70	accomplishments of the Commission on Responsible Fatherhood,
71	which has achieved recognition as a national model of a
72	comprehensive statewide strategy to address fatherhood issues;
73	to increase public awareness of the problems of families,
74	including failing marriages, violence, poverty, substance abuse,
75	and lack of access to community systems and support that
76	families need; and to continue to develop sound public policy
77	related to parenting, marriage, and the effects of poverty,
78	violence, and abuse on children and their families through the
79	work of the Commission on Marriage and Family Support
80	Initiatives. The Legislature further intends that, to the extent
81	practicable, the laws of this state should do all that is
82	possible to provide support for children and encourage, promote,
83	and value strong, safe, long-term marriages and family life that
84	includes grandparents, family members, community support, and
85	all that children need to grow up healthy and to thrive.
86	(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.--
87	(a) There is created within the Department of Children and
88	Family Services, for administrative purposes, a commission, as
89	defined in s. 20.03(10), Florida Statutes, called the Commission
90	on Marriage and Family Support Initiatives. The commission is
91	independent of the head of the department. The commission is
92	authorized to hire an executive director, a researcher, and an
93	administrative assistant. The executive director shall report
94	to, and serve at the pleasure of, the commission.
95	(b) The commission shall consist of 18 members. The
96	commission shall consist of members from the public sector and
97	the private sector, including community and faith-based
98	organizations, but at least 50 percent of the commissioners
99	shall be from the private sector. Commissioners should have
100	experience in one or more of the following areas: business,
101	workforce development, education, health care, treatment of
102	substance abuse, child development, and domestic violence
103	prevention. The Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
104	Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint six
105	members to the commission. Initial appointments shall be made by
106	August 1, 2003. For the initial appointments, the Governor, the
107	President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
108	Representatives shall consider making appointments from the
109	current members of the Commission on Responsible Fatherhood.
110	(c) Each commissioner shall serve a 2-year term, except
111	that for the initial appointments to the commission, the
112	Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
113	House of Representatives shall each appoint two members for
114	terms of 3 years each, two members for terms of 2 years each,
115	and two members for terms of 1 year each. A vacancy shall be
116	filled by appointment by the original appointing authority for
117	the unexpired portion of the term.
118	(d) The first meeting of the commission shall be no later
119	than October 1, 2003. Commissioners shall elect a chair at the
120	first meeting by a majority vote of the members present, a
121	quorum being present. A majority of the membership constitutes a
122	quorum.
123	(e) A quorum shall be required for the commission to meet
124	and to conduct business. The commission shall meet semiannually
125	and more frequently upon call of the chair. The commission may
126	conduct its meetings through teleconferences or other similar
127	means.
128	(f) Commissioners are not entitled to compensation for
129	their services as members, but may be reimbursed for per diem
130	and travel expenses as provided in s. 112.061, Florida Statutes.
131	(3) SCOPE OF ACTIVITY.--The commission shall:
132	(a) Develop the following documents by October 1, 2004,
133	and, upon their completion, submit a copy to the Governor, the
134	President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
135	Representatives, and the secretary of the department:
136	1. A report that details comprehensive statewide
137	strategies for Florida to promote safe, violence-free,
138	substance-abuse-free, respectful, nurturing, and responsible
139	parenting, including connection or reconnection of responsible
140	parents, both mothers and fathers, with their families and
141	children.
142	2. A report that makes recommendations on how to increase
143	the availability of and access to parenting and relationship
144	skills education and training, and to encourage and support the
145	formation and maintenance of two-parent families and family
146	structures that are best for the children. This shall include
147	providing a plan for delivering services and support to couples
148	and families to help them learn communication and conflict-
149	resolution skills prior to marriage, enable couples to refresh
150	those skills periodically during marriage, and, if the marriage
151	fails, provide divorce education, safety planning, and mediation
152	techniques that teach parents how to be safe and to work through
153	their problems and how to minimize the impact of the divorce on
154	their children.
155	3. A promising practices manual or tool that highlights
156	successful efforts at promoting marriage and Florida families
157	and family life.
158	(b) Develop a community awareness campaign to promote
159	community collaboration and coordinated grass roots programs
160	that show how people, advocates, and agencies can work together
161	to promote marriage in Florida families.
162	(c) Serve as a clearinghouse for collecting and
163	disseminating information related to research findings on
164	poverty, violence, and other social forces and their effects on
165	families and innovative approaches to the delivery of services
166	necessary for the formation and maintenance of strong families.
167	(d) By December 31 of each year, beginning December 31,
168	2003, issue an annual report to the Governor, the President of
169	the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
170	Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on progress it is making on
171	its responsibilities.
172	(4) COORDINATION.--The commission shall coordinate its
173	work with community-based organizations, including those that
174	are faith-based; with schools, courts, certified local domestic
175	violence centers, adult and juvenile criminal justice systems,
176	and agencies providing social welfare, welfare transition, and
177	child support services; and with any appropriate research and
178	policy development centers, including, but not limited to, those
179	within universities that focus on issues related to families,
180	fatherhood, motherhood, low-income families, marriages, children
181	and poverty, scientific methods to determine paternity for the
182	purpose of addressing support issues, parenting, and
183	relationship skills.
184	(5) FUNDING.--The operation of the Commission on Marriage
185	and Family Support Initiatives shall be funded from general
186	revenue funds currently allocated to the Commission on
187	Responsible Fatherhood, shall maintain the current connection
188	with the Ounce of Prevention Fund, and shall support and
189	continue any community-based programs established by the
190	Commission on Responsible Fatherhood. The Commission on Marriage
191	and Family Support Initiatives may seek and accept grants or
192	funds from any public source, federal, state, or local, to
193	supplement its operation and defray the expenses incurred in the
194	operation and implementation of this section.
195	(6) This section is repealed on June 30, 2008, unless
196	reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
197	Legislature.
198	Section 2. Sections 383.0112, 383.0113, and 383.0114,
199	Florida Statutes, are repealed.
200	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.
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