Senate Bill sb1974c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 1974
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Campbell
308-2387-03
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to guardian ad litem services;
3 providing legislative findings and intent;
4 creating the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office
5 within the Justice Administrative Commission;
6 providing for the appointment of an executive
7 director; providing for the duties of the
8 executive director; providing responsibilities
9 of the office; providing for the continuation
10 of the attorney ad litem program; requiring the
11 office to submit to the Governor, legislative
12 leaders, and the Chief Justice of the Florida
13 Supreme Court an annual report and a plan for
14 meeting the guardian ad litem needs of the
15 state; transferring a pilot program for
16 attorneys ad litem for dependent children to
17 the office; transferring funds and positions to
18 the office; providing an effective date.
19
20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22 Section 1. Creation of the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem
23 Office; legislative findings and intent; appointment of an
24 executive director; duties of the office; transfer of existing
25 programs.--
26 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.--
27 (a) The Legislature finds that for the past 20 years
28 the guardian ad litem program has been the only mechanism for
29 representing the best interests of children in this state who
30 are involved in dependency proceedings.
31
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 1974
308-2387-03
1 (b) The Legislature also finds that, while the
2 guardian ad litem program has been supervised by the Office of
3 the State Courts Administrator since the inception of the
4 program, there is a perceived conflict of interest created by
5 the supervision of program staff by the judges before whom
6 they appear.
7 (c) The Legislature further finds that the guardian ad
8 litem program has not been identified as a core element of the
9 judicial branch and is therefore scheduled to be moved out of
10 the branch in 2004 as a result of a revision to Article V of
11 the State Constitution. It is, therefore, the intent of the
12 Legislature to assign the guardian ad litem program to an
13 appropriate agency and to provide a statewide infrastructure
14 to improve functioning and increase standardization among the
15 local programs currently operating in the 20 judicial
16 circuits.
17 (2) STATEWIDE GUARDIAN AD LITEM OFFICE.--There is
18 created a Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office within the
19 Justice Administrative Commission. The Justice Administrative
20 Commission shall, within the available resources of the
21 commission, provide administrative support and services to the
22 office to the extent requested by the executive director of
23 the office. The Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office is not
24 subject to control, supervision, or direction by the Justice
25 Administrative Commission in the performance of its duties.
26 (a) The head of the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office
27 is the executive director, who shall be appointed by the
28 Governor in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Florida
29 Supreme Court. The executive director must have knowledge of
30 dependency law and knowledge of social service delivery
31 systems available to meet the needs of children who have been
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 1974
308-2387-03
1 adjudicated dependent. The executive director shall serve full
2 time and shall personally or through representatives of the
3 office carry out the purposes and functions of the Statewide
4 Guardian Ad Litem Office in accordance with state and federal
5 law. The executive director shall serve at the pleasure of the
6 Governor and shall report to the Governor.
7 (b) The Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office shall,
8 within available resources, have oversight responsibilities
9 for and provide technical assistance to all guardian ad litem
10 and existing attorney ad litem programs located within the
11 judicial circuits.
12 1. The office shall review the current guardian ad
13 litem programs in this state and in other states.
14 2. The office, in consultation with local guardian ad
15 litem offices, shall develop statewide performance measures
16 and standards.
17 3. The office shall develop a guardian ad litem
18 training program. The office shall establish a curriculum
19 committee to develop the training program, which committee
20 shall include, but is not limited to, dependency judges,
21 directors of circuit guardian ad litem programs, active
22 certified guardians ad litem, a mental health professional who
23 specializes in the treatment of children, a member of a child
24 advocacy group, a representative of the Florida Coalition
25 Against Domestic Violence, and a social worker who is
26 experienced in working with victims and perpetrators of child
27 abuse.
28 4. The office shall review the various methods of
29 funding guardian ad litem programs, shall maximize the use of
30 those funding sources as much as possible, and shall review
31
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 1974
308-2387-03
1 the kinds of services that are being provided by circuit
2 guardian ad litem programs.
3 5. The office shall continue the attorney ad litem
4 projects and may conduct or contract for other demonstration
5 projects, within the funds that have been appropriated or
6 through gifts, grants, or contributions for such purposes, to
7 determine the feasibility or desirability of new concepts of
8 organization, administration, financing, or service delivery
9 designed to preserve the civil and constitutional rights and
10 to fulfill other needs of dependent children.
11 6. By October 1, 2004, the office shall submit to the
12 Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
13 House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme
14 Court an interim report that describes the progress of the
15 office in meeting the goals described in this section. By
16 October 1, 2004, the office shall also submit to the Governor,
17 the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
18 Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court a
19 proposed plan that includes alternatives for meeting the
20 guardian ad litem and attorney ad litem needs in this state.
21 This plan may include recommendations covering less than the
22 entire state, may include a phase-in system, and must include
23 estimates of the cost of each of the alternatives. Each year
24 thereafter, the office shall submit a status report and
25 provide further recommendations to address the need for
26 guardian ad litem services and related issues.
27 Section 2. The pilot program for attorneys ad litem
28 for dependent children, established under section 39.4086,
29 Florida Statutes, is transferred from the Office of the State
30 Courts Administrator to the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office
31 within the Justice Administrative Commission.
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 1974
308-2387-03
1 Section 3. All funds and positions associated with the
2 guardian ad litem program in the Office of the State Courts
3 Administrator are transferred by a type II transfer to the
4 Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office within the Justice
5 Administrative Commission.
6 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.
7
8 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
9 Senate Bill 1974
10
11 Provides expressly for the continuation of attorney ad litem
projects even as the oversight of such programs is transferred
12 from the judicial branch to the newly created Statewide
Guardian Ad Litem Office.
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.