SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
.
.
1 WD/2R .
04/28/2003 05:34 PM .
2 .
.
3 .
.
4 ______________________________________________________________
5
6
7
8
9
10 ______________________________________________________________
11 Senators Campbell and Atwater moved the following amendment:
12
13 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
14 On page 7, line 9, delete that line
15
16 and insert:
17 Section 2. Effective October 1, 2003, subsections (1)
18 and (4) and paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (5) of
19 section 409.1451, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
20 409.1451 Independent living transition services.--
21 (1) SYSTEM OF SERVICES.--
22 (a) The Department of Children and Family Services or
23 its agents shall administer a system of independent living
24 transition services to enable older children in foster care
25 and young adults who exit foster care at age 18 to make the
26 transition to self-sufficiency as adults.
27 (b) The goals of independent living transition
28 services are to assist older children in foster care and young
29 adults who were formerly in foster care to obtain life skills
30 and education for independent living and employment, to have a
31 quality of life appropriate for their age, and to assume
1
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 personal responsibility for becoming self-sufficient adults.
2 (c) Each district of the Department of Children and
3 Family Services shall identify adolescent foster youth with
4 developmental disabilities or special mental health needs. The
5 department shall work with these foster youth to help them
6 make the transition to self-sufficiency and shall assist the
7 youth and young adults with reasonable accommodations for
8 their disabilities. The department shall assist the youth with
9 accessing support and funding from other sources, such as the
10 department's Developmental Disabilities Office and the
11 department's Mental Health Office. The department shall
12 coordinate the independent living plan for a youth with the
13 school's individual education plan for a child who is in a
14 special education program. The department shall give special
15 attention to 17-year-old foster children residing at
16 residential treatment facilities, therapeutic foster homes, or
17 other mental health placements who face a particularly
18 difficult transition to living as adults in the community.
19 (d)(c) State funds for foster care or federal funds
20 shall be used to establish a continuum of services for
21 eligible children in foster care and eligible young adults who
22 were formerly in foster care which accomplish the goals for
23 the independent living transition services and provide the
24 service components for services for foster children, as
25 provided in subsection (3), and services for young adults who
26 were formerly in foster care, as provided in subsection (5).
27 (e)(d) For children in foster care, independent living
28 transition services are not an alternative to adoption.
29 Independent living transition services may occur concurrently
30 with continued efforts to locate and achieve placement in
31 adoptive families for older children in foster care.
2
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 (4) PARTICIPATION IN LIFE SKILLS ACTIVITIES.--In order
2 to assist older children in foster care, ages 13 to 18 years
3 of age, and former foster youth with disabilities, ages 18 to
4 23 years, with the transition to independent living as adults,
5 the program must provide them with opportunities to
6 participate in and learn from life skills activities in their
7 foster families and communities which are reasonable and
8 appropriate for their age. Such activities may include, but
9 are not limited to, managing money earned from a job, taking
10 driver's education, and participating in after-school or
11 extracurricular activities. To support these opportunities for
12 participation in age-appropriate life skills activities, the
13 department may:
14 (a) Develop, with children in the program and their
15 foster parents, a list of age-appropriate activities and
16 responsibilities to be presented to all children involved in
17 independent living transition services and their foster
18 parents.
19 (b) Provide training for staff and foster parents
20 which addresses issues of older children in foster care and
21 the transition to adulthood, including supporting education
22 and employment and providing opportunities to participate in
23 appropriate daily activities.
24 (c) Develop procedures to maximize the authority of
25 foster parents to approve participation in age-appropriate
26 activities of children in their care.
27 (d) Provide opportunities for older children in foster
28 care to interact with mentors.
29 (e) Develop and implement procedures for older
30 children to directly access and manage the personal allowance
31 they receive from the department in order to learn
3
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 responsibility and participate in age-appropriate life skills
2 activities to the extent feasible.
3 (5) PROGRAM COMPONENT OF SERVICES FOR YOUNG ADULTS
4 FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE.--Based on the availability of funds,
5 the department shall provide or arrange for the following
6 services to young adults formerly in foster care who meet the
7 prescribed conditions and are determined eligible by the
8 department. The categories of services available to assist a
9 young adult formerly in foster care to achieve independence
10 are:
11 (b) Road-to-Independence Scholarship Program.--
12 1. The Road-to-Independence Scholarship Program is
13 intended to help eligible students who are former foster
14 children in this state to receive the educational and
15 vocational training needed to achieve independence. The amount
16 of the award shall equal the earnings that the student would
17 have been eligible to earn working a 40-hour-a-week federal
18 minimum wage job, after considering other grants and
19 scholarships that are in excess of the educational
20 institutions' fees and costs, and contingent upon available
21 funds. Students eligible for the Road-to-Independence
22 Scholarship Program may also be eligible for educational fee
23 waivers for workforce development postsecondary programs,
24 community colleges, and universities, pursuant to s.
25 1009.25(2)(c).
26 2. A young adult 18 to 23 21 years of age is eligible
27 for the initial award, and a young adult under 23 years of age
28 is eligible for renewal awards, if he or she:
29 a. Is a dependent child, pursuant to chapter 39, and
30 has lived is living in licensed foster care or in subsidized
31 independent living within 6 months at the time of his or her
4
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 18th birthday;
2 b. Has spent at least 6 months living in foster care
3 before reaching his or her 18th birthday;
4 c. Is a resident of this state as defined in s.
5 1009.40; and
6 d. Meets one of the following qualifications:
7 (I) Has earned a standard high school diploma or its
8 equivalent as described in s. 1003.425 or s. 1003.43, and has
9 been admitted for full-time enrollment in an eligible
10 postsecondary education institution as defined in s. 1009.533;
11 (II) Is enrolled full time in an accredited high
12 school, is within 2 years of graduation, and has maintained a
13 grade point average of at least 2.0 on a scale of 4.0 for the
14 two semesters preceding the date of his or her 18th birthday
15 or, in the case of a student in a special education program in
16 an accredited high school, has met the minimum grade point
17 average required by that program to graduate; or
18 (III) Is enrolled full time in an accredited adult
19 education program or high school equivalency diploma program
20 designed to provide the student with a high school diploma or
21 its equivalent, is making satisfactory progress in that
22 program as certified by the program, and is within 2 years of
23 attaining a high school diploma or its equivalent graduation.
24 3.a. The department must advertise the availability of
25 the program and must ensure that the children and young adults
26 leaving foster care, foster parents, or family services
27 counselors are informed of the availability of the program and
28 the application procedures.
29 b. A young adult must apply for the initial award
30 during the 6 months immediately preceding his or her 18th
31 birthday. A young adult who fails to make an initial
5
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 application, but who otherwise meets the criteria for an
2 initial award, may make one application for the initial award
3 if such application is made before the young adult's 21st
4 birthday.
5 c. If funding for the program is available, the
6 department shall issue awards from the scholarship program for
7 each young adult who meets all the requirements of the
8 program.
9 d. An award shall be issued at the time the eligible
10 student reaches 18 years of age.
11 e. If the award recipient transfers from one eligible
12 institution to another and continues to meet eligibility
13 requirements, the award must be transferred with the
14 recipient.
15 f. Scholarship funds awarded to any eligible young
16 adult under this program are in addition to any other services
17 provided to the young adult by the department through its
18 independent living transition services.
19 g. The department shall provide information concerning
20 young adults receiving the Road-to-Independence Scholarship to
21 the Department of Education for inclusion in the student
22 financial assistance database, as provided in s. 1009.94.
23 h. Scholarship funds shall be terminated when the
24 young adult has attained a bachelor of arts or bachelor of
25 science degree, or equivalent undergraduate degree, or reaches
26 23 years of age, whichever occurs earlier.
27 i. The department shall evaluate and renew each award
28 annually during the 90-day period before the young adult's
29 birthday. In order to be eligible for a renewal award for the
30 subsequent year, the young adult must:
31 (I) Complete at least 12 semester hours or the
6
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 equivalent in the last academic year in which the young adult
2 earned a scholarship, except for a young adult who meets the
3 requirements of s. 1009.41.
4 (II) Maintain the cumulative grade point average
5 required by the scholarship program, except that, if the young
6 adult's grades are insufficient to renew the scholarship at
7 any time during the eligibility period, the young adult may
8 restore eligibility by improving the grade point average to
9 the required level.
10 j. Scholarship funds may be terminated during the
11 interim between an award and the evaluation for a renewal
12 award if the department determines that the award recipient is
13 no longer enrolled in an educational institution as defined in
14 sub-subparagraph 2.d., or is no longer a state resident. The
15 department shall notify a student who is terminated and inform
16 the student of his or her right to appeal.
17 k. An award recipient who does not qualify for a
18 renewal award or who chooses not to renew the award may
19 subsequently apply for reinstatement. An application for
20 reinstatement must be made before the young adult reaches 23
21 years of age, and a student may not apply for reinstatement
22 more than once. In order to be eligible for reinstatement, the
23 young adult must meet the eligibility criteria and the
24 criteria for award renewal for the scholarship program.
25 4. A young adult who is eligible to receive a
26 Road-to-Independence Scholarship may, in lieu of the
27 scholarship award, request to receive independent living
28 services, including case management, in a foster home or
29 residential group care placement. The costs shall not exceed
30 the amount of the scholarship award.
31 l. A young adult receiving continued services of the
7
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 foster care program under former s. 409.145(3) must transfer
2 to the scholarship program by July 1, 2003.
3 (c) Transitional support services.--
4 1. In addition to any services provided through after
5 care support or the Road-to-Independence Scholarship, a young
6 adult formerly in foster care, may receive other appropriate
7 short-term services, which may include financial, housing,
8 counseling, employment, education and other services, if the
9 young adult demonstrates that the services are critical to the
10 young adult's own efforts to achieve self-sufficiency and to
11 develop a personal support system.
12 2. A young adult formerly in foster care is eligible
13 to apply for transitional support services if he or she is 18
14 to 23 years of age, was a dependent child pursuant to chapter
15 39, was living in licensed foster care or in subsidized
16 independent living within 6 months at the time of his or her
17 18th birthday, and had spent at least 6 months living in
18 foster care before that date.
19 3. If at any time the services are no longer critical
20 to the young adult's own efforts to achieve self-sufficiency
21 and to develop a personal support system, they shall be
22 terminated.
23 Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in
24 this act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2003.
25
26
27 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
28 And the title is amended as follows:
29 On page 1, lines 2 and 3, delete those lines
30
31 and insert:
8
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 2744
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 782686
1 An act relating to children's services;
2 amending s. 409.1451, F.S.; requiring each
3 district of the Department of Children and
4 Family Services to identify adolescent foster
5 children with developmental disabilities or
6 special mental health needs; requiring the
7 program to provide former foster youth having
8 disabilities with activities to learn life
9 skills; revising eligibility requirements for
10 participation in the Road-to-Independence
11 Scholarship Program and transitional support
12 services; providing for young adults to receive
13 independent living services in lieu of a
14 Road-to-Independence Scholarship; creating s.
15 39.0016, F.S.;
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
9
9:28 AM 04/28/03 s2744c1c-32e0a