HB 0439, Engrossed 1 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to guardians ad litem; providing
3	legislative intent; creating the Statewide Guardian Ad
4	Litem Office within the Justice Administrative Commission;
5	providing for the appointment of an executive director;
6	providing for duties; providing oversight responsibility
7	for local guardian ad litem and attorney ad litem
8	programs; providing for the transfer of the attorney ad
9	litem pilot program and the funds and positions associated
10	with the Guardian Ad Litem Program to the Statewide
11	Guardian Ad Litem Office; providing an effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1. Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office;
16	legislative findings and intent; creation; appointment of
17	executive director; duties of office.--
18	(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.--
19	(a) The Legislature finds that for the past 20 years, the
20	Guardian Ad Litem Program has been the only mechanism for best
21	interest representation for children in Florida who are involved
22	in dependency proceedings.
23	(b) The Legislature also finds that while the Guardian Ad
24	Litem Program has been supervised by court administration within
25	the circuit courts since the program's inception, there is a
26	perceived conflict of interest created by the supervision of
27	program staff by the judges before whom they appear.
28	(c) The Legislature further finds that the Governor’s
29	Blue Ribbon Task Force concluded that “if there is any program
30	that costs the least and benefits the most, this one is it,” and
31	that the guardian ad litem volunteer is an “indispensable
32	intermediary between the child and the court, between the child
33	and DCF.”
34	(d) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to
35	place the Guardian Ad Litem Program in an appropriate place and
36	provide a statewide infrastructure to increase functioning and
37	standardization among the local programs currently operating in
38	the 20 judicial circuits.
39	(2) STATEWIDE GUARDIAN AD LITEM OFFICE.--There is created
40	a Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office within the Justice
41	Administrative Commission. The Justice Administrative Commission
42	shall provide administrative support and service to the office
43	to the extent requested by the executive director within the
44	available resources of the commission. The Statewide Guardian Ad
45	Litem Office shall not be subject to control, supervision, or
46	direction by the Justice Administrative Commission in the
47	performance of its duties.
48	(a) The head of the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office is
49	the executive director, who shall be appointed by the Governor
50	from a list of a minimum of three eligible applicants submitted
51	by a Guardian Ad Litem Qualifications Committee. The Guardian Ad
52	Litem Qualifications Committee shall be composed of five
53	persons, two persons appointed by the Governor, two persons
54	appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and one
55	person appointed by the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Association.
56	The committee shall provide for statewide advertisement and the
57	receiving of applications for the position of executive
58	director. The Governor shall appoint an executive director from
59	among the recommendations, or the Governor may reject the
60	nominations and request the submission of new nominees. The
61	executive director must have knowledge in dependency law and
62	knowledge of social service delivery systems available to meet
63	the needs of children who are abused, neglected, or abandoned.
64	The executive director shall serve on a full-time basis and
65	shall personally, or through representatives of the office,
66	carry out the purposes and functions of the Statewide Guardian
67	Ad Litem Office in accordance with state and federal law. The
68	executive director shall report to the Governor. The executive
69	director shall serve a 3-year term, subject to removal for cause
70	by the Governor. Any person appointed to serve as the executive
71	director may be permitted to serve more than one term.
72	(b) The Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office shall, within
73	available resources, have oversight responsibilities for and
74	provide technical assistance to all guardian ad litem and
75	attorney ad litem programs located within the judicial circuits.
76	1. The office shall identify the resources required to
77	implement methods of collecting, reporting, and tracking
78	reliable and consistent case data.
79	2. The office shall review the current guardian ad litem
80	programs in Florida and other states.
81	3. The office, in consultation with local guardian ad
82	litem offices, shall develop statewide performance measures and
83	standards.
84	4. The office shall develop a guardian ad litem training
85	program. The office shall establish a curriculum committee to
86	develop the training program specified in this subparagraph. The
87	curriculum committee shall include, but not be limited to,
88	dependency judges, directors of circuit guardian ad litem
89	programs, active certified guardians ad litem, a mental health
90	professional who specializes in the treatment of children, a
91	member of a child advocacy group, a representative of the
92	Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and a social worker
93	experienced in working with victims and perpetrators of child
94	abuse.
95	5. The office shall review the various methods of funding
96	guardian ad litem programs, shall maximize the use of those
97	funding sources to the extent possible, and shall review the
98	kinds of services being provided by circuit guardian ad litem
99	programs.
100	6. The office shall continue the attorney ad litem
101	demonstration projects through at least October 1, 2004, and may
102	conduct or contract for other demonstration projects, within
103	funds appropriated or through gifts, grants, or contributions
104	for such purposes, to determine the feasibility or desirability
105	of new concepts of organization, administration, financing, or
106	service delivery designed to preserve the civil and
107	constitutional rights and fulfill other needs of dependent
108	children.
109	7. No later than October 1, 2004, the office shall submit
110	to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
111	House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme
112	Court an interim report describing the progress of the office in
113	meeting the goals as described in this section. No later than
114	October 1, 2004, the office shall submit to the Governor, the
115	President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
116	Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court a
117	proposed plan including alternatives for meeting the state's
118	guardian ad litem and attorney ad litem needs. This plan may
119	include recommendations for less than the entire state, may
120	include a phase-in system, and shall include estimates of the
121	cost of each of the alternatives. Each year thereafter, the
122	office shall provide a status report and provide further
123	recommendations to address the need for guardian ad litem
124	services and related issues.
125	Section 2. Transfer of existing programs.--
126	(1) The pilot program for attorneys ad litem for dependent
127	children established in s. 39.4086, Florida Statutes, shall be
128	transferred from the State Courts System to the Statewide
129	Guardian Ad Litem Office within the Justice Administrative
130	Commission. The Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office shall submit
131	the final report required by s. 39.4086(2)(h), Florida Statutes,
132	by October 1, 2004.
133	(2) All funds and positions associated with the Guardian
134	Ad Litem Program within the State Courts System are transferred
135	by a type two transfer, pursuant to s. 20.06(2), Florida
136	Statutes, to the Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Office within the
137	Justice Administrative Commission on January 1, 2004, except
138	that up to $35,000 and one full-time equivalent position shall
139	be transferred to the Justice Administrative Commission
140	effective October 1, 2004, to pay for the salary and expenses of
141	an executive director.
142	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.