ENROLLED HB 0439, Engrossed 1 2003 Legislature
   
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.