Senate Bill sb0480c1

    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480

    By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Productivity;
    and Senator Lynn




    302-1942-03

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to children and families;

  3         providing legislative findings and intent;

  4         creating the Commission on Marriage and Family

  5         Support Initiatives within the Department of

  6         Children and Family Services; providing for

  7         membership; providing scope of activity;

  8         providing for coordination with other

  9         organizations and entities; providing for

10         funding of the commission; repealing ss.

11         383.0112, 383.0113, and 383.0114, F.S.,

12         relating to the Commission on Responsible

13         Fatherhood and community-based programs to

14         encourage responsible fatherhood; providing an

15         effective date.

16  

17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

18  

19         Section 1.  The Commission on Marriage and Family

20  Support Initiatives.--

21         (1)  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.--The Legislature

22  finds that:

23         (a)  Families in this state deserve respect and

24  support. Children need support and guidance from both mothers

25  and fathers, and families need support and guidance from

26  community systems to help them thrive.

27         (b)  There are many problems facing families.

28         (c)  Florida is a state rich in diversity, and its

29  population and families come from all over the world,

30  representing many cultures, languages, belief systems, and

31  experiences.

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    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480
    302-1942-03




 1         (d)  While some relationships between mothers and

 2  fathers are broken and beyond repair, others can be nurtured

 3  and salvaged with the provision of appropriate community

 4  supports to fathers as well as mothers. For parents, these

 5  supports may include opportunities to obtain or increase

 6  educational levels and employment skills, access to the

 7  justice system, support from community agencies to help them

 8  become free of substance abuse and violent relationships, and

 9  easy and affordable access to relationship-skills education.

10  For some unwed parents, it will be possible and desirable to

11  help them move towards marriage; for others, the optimum goal

12  may be to help them co-parent, spend time with their child,

13  and pay child support regularly.

14         (e)  Assisting states to end dependence of low-income

15  parents by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage and

16  assisting states in encouraging the formation and maintenance

17  of two-parent families are the two of four stated purposes of

18  federal welfare reform enacted in 1996 which have been largely

19  neglected by states and for which states are now urging

20  Congress to designate 10 percent of all welfare funds,

21  specifically for relationship education and skills

22  development, responsible fatherhood programs, and community

23  support as it seeks to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance

24  for Needy Families Act in 2002.

25         (f)  Public policy should not operate to force people

26  to get married, should not withdraw or diminish benefits to

27  single mothers merely because they are not married, and should

28  not keep people in abusive relationships.

29  

30  It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to build on the

31  accomplishments of the Commission on Responsible Fatherhood,

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    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480
    302-1942-03




 1  which has achieved recognition as a national model of a

 2  comprehensive statewide strategy to address fatherhood issues;

 3  to increase public awareness of the problems of families,

 4  including failing marriages, violence, poverty, substance

 5  abuse, lack of access to community systems and supports that

 6  families need; and to continue to develop sound public policy

 7  related to parenting, marriage, and the effects of poverty,

 8  violence, and abuse on children and their families through the

 9  work of the Commission on Marriage and Family Support

10  Initiatives. The Legislature further intends that, to the

11  extent practicable, the laws of this state should do all that

12  is possible to provide support for children and encourage,

13  promote, and value strong, safe, long-term marriages and

14  family life that includes grandparents, family members,

15  community support, and all that children need to grow up

16  healthy and to thrive.

17         (2)  ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.--

18         (a)  There is created within the Department of Children

19  and Family Services, for administrative purposes, a

20  commission, as defined in section 20.03(10), Florida Statutes,

21  called the Commission on Marriage and Family Support

22  Initiatives. The commission is independent of the head of the

23  department. The commission is authorized to hire an executive

24  director, a researcher, and an administrative assistant. The

25  executive director shall report to, and serve at the pleasure

26  of, the commission.

27         (b)  The commission shall consist of 18 members. The

28  commission shall consist of members from the public sector and

29  the private sector, including community and faith-based

30  organizations, but at least 50 percent of the commissioners

31  shall be from the private sector. Commissioners should have

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    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480
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 1  experience in one or more of the following areas: business;

 2  workforce development; education; health care; treatment of

 3  substance abuse; child development; and domestic violence

 4  prevention. For the initial appointments, the Governor, the

 5  President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of

 6  Representative shall consider making appointments from the

 7  current members of the Commission on Responsible Fatherhood.

 8         (c)  The Governor, the President of the Senate, and the

 9  Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint six

10  members to the commission. Initial appointments shall be made

11  by August 1, 2003. Each commissioner shall serve a 2-year

12  term, except that for the initial appointments to the

13  commission, the Governor, the President of the Senate and the

14  Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint two

15  members for a term of 3 years, two members for a term of 2

16  years, and two members for a term of 1 year. A vacancy shall

17  be filled by appointment by the original appointing authority

18  for the unexpired portion of the term.

19         (d)  The first meeting of the commission shall be no

20  later than October 1, 2003. Commissioners shall elect a chair

21  at the first meeting by a majority vote of the members

22  present, a quorum being present. A majority of the membership

23  constitutes a quorum.

24         (e)  A quorum shall be required for the commission to

25  meet and to conduct business. The commission shall meet

26  semiannually and more frequently upon call of the chair. The

27  commission may conduct its meetings through teleconferences or

28  other similar means.

29         (f)  Commissioners are not entitled to compensation for

30  their services as members, but may be reimbursed for per diem

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480
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 1  and travel expenses as provided in section 112.061, Florida

 2  Statutes.

 3         (3)  SCOPE OF ACTIVITY.--The commission shall:

 4         (a)  Develop the following documents by October 1,

 5  2004, and, upon their completion, submit a copy to the

 6  Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the

 7  House of Representatives, and the secretary of the department:

 8         1.  A report that details comprehensive statewide

 9  strategies for Florida to promote safe, violence-free,

10  substance-abuse-free, respectful, nurturing, and responsible

11  parenting, including connection or reconnection of responsible

12  parents, both mothers and fathers, with their families and

13  children;

14         2.  A report that makes recommendations on how to

15  increase the availability of and access to parenting and

16  relationship skills education and training, and to encourage

17  and support the formation and maintenance of two-parent

18  families and family structures that are best for the children.

19  This shall include providing a plan for delivering services

20  and supports to couples and families to help them learn

21  communication and conflict-resolution skills prior to

22  marriage, enable couples to refresh those skills periodically

23  during marriage and, if the marriage fails, provide divorce

24  education, safety planning, and mediation techniques that

25  teach parents how to be safe and to work through their

26  problems and how to minimize the impact of the divorce on

27  their children; and

28         3.  A promising practices manual or tool that

29  highlights successful efforts at promoting marriage and

30  Florida families and family life.

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480
    302-1942-03




 1         (b)  Develop a community awareness campaign to promote

 2  community collaboration and coordinated grass-roots programs

 3  that show how people, advocates, and agencies can work

 4  together to promote marriage in Florida families.

 5         (c)  Serve as a clearinghouse for collecting and

 6  disseminating information related to research findings on

 7  poverty, violence, and other social forces and their effects

 8  on families and innovative approaches to the delivery of

 9  services necessary for the formation and maintenance of strong

10  families.

11         (d)  By December 31 of each year, beginning December

12  31, 2003, issue an annual report to the Governor, the

13  President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of

14  Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on

15  progress it is making on its responsibilities.

16         (4)  COORDINATION.--The commission shall coordinate its

17  work with community-based organizations, including those that

18  are faith-based; with schools, courts, certified local

19  domestic violence centers, adult and juvenile criminal justice

20  systems, and agencies providing social welfare, welfare

21  transition, and child support services; and with any

22  appropriate research and policy development centers,

23  including, but not limited to, those within universities that

24  focus on issues related to families, fatherhood, motherhood,

25  low-income families, marriages, children and poverty,

26  scientific methods to determine paternity for the purpose of

27  addressing support issues, parenting, and relationship skills.

28         (5)  FUNDING.--The operation of the Commission on

29  Marriage and Family Support Initiatives shall be funded from

30  general revenue funds currently allocated to the Commission on

31  Responsible Fatherhood, shall maintain the current connection

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    Florida Senate - 2003                            CS for SB 480
    302-1942-03




 1  with the Ounce of Prevention Fund, and shall support and

 2  continue any community-based programs established by the

 3  Commission on Responsible Fatherhood. The Commission on

 4  Marriage and Family Support Initiatives may seek and accept

 5  grants or funds from any public source, federal, state, or

 6  local, to supplement its operation and defray the expenses

 7  incurred in the operation and implementation of this section.

 8         (6)  This section is repealed on June 30, 2008, unless

 9  reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the

10  Legislature.

11         Section 2.  Sections 383.0112, 383.0113, and 383.0114,

12  Florida Statutes, are repealed.

13         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

14  

15          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
16                         Senate Bill 480

17                                 

18  Clarifies the appointment process for commission members.

19  Modifies the qualifications requirements for commission
    members.
20  
    Authorizes per diem expenses for members pursuant to s.
21  112.061, F.S.

22  Establishes that the commission chair is elected by a majority
    vote.
23  
    Establishes quorum requirements for the commission.
24  
    Sets deadlines for appointments to the commission.
25  
    Provides that the reports that are required by the bill also
26  must be submitted to the Legislature, the Governor, and the
    department.
27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

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