| 2 | The Committee on Future of Florida's Families recommends the |
| 3 | following: |
| 4 |
|
| 5 | Committee Substitute |
| 6 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 7 | A bill to be entitled |
| 8 | An act relating to supervised visitation programs for |
| 9 | children; repealing ss. 753.001, 753.002, and 753.004, |
| 10 | F.S., relating to the Florida Family Visitation Network; |
| 11 | creating ss. 753.01, 753.02, 753.03, 753.04, 753.05, |
| 12 | 753.06, 753.07, 753.08, 753.09, and 753.10, F.S.; |
| 13 | providing legislative findings and intent with respect to |
| 14 | administering supervised visitation programs; defining |
| 15 | terms for supervised visitation and supervised exchange |
| 16 | services; providing for the development of standards for |
| 17 | supervised visitation and supervised exchange services; |
| 18 | providing for certification and monitoring of supervised |
| 19 | visitation programs; requiring compliance with interim |
| 20 | minimum standards; providing for security of supervised |
| 21 | visitation programs; providing for the use of certain |
| 22 | funds generated from an additional fee on requests for a |
| 23 | certification of birth to be used by supervised visitation |
| 24 | programs to meet security standards; requiring the |
| 25 | Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation to develop training |
| 26 | materials; requiring the clearinghouse to fully implement |
| 27 | and maintain a mechanism for data collection; encouraging |
| 28 | supervised visitation programs to develop partnerships |
| 29 | with community organizations; requiring the clearinghouse |
| 30 | to develop standards for supervised visitation and |
| 31 | supervised exchange services; providing for an advisory |
| 32 | board; requiring reports to the Legislature and the Chief |
| 33 | Justice of the Supreme Court; amending s. 943.135, F.S.; |
| 34 | requiring the Criminal Justice Standards and Training |
| 35 | Commission to allow agencies employing law enforcement |
| 36 | officers to authorize volunteer service as a means of |
| 37 | fulfilling requirements for continuing education; creating |
| 38 | s. 943.254, F.S.; authorizing law enforcement agencies to |
| 39 | administer a volunteer program for officers to provide |
| 40 | security services during off-duty hours for certain |
| 41 | community programs; amending s. 382.0255, F.S.; requiring |
| 42 | the Department of Health to charge an additional fee for |
| 43 | requests for a certification of birth issued by the |
| 44 | department; providing for the distribution of the fee; |
| 45 | providing an effective date. |
| 46 |
|
| 47 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 48 |
|
| 49 | Section 1. Sections 753.001, 753.002, and 753.004, Florida |
| 50 | Statutes, are repealed. |
| 51 | Section 2. Sections 753.01, 753.02, 753.03, 753.04, |
| 52 | 753.05, 753.06, 753.07, 753.08, 753.09, and 753.10, Florida |
| 53 | Statutes, are created to read: |
| 54 | 753.01 Supervised visitation programs; legislative |
| 55 | findings and intent.-- |
| 56 | (1) The Legislature finds that there are children in this |
| 57 | state who have been adjudicated dependent by the court and, as a |
| 58 | result, are ordered into out-of-home placements. The Legislature |
| 59 | finds that a large number of these children experience the |
| 60 | separation or divorce of their parents. Some of these children |
| 61 | have been determined by the court to be at risk for physical, |
| 62 | emotional, or sexual abuse; parental abduction; domestic |
| 63 | violence; or other harm as a result of parental impairment due |
| 64 | to substance abuse or other conditions. The Legislature also |
| 65 | finds that exposing the children to their parents' continuing |
| 66 | conflicts is detrimental to the children. |
| 67 | (2) The Legislature recognizes the importance of |
| 68 | maintaining contact between children and their noncustodial |
| 69 | parents while ensuring the safety of those children from further |
| 70 | or potential abuse, danger, or flight. The Legislature further |
| 71 | recognizes the importance of minimizing the circumstances in |
| 72 | which children are exposed to their parents' anger and disputes. |
| 73 | (3) The Legislature finds that supervised visitation |
| 74 | programs provide critically needed services by offering children |
| 75 | and noncustodial parents the opportunity to maintain a |
| 76 | relationship in a safe environment while facilitating safe |
| 77 | contact between perpetrators of domestic violence and their |
| 78 | children. |
| 79 | (4) The Legislature recognizes the need to ensure the |
| 80 | safety of the children, parents, and staff participating in |
| 81 | child visitations and exchanges. The Legislature also recognizes |
| 82 | the need for high-quality program services that meet the many |
| 83 | visitation and exchange needs of families, parents, and the |
| 84 | courts. Therefore, the Legislature intends to provide, subject |
| 85 | to available funding, uniform standards for supervised |
| 86 | visitation and supervised exchange services to improve the |
| 87 | security, training, and quality of supervised visitation |
| 88 | programs and to use those standards to certify supervised |
| 89 | visitation programs. |
| 90 | 753.02 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the term: |
| 91 | (1) "Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation" or |
| 92 | "clearinghouse" means the entity within the Institute for Family |
| 93 | Violence Studies in the School of Social Work of the Florida |
| 94 | State University, which serves as a statewide resource on |
| 95 | supervised visitation issues by providing technical assistance, |
| 96 | training, and research. |
| 97 | (2) "Custodial parent" means a natural or adoptive parent, |
| 98 | guardian, caregiver, or state agency and its representative, who |
| 99 | has temporary or permanent legal custody of a child. |
| 100 | (3) "Department" means the Department of Children and |
| 101 | Family Services. |
| 102 | (4) "Noncustodial parent" means a natural or adoptive |
| 103 | parent, guardian, caregiver, or other adult authorized by a |
| 104 | court order to have supervised contact with the child. |
| 105 | (5) "Supervised exchange" means the supervision of the |
| 106 | movement of the child from the custodial parent to the |
| 107 | noncustodial parent at the start of the visitation and from the |
| 108 | noncustodial parent back to the custodial parent at the end of |
| 109 | the visitation. |
| 110 | (6) "Supervised visitation" means the contact between a |
| 111 | noncustodial parent and child which occurs in the presence of an |
| 112 | independent third party. |
| 113 | (7) "Supervised visitation program" means a program |
| 114 | created to offer safe and structured supervised visitation and |
| 115 | supervised exchange services. |
| 116 | 753.03 Standards for supervised visitation and supervised |
| 117 | exchange services.-- |
| 118 | (1) The clearinghouse shall develop standards under s. |
| 119 | 753.10 to certify supervised visitation programs in order to |
| 120 | ensure the safety, training, and quality of each program. These |
| 121 | standards must be uniform for all the programs, and a supervised |
| 122 | visitation program must meet these standards in order to be |
| 123 | certified. The standards developed must address the purpose, |
| 124 | policies, standards of practice, program content, security |
| 125 | measures, qualifications of providers, training, credentials of |
| 126 | staff, information to be provided to the court, and data |
| 127 | collection for supervised visitation programs. |
| 128 | (2) A supervised visitation program must be certified |
| 129 | before the court, the department, or another entity may refer |
| 130 | families for supervised visitation or supervised exchange |
| 131 | services. |
| 132 | (3) A supervised visitation program is encouraged to |
| 133 | voluntarily comply with the standards developed under s. 753.10 |
| 134 | prior to implementation of the certification process under s. |
| 135 | 753.04. |
| 136 | 753.04 Certification and monitoring of supervised |
| 137 | visitation programs.-- |
| 138 | (1) The process for certifying and monitoring the initial |
| 139 | and ongoing compliance of a supervised visitation program with |
| 140 | the standards developed under s. 753.10 shall be phased in and |
| 141 | is contingent upon the availability of funds. The first phase of |
| 142 | the certification process must emphasize compliance with the |
| 143 | standards relating to program security. |
| 144 | (2) Once the certification process is fully implemented, a |
| 145 | supervised visitation program must be certified in order to |
| 146 | receive state or federal funds. |
| 147 | (3) A supervised visitation program must be certified |
| 148 | before it may accept persons referred from courts, the |
| 149 | department, or other entities for supervised visitation or |
| 150 | supervised exchange services. |
| 151 | 753.05 Interim minimum standards for supervised visitation |
| 152 | programs.-- |
| 153 | (1) Until the standards for supervised visitation and |
| 154 | supervised exchange services are completed under s. 753.10 and |
| 155 | the certification and monitoring process is fully implemented, |
| 156 | each supervised visitation program must comply with the "Minimum |
| 157 | Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs Agreement" adopted |
| 158 | by the Supreme Court on November 18, 1999. Under this order, a |
| 159 | supervised visitation program shall enter into an agreement with |
| 160 | the circuit court or circuit courts within that program's |
| 161 | geographic jurisdiction attesting to the program's willingness |
| 162 | to comply with the Supreme Court's standards. |
| 163 | (2) Until the standards for supervised visitation and |
| 164 | supervised exchange services are completed and a certification |
| 165 | and monitoring process is fully implemented, a supervised |
| 166 | visitation program may not receive grant funds for access and |
| 167 | visitation under 42 U.S.C. s. 669b, unless the program provides |
| 168 | documentation to the state agency administering the grant |
| 169 | verifying that the program has entered into an agreement with |
| 170 | the circuit court as required under subsection (1). This |
| 171 | subsection does not obligate the state agency administering the |
| 172 | grant to certify a program's compliance with the Minimum |
| 173 | Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs Agreements. |
| 174 | 753.06 Security in supervised visitation programs.-- |
| 175 | (1) Due to the nature of the relationships that created |
| 176 | the need for supervised visitation and supervised exchange |
| 177 | services, the security of each person participating in a |
| 178 | supervised visitation program must be a priority for each |
| 179 | program. Security concerns shall be a substantial component of |
| 180 | the adopted standards. Therefore, the safety of the children, |
| 181 | custodial and noncustodial parents, and program staff shall be |
| 182 | ensured by each program, and the importance of that safety shall |
| 183 | be emphasized in all training. |
| 184 | (2) Each supervised visitation program is encouraged to |
| 185 | collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to facilitate |
| 186 | volunteerism by law enforcement officers at supervised |
| 187 | visitation programs using mechanisms such as those provided |
| 188 | under ss. 943.135(2) and 943.254 and using administrative leave |
| 189 | permitted for state employees who participate in community |
| 190 | service programs. |
| 191 | (3) Funds made available as a result of s. 382.0255 shall |
| 192 | be used to assist supervised visitation programs meet the |
| 193 | standards pertaining to security measures to be developed |
| 194 | pursuant to s. 753.10. The funds shall be made available to |
| 195 | supervised visitation programs through the Department of |
| 196 | Children and Family Services based on criteria recommended by |
| 197 | the advisory board provided in s. 753.10. |
| 198 | 753.07 Training for supervised visitation and supervised |
| 199 | exchange services.--Contingent upon the availability of funding, |
| 200 | the clearinghouse shall develop, maintain, and update |
| 201 | competency-based training materials for supervised visitation |
| 202 | and supervised exchange services which are appropriate to meet |
| 203 | the training needs of program staff. The clearinghouse shall |
| 204 | also provide training to staff of the supervised visitation |
| 205 | programs. The clearinghouse shall track trained staff who have |
| 206 | completed training requirements, to the extent permitted by |
| 207 | available funding. |
| 208 | 753.08 Supervised visitation programs; data |
| 209 | collection.--Contingent upon the availability of funding, the |
| 210 | Contingent upon the availability of funding, the clearinghouse |
| 211 | shall fully implement and maintain a mechanism for collecting |
| 212 | data on supervised visitation and supervised exchange services |
| 213 | provided in this state. Each supervised visitation program must |
| 214 | maintain and submit the identified data to the clearinghouse. |
| 215 | The clearinghouse shall annually compile the information and |
| 216 | make it available to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of |
| 217 | the House of Representatives, the courts, the Chief Justice of |
| 218 | the Supreme Court, the department, and any other organization |
| 219 | represented on the advisory board provided for in s. 753.10. |
| 220 | 753.09 Supervised visitation programs; community |
| 221 | partnerships.--A supervised visitation program is encouraged to |
| 222 | develop partnerships with other organizations in its community |
| 223 | which may be able to offer important resources to strengthen the |
| 224 | services provided. Such community partners may include, but are |
| 225 | not limited to, county and city governments, such as local |
| 226 | extension services, and colleges and universities, such as the |
| 227 | University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural |
| 228 | Sciences and the Florida State University Institute of Family |
| 229 | Violence Studies, the Junior League, and the United Way. |
| 230 | 753.10 Development of standards and a certification |
| 231 | process.-- |
| 232 | (1) The clearinghouse shall develop standards for the |
| 233 | supervised visitation and supervised exchange services. The |
| 234 | standards developed must address the purpose, policies, |
| 235 | standards of practice, program content, security measures, |
| 236 | qualifications of providers, training, credentials of staff, |
| 237 | information to be provided to the court, and data collection for |
| 238 | supervised visitation programs. The standards shall be the basis |
| 239 | for certifying supervised visitation programs. A supervised |
| 240 | visitation program may not be certified unless it meets the |
| 241 | standards adopted by the designated state agency. |
| 242 | (2) The clearinghouse shall use an advisory board to |
| 243 | assist in developing the standards. The advisory board must |
| 244 | include: |
| 245 | (a) Two members of the executive board of the state |
| 246 | chapter of the Supervised Visitation Network, appointed by the |
| 247 | president of the state chapter of the Supervised Visitation |
| 248 | Network. |
| 249 | (b) A representative from the Office of the State Courts |
| 250 | Administrator, appointed by the State Courts Administrator. |
| 251 | (c) A representative from the department, appointed by the |
| 252 | Secretary of Children and Family Services. |
| 253 | (d) A representative from the Florida Coalition Against |
| 254 | Domestic Violence, appointed by the executive director of the |
| 255 | Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. |
| 256 | (e) A representative from a local law enforcement agency, |
| 257 | appointed by the executive director of the Florida Sheriffs |
| 258 | Association. |
| 259 | (f) A family law judge, appointed by the Chief Justice of |
| 260 | the Supreme Court. |
| 261 | (g) Two representatives from a supervised visitation |
| 262 | program, appointed by the director of the clearinghouse. |
| 263 | (h) A representative from the Junior League, selected by |
| 264 | the State Board of the Junior League. |
| 265 | (i) A representative from the Commission on Marriage and |
| 266 | Family Support Initiatives. |
| 267 | (3) The clearinghouse, with consultation from the advisory |
| 268 | board, shall also develop the criteria and procedures for |
| 269 | approving and rejecting certification applications and for |
| 270 | monitoring compliance with the certification of a supervised |
| 271 | visitation program. Additionally, the clearinghouse shall |
| 272 | recommend the process for phasing in the implementation of the |
| 273 | standards and certification procedures and a recommendation |
| 274 | concerning the state entity that should certify and monitor the |
| 275 | supervised visitation programs. |
| 276 | (4) The clearinghouse shall submit a preliminary report |
| 277 | containing its recommendations on the uniform standards and the |
| 278 | certification and monitoring developed to date by December 31, |
| 279 | 2004, and a final report of all recommendations by December 31, |
| 280 | 2005, to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House |
| 281 | of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. |
| 282 | (5) It is the intent of the Legislature that the standards |
| 283 | for supervised visitation and supervised exchange services and |
| 284 | the criteria and procedures for the certification and monitoring |
| 285 | process be adopted as rules by the state entity designated by |
| 286 | the Legislature to certify and monitor the supervised visitation |
| 287 | programs. |
| 288 | Section 3. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section |
| 289 | 943.135, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (3), |
| 290 | (4), and (5), respectively, and a new subsection (2) is added to |
| 291 | said section to read: |
| 292 | 943.135 Requirements for continued employment.-- |
| 293 | (2) The commission shall permit an employing agency to |
| 294 | allow an officer to meet up to 3 hours of the 40 hours of |
| 295 | required continuing education and training by volunteering at a |
| 296 | community-based, not-for-profit organization that serves |
| 297 | children or families who have experienced or are at risk for |
| 298 | child abuse or domestic violence, including, but not limited to, |
| 299 | a supervised visitation program as provided in chapter 753. This |
| 300 | special population poses complex challenges to law enforcement |
| 301 | officers. Continuing education and training through community |
| 302 | service provides a unique learning opportunity for officers to |
| 303 | understand the special needs of this group of constituents, |
| 304 | build community relations, and provide a visible presence of law |
| 305 | enforcement officers in the community. Volunteer time applied as |
| 306 | continuing education and training under this subsection may |
| 307 | include time spent in providing security services but does not |
| 308 | substitute for the continuing education in domestic violence |
| 309 | required under s. 943.1701. |
| 310 | Section 4. Section 943.254, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 311 | to read: |
| 312 | 943.254 Volunteer work by law enforcement officers.-- |
| 313 | (1) An employing agency may operate or administer a |
| 314 | program for law enforcement officers to provide volunteer |
| 315 | security services during off-duty hours at a community-based, |
| 316 | not-for-profit program that serves children or families who have |
| 317 | experienced or are at risk for child abuse or domestic violence |
| 318 | and that involves potential risk to staff or clients. A |
| 319 | community-based, not-for-profit program may include, but need |
| 320 | not be limited to, a supervised visitation program operating |
| 321 | under chapter 753. |
| 322 | (2) Any community-based, not-for-profit program at which a |
| 323 | law enforcement officer volunteers is responsible for the acts |
| 324 | or omissions of the law enforcement officer while he or she is |
| 325 | performing services for that program off-duty. However, for |
| 326 | purposes of coverage under the Workers' Compensation Law, a law |
| 327 | enforcement officer who volunteers as provided in this section |
| 328 | and who meets the provisions of s. 440.091 shall be considered |
| 329 | to have been acting within the course of employment under s. |
| 330 | 440.091. |
| 331 | (3) A law enforcement officer who volunteers during off- |
| 332 | duty hours as provided in this section is exempt from the |
| 333 | licensure requirements of chapter 493 for persons who provide |
| 334 | security or investigative services. |
| 335 | Section 5. Subsections (3) and (4) of section 382.0255, |
| 336 | Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) and (5), |
| 337 | respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to said section |
| 338 | to read: |
| 339 | 382.0255 Fees.-- |
| 340 | (3) The fee charged for each request for a certification |
| 341 | of a birth record issued by the department shall be subject to |
| 342 | an additional fee of $1, which shall be deposited in the |
| 343 | appropriate departmental trust fund. Fees collected pursuant to |
| 344 | this section shall be used by the supervised visitation programs |
| 345 | to prevent child abuse and domestic violence. On a yearly basis, |
| 346 | the department shall transfer the fees collected to the Grants |
| 347 | and Donations Trust Fund to be distributed to the supervised |
| 348 | visitation programs by the Department of Children and Family |
| 349 | Services as provided for in s. 753.06. |
| 350 | Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |