Senate Bill sb2850
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2850
By Senator Dawson
29-1550A-04
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to proceedings relating to
3 children; amending s. 39.407, F.S.; revising
4 provisions relating to medical screenings
5 performed on children who are removed from the
6 home and maintained in an out-of-home
7 placement; specifying certain conditions that
8 the screening must cover; prohibiting the
9 Department of Children and Family Services from
10 administering or authorizing psychiatric or
11 psychological tests or psychotropic medications
12 for a child in departmental custody except with
13 the written and informed consent of the child's
14 parent or legal guardian or by court order;
15 requiring the department to ensure that
16 children who are in departmental custody
17 receive appropriate psychotropic medications
18 but have options for alternative treatments;
19 providing for rulemaking; providing that the
20 department may not provide consent for
21 administering psychotropic medications to a
22 child for whom the department is the legal
23 custodian; amending s. 39.601, F.S., relating
24 to case plan requirements; providing that case
25 plans may not require parents to give their
26 children psychotropic drugs; prohibiting the
27 department from threatening to terminate
28 parental rights based solely on the parents'
29 refusal to give their child psychotropic drugs;
30 amending s. 39.703, F.S.; prohibiting the
31 department from initiating proceedings to
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2850
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1 terminate parental rights based solely on the
2 parents' refusal to give their child
3 psychotropic drugs; amending s. 39.806, F.S.;
4 providing that the refusal of parents to give
5 their child psychotropic drugs may not be
6 considered grounds for termination of parental
7 rights; providing that the parents' refusal to
8 give their child psychotropic drugs may not be
9 considered abuse or neglect; providing an
10 effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), (4), and (13) of
15 section 39.407, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
16 39.407 Medical, psychiatric, and psychological
17 examination and treatment of child; physical or mental
18 examination of parent or person requesting custody of child.--
19 (1) When any child is removed from the home and
20 maintained in an out-of-home placement, the department is
21 authorized to have a medical screening performed on the child
22 without authorization from the court and without consent from
23 a parent or legal custodian. Such medical screening shall be
24 performed by a licensed health care professional who is not a
25 licensed healthcare practitioner defined under s. 456.001 and
26 who is authorized to diagnose or treat mental illness and
27 shall be to examine the child for injury, illness, and
28 communicable diseases and to determine the need for
29 immunization. The screening must also include checking for
30 nutritional deficiencies, heavy-metal toxicity, hypoglycemia,
31 and illegal drug dependence. The department shall by rule
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 2850
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1 establish the invasiveness of the medical procedures
2 authorized to be performed under this subsection. In no case
3 does this subsection authorize the department to consent to
4 medical treatment for such children.
5 (2) When the department has performed the medical
6 screening authorized by subsection (1), or when it is
7 otherwise determined by a licensed health care professional
8 that a child who is in an out-of-home placement, but who has
9 not been committed to the department, is in need of medical
10 treatment, including the need for immunization, consent for
11 medical treatment shall be obtained in the following manner:
12 (a)1. Consent to medical treatment shall be obtained
13 from a parent or legal custodian of the child; or
14 2. A court order for such treatment shall be obtained.
15 (b) If a parent or legal custodian of the child is
16 unavailable and his or her whereabouts cannot be reasonably
17 ascertained, and it is after normal working hours so that a
18 court order cannot reasonably be obtained, an authorized agent
19 of the department shall have the authority to consent to
20 necessary medical treatment, including immunization, for the
21 child. The authority of the department to consent to medical
22 treatment in this circumstance shall be limited to the time
23 reasonably necessary to obtain court authorization.
24 (c) The department may not administer or authorize
25 psychiatric or psychological tests or psychotropic medications
26 for a child in its custody without the written and informed
27 consent of the child's parent or legal guardian or, if the
28 parent or guardian cannot be located, authorization by the
29 court. The department shall ensure that children under its
30 care receive timely access to clinically appropriate
31 psychotropic medications that have no known contraindications
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1 for use in children and shall also provide information on all
2 known side-effects and provide options for alternative
3 treatments. The department shall adopt rules to ensure that
4 the children under its care receive such appropriate
5 psychotropic medications or alternative treatments, which
6 rules describe, at a minimum, a uniform process for obtaining
7 informed consent, procedures for obtaining court
8 authorization, and the written information that must be
9 provided when requesting authorization for the use of
10 psychotropic medications.
11 (d)(c) If a parent or legal custodian of the child is
12 available but refuses to consent to the necessary treatment,
13 including immunization, a court order shall be required unless
14 the situation meets the definition of an emergency in s.
15 743.064 or the treatment needed is related to suspected abuse,
16 abandonment, or neglect of the child by a parent, caregiver,
17 or legal custodian. In such case, the department shall have
18 the authority to consent to necessary medical treatment. This
19 authority is limited to the time reasonably necessary to
20 obtain court authorization.
21
22 In no case shall the department consent to sterilization,
23 abortion, or termination of life support.
24 (4) A judge may order a child in an out-of-home
25 placement to be treated by a licensed health care professional
26 based on evidence that the child should receive treatment.
27 The judge may also order such child to receive mental health
28 or developmental disabilities services from a psychiatrist,
29 psychologist, or other appropriate service provider. Except
30 as provided in subsection (5), if it is necessary to place the
31 child in a residential facility for such services, the
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1 procedures and criteria established in s. 394.467 or chapter
2 393 shall be used, whichever is applicable. A child may be
3 provided developmental disabilities or mental health services
4 in emergency situations, pursuant to the procedures and
5 criteria contained in s. 394.463(1) or chapter 393, whichever
6 is applicable. Before a foster child may be given psychotropic
7 medication, the child must first have had a comprehensive
8 physical examination by a competent, nonpsychiatric medical
9 specialist, and all possibilities of physical disease or
10 disorder, such as nutritional deficiencies, heavy-metal
11 toxicity, hypoglycemia, and illegal drug dependence, must have
12 been ruled out as causes of the child's behavior or symptoms
13 that are proposed to be addressed with psychotropic
14 medication. Such medications may be prescribed only with the
15 permission of the foster child's parent or, if the parent
16 cannot be located, authorization by the court.
17 (13) Nothing in This section does not alter alters the
18 authority of the department to consent to medical treatment
19 for a dependent child when the child has been committed to the
20 department and the department has become the legal custodian
21 of the child. However, the department may not provide consent
22 for administering psychotropic medications to the child.
23 Section 2. Paragraph (g) is added to subsection (1) of
24 section 39.601, Florida Statutes, and subsection (4) of that
25 section is amended, to read:
26 39.601 Case plan requirements.--
27 (1) The department or agent of the department shall
28 develop a case plan for each child receiving services pursuant
29 to this chapter. A parent of a child may not be required nor
30 coerced through threat of loss of custody or parental rights
31 to admit in the case plan to abusing, neglecting, or
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1 abandoning a child. Where dependency mediation services are
2 available and appropriate to the best interests of the child,
3 the court may refer the case to mediation for development of a
4 case plan. This section does not change the provisions of s.
5 39.807.
6 (g) The case plan may not require a parent to force
7 his or her child to take psychotropic drugs.
8 (4) If In the event that the parents are unwilling or
9 unable to participate in the development of a case plan, the
10 department shall document that unwillingness or inability to
11 participate. Such documentation must be provided in writing to
12 the parent when available for the court record, and then the
13 department shall prepare a case plan conforming as nearly as
14 possible with the requirements set forth in this section. The
15 unwillingness or inability of the parents to participate in
16 the development of a case plan shall not in itself bar the
17 filing of a petition for dependency or for termination of
18 parental rights. The parents, if available, must be provided a
19 copy of the case plan and be advised that they may, at any
20 time prior to the filing of a petition for termination of
21 parental rights, enter into a case plan and that they may
22 request judicial review of any provision of the case plan with
23 which they disagree at any court review hearing set for the
24 child. The department may not threaten to terminate parental
25 rights based solely on a refusal by the parents to medicate
26 the child with psychotropic drugs.
27 Section 3. Subsection (3) is added to section 39.703,
28 Florida Statutes, to read:
29 39.703 Initiation of termination of parental rights
30 proceedings; judicial review.--
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1 (3) The department may not initiate proceedings to
2 terminate parental rights based solely on a refusal by the
3 parents to medicate the child with psychotropic drugs.
4 Section 4. Paragraphs (c) and (e) of subsection (1) of
5 section 39.806, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
6 39.806 Grounds for termination of parental rights.--
7 (1) The department, the guardian ad litem, or any
8 person who has knowledge of the facts alleged or who is
9 informed of those facts and believes that they are true may
10 petition for the termination of parental rights under any of
11 the following circumstances:
12 (c) When the parent or parents have engaged in conduct
13 toward the child or toward other children that demonstrates
14 that the continuing involvement of the parent or parents in
15 the parent-child relationship threatens the life, safety,
16 well-being, or physical, mental, or emotional health of the
17 child irrespective of the provision of services. Provision of
18 services may be evidenced by proof that services were provided
19 through a previous plan or offered as a case plan from a child
20 welfare agency. The refusal of the parents to medicate the
21 child with psychotropic drugs may not be considered grounds
22 for termination of parental rights.
23 (e) A petition for termination of parental rights may
24 also be filed when a child has been adjudicated dependent, a
25 case plan has been filed with the court, and the child
26 continues to be abused, neglected, or abandoned by the
27 parents. In this case, the failure of the parents to
28 substantially comply for a period of 12 months after an
29 adjudication of the child as a dependent child or the child's
30 placement into shelter care, whichever came first, constitutes
31 evidence of continuing abuse, neglect, or abandonment unless
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1 the failure to substantially comply with the case plan was due
2 either to the lack of financial resources of the parents or to
3 the failure of the department to make reasonable efforts to
4 reunify the parent and child. Such 12-month period may begin
5 to run only after the child's placement into shelter care or
6 the entry of a disposition order placing the custody of the
7 child with the department or a person other than the parent
8 and the approval by the court of a case plan with a goal of
9 reunification with the parent, whichever came first. The
10 refusal of the parents to medicate the child with psychotropic
11 drugs may not be considered abuse or neglect.
12 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.
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15 SENATE SUMMARY
16 Amends provisions relating to medical screenings
performed on children who are removed from the home and
17 maintained in an out-of-home placement. Lists specific
conditions that the screening must cover. Prohibits the
18 Department of Children and Family Services from
administering or authorizing psychiatric or psychological
19 tests or psychotropic medications for a child who is in
departmental custody except with the written and informed
20 consent of the child's parent or legal guardian or by
court order. Requires the department to ensure that
21 children who are in departmental custody receive
appropriate psychotropic medications but have options for
22 alternative treatments. Provides for rulemaking. Provides
that the department may not consent to administering
23 psychotropic medications to a child for whom the
department is the legal custodian. Provides that case
24 plans may not require parents to give their children
psychotropic drugs. Prohibits the department from
25 threatening to terminate parental rights based solely on
the parents' refusal to give their child psychotropic
26 drugs. Prohibits the department from initiating
proceedings to terminate parental rights based solely on
27 the parents' refusal to give their child psychotropic
drugs. Provides that the refusal by parents to give their
28 child psychotropic drugs may not be considered grounds
for termination of parental rights. Provides that the
29 parents' refusal to give their child psychotropic drugs
may not be considered abuse or neglect.
30
31
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