Senate Bill sb0498
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 498
By Senator Lynn
7-350A-04
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to supervised visitation
3 programs for children; repealing ss. 753.001,
4 753.002, 753.004, F.S., relating to the Florida
5 Family Visitation Network; creating ss. 753.01,
6 753.02, 753.03, 753.04, 753.05, 753.06, 753.07,
7 753.08, 753.09, F.S.; providing legislative
8 intent with respect to administering supervised
9 visitation programs; defining terms for
10 supervised visitation and supervised exchange
11 services; providing for the development of
12 standards for supervised visitation and
13 supervised exchange services; requiring
14 compliance with interim minimum standards;
15 providing for security of supervised visitation
16 programs; requiring the Clearinghouse on
17 Supervised Visitation to develop training
18 materials; providing for the clearinghouse to
19 develop and implement a mechanism for data
20 collection; providing for the clearinghouse to
21 develop standards for supervised visitation and
22 supervised exchange services; providing for an
23 advisory board; requiring a report to the
24 Legislature; amending s. 943.135, F.S.;
25 requiring the Criminal Justice Standards and
26 Training Commission to allow agencies employing
27 law enforcement officers to authorize volunteer
28 service as a means of fulfilling requirements
29 for continuing education; creating s. 943.254,
30 F.S.; authorizing law enforcement agencies to
31 administer a volunteer program for officers to
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1 provide security services during off-duty hours
2 for certain community programs; providing an
3 effective date.
4
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
6
7 Section 1. Sections 753.001, 753.002, and 753.004,
8 Florida Statutes, are repealed.
9 Section 2. Sections 753.01, 753.02, 753.03, 753.04,
10 753.05, 753.06, 753.07, 753.08, and 753.09, Florida Statutes,
11 are created to read:
12 753.01 Supervised visitation programs; legislative
13 findings and intent.--
14 (1) The Legislature finds that there are children in
15 this state who have been adjudicated dependent by the court
16 and, as a result, are ordered into out-of-home placements. The
17 Legislature finds that a large number of these children
18 experience the separation or divorce of their parents. Some of
19 these children have been determined by the court to be at risk
20 for physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; parental abduction;
21 domestic violence; or other harm as a result of parental
22 impairment due to substance abuse or other conditions. The
23 Legislature also finds that exposing the children to their
24 parents' continuing conflicts is detrimental to the children.
25 (2) The Legislature recognizes the importance of
26 maintaining contact between children and their noncustodial
27 parents while ensuring the safety of those children from
28 further or potential abuse, danger, or flight. The Legislature
29 further recognizes the importance of minimizing the
30 circumstances in which children are exposed to their parents'
31 anger and disputes.
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1 (3) The Legislature finds that supervised visitation
2 programs provide critically needed services by offering
3 children and noncustodial parents the opportunity to maintain
4 a relationship in a safe environment while facilitating safe
5 contact between perpetrators of domestic violence and their
6 children.
7 (4) The Legislature recognizes the need to ensure the
8 safety of the children, parents, and staff participating in
9 child visitations and exchanges. The Legislature also
10 recognizes the need for high-quality program services that
11 meet the many visitation and exchange needs of families,
12 parents, and the courts. Therefore, the Legislature intends to
13 provide, subject to available funding, uniform standards for
14 supervised visitation and supervised exchange services to
15 improve the security, training, and quality of supervised
16 visitation programs and to use those standards to certify
17 supervised visitation programs.
18 753.02 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the
19 term:
20 (1) "Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation" or
21 "clearinghouse" means the entity within the Institute for
22 Family Violence Studies in the School of Social Work of the
23 Florida State University which serves as a statewide resource
24 on supervised visitation issues by providing technical
25 assistance, training, and research.
26 (2) "Custodial parent" means a natural or adoptive
27 parent, guardian, caregiver, or state agency and its
28 representative, who has temporary or permanent legal custody
29 of a child.
30 (3) "Department" means the Department of Children and
31 Family Services.
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1 (4) "Noncustodial parent" means a natural or adoptive
2 parent, guardian, caregiver, or other adult authorized by a
3 court order to have supervised contact with the child.
4 (5) "Supervised exchange" means the supervision of the
5 movement of the child from the custodial parent to the
6 noncustodial parent at the start of the visitation and from
7 the noncustodial parent back to the custodial parent at the
8 end of the visitation.
9 (6) "Supervised visitation" means the contact between
10 a noncustodial parent and child which occurs in the presence
11 of an independent third party.
12 (7) "Supervised visitation program" means a program
13 created to offer safe and structured supervised visitation and
14 supervised exchange services.
15 753.03 Standards for supervised visitation and
16 supervised exchange services.--
17 (1) The clearinghouse shall develop standards under s.
18 753.09 to certify supervised visitation programs in order to
19 ensure the safety, training, and quality of each program.
20 These standards must be uniform for all the programs and a
21 supervised visitation program must meet these standards in
22 order to be certified. The standards developed must address
23 the purpose, policies, standards of practice, program content,
24 security measures, qualifications of providers, training,
25 credentials of staff, information to be provided to the court,
26 and data collection for supervised visitation programs.
27 (2) A supervised visitation program must be certified
28 before the court, the department, or another entity may refer
29 families for supervised visitation or supervised exchange
30 services.
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1 (3) A supervised visitation program is encouraged to
2 voluntarily comply with the standards developed under s.
3 753.09 prior to implementation of the certification process
4 under s. 753.04.
5 753.04 Certification and monitoring of supervised
6 visitation programs.--
7 (1) The process for certifying and monitoring the
8 initial and ongoing compliance of a supervised visitation
9 program with the standards developed under s. 753.09 shall be
10 phased in and is contingent upon the availability of funds.
11 The first phase of the certification process must emphasize
12 compliance with the standards relating to program security.
13 (2) Once the certification process is fully
14 implemented, a supervised visitation program must be certified
15 in order to receive state or federal funds.
16 (3) A supervised visitation program must be certified
17 before it may accept persons referred from courts, the
18 department, or other entities for supervised visitation or
19 supervised exchange services.
20 753.05 Interim minimum standards for supervised
21 visitation programs.--
22 (1) Until the standards for supervised visitation and
23 supervised exchange services are completed under s. 753.09 and
24 the certification and monitoring process is fully implemented,
25 each supervised visitation program must comply with the
26 "Minimum Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs
27 Agreement" adopted by the Supreme Court on November 18, 1999.
28 Under this order, a supervised visitation program shall enter
29 into an agreement with the circuit court or circuit courts
30 within that program's geographic jurisdiction attesting to the
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1 program's willingness to comply with the Supreme Court's
2 standards.
3 (2) Until the standards for supervised visitation and
4 supervised exchange services are completed and a certification
5 and monitoring process is fully implemented, a supervised
6 visitation program may not receive grant funds for access and
7 visitation under 42 U.S.C. s. 669b, unless the program
8 provides documentation to the state agency administering the
9 grant verifying that the program has entered into an agreement
10 with the circuit court as required under subsection (1). This
11 subsection does not obligate the state agency administering
12 the grant to certify a program's compliance with the Minimum
13 Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs Agreements.
14 753.06 Security in supervised visitation programs.--
15 (1) Due to the nature of the relationships that
16 created the need for supervised visitation and supervised
17 exchange services, the security of each person participating
18 in a supervised visitation program must be a priority for each
19 program. Security concerns shall be a substantial component of
20 the adopted standards. Therefore, the safety of the children,
21 custodial and noncustodial parents, and program staff shall be
22 ensured by each program and the importance of that safety
23 shall be emphasized in all training.
24 (2) Each supervised visitation program is encouraged
25 to collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to
26 facilitate volunteerism by law enforcement officers at
27 supervised visitation programs using mechanisms such as those
28 provided under ss. 943.254 and 943.135(2) and using
29 administrative leave permitted for state employees who
30 participate in community service programs.
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1 753.07 Training for supervised visitation and
2 supervised exchange services.--Contingent upon the
3 availability of funding, the Clearinghouse on Supervised
4 Visitation shall develop, maintain, and update
5 competency-based training materials for supervised visitation
6 and supervised exchange services which are appropriate to meet
7 the training needs of program staff. The clearinghouse shall
8 also provide training to staff of the supervised visitation
9 programs. The clearinghouse shall track trained staff who have
10 completed training requirements, to the extent permitted by
11 available funding.
12 753.08 Supervised visitation programs; data
13 collection.--Contingent upon the availability of funding, the
14 clearinghouse shall develop and implement a mechanism for
15 collecting data on supervised visitation and supervised
16 exchange services provided in this state. The clearinghouse
17 shall collaborate with the state chapter of the Supervised
18 Visitation Network to determine the necessary data to be
19 collected and develop the data-collection mechanism to ensure
20 the viability and reasonableness of the data requirements.
21 Each supervised visitation program must maintain and submit
22 the identified data to the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse
23 shall maintain these data and annually compile the information
24 and make it available to the President of the Senate, the
25 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the courts, the Chief
26 Justice of the Supreme Court, the department, and any other
27 organization represented on the advisory board provided for in
28 s. 753.09.
29 753.09 Development of standards and a certification
30 process.--
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Florida Senate - 2004 SB 498
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1 (1) The clearinghouse shall develop standards for the
2 supervised visitation and supervised exchange services. The
3 standards developed must address the purpose, policies,
4 standards of practice, program content, security measures,
5 qualifications of providers, training, credentials of staff,
6 information to be provided to the court, and data collection
7 for supervised visitation programs. The standards shall be the
8 basis for certifying supervised visitation programs. A
9 supervised visitation program may not be certified unless it
10 meets the standards adopted by the designated state agency.
11 (2) The clearinghouse shall use an advisory board to
12 assist in developing the standards. The advisory board must
13 include:
14 (a) Two members of the executive board of the state
15 chapter of the Supervised Visitation Network, appointed by the
16 president of the state chapter of the Supervised Visitation
17 Network.
18 (b) A representative from the Office of the State
19 Courts Administrator, appointed by the State Courts
20 Administrator.
21 (c) A representative from the department, appointed by
22 the Secretary of Children and Family Services.
23 (d) A representative from the Florida Coalition
24 Against Domestic Violence, appointed by the executive director
25 of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
26 (e) A representative from a local law enforcement
27 agency, appointed by the executive director of the Florida
28 Sheriffs Association.
29 (f) A family law judge, appointed by the Chief Justice
30 of the Supreme Court.
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1 (g) Two representatives from a supervised visitation
2 program, appointed by the director of the clearinghouse.
3 (h) A representative from the Junior League, selected
4 by the State Board of the Junior League.
5 (i) A representative from the Commission on Marriage
6 and Family Support Initiatives.
7 (3) The clearinghouse, with consultation from the
8 advisory board, shall also develop the criteria and procedures
9 for approving and rejecting certification applications and for
10 monitoring compliance with the certification of a supervised
11 visitation program. Additionally, the clearinghouse shall
12 recommend the process for phasing in the implementation of the
13 standards and certification procedures and a recommendation
14 concerning the state agency that should certify and monitor
15 the supervised visitation programs.
16 (4) The clearinghouse shall submit a report containing
17 its recommendations on the uniform standards and the
18 certification and monitoring procedures to the President of
19 the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and
20 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by December 31, 2004.
21 (5) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
22 standards for supervised visitation and supervised exchange
23 services and the criteria and procedures for the certification
24 and monitoring process be adopted as rules by the state agency
25 designated by the Legislature to certify and monitor the
26 supervised visitation programs.
27 Section 3. Present subsections (2), (3), and (4) of
28 section 943.135, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
29 subsections (3), (4), and (5), respectively, and a new
30 subsection (2) is added to that section, to read:
31 943.135 Requirements for continued employment.--
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1 (2) The commission shall permit an employing agency to
2 allow an officer to meet up to 3 hours of the 40 hours of
3 required continuing education and training by volunteering at
4 a community-based, not-for-profit organization that serves
5 children or families who have experienced or are at risk for
6 child abuse or domestic violence, including, but not limited
7 to, a supervised visitation program as provided in chapter
8 753. This special population poses complex challenges to law
9 enforcement officers. Continuing education and training
10 through community service provides a unique learning
11 opportunity for officers to understand the special needs of
12 this group of constituents, build community relations, and
13 provide a visible presence of law enforcement officers in the
14 community. Volunteer time applied as continuing education and
15 training under this subsection may include time spent in
16 providing security services but does not substitute for the
17 continuing education in domestic violence required under s.
18 943.1701.
19 Section 4. Section 943.254, Florida Statutes, is
20 created to read:
21 943.254 Volunteer work by law enforcement officers.--
22 (1) An employing agency may operate or administer a
23 program for law enforcement officers to provide volunteer
24 security services during off-duty hours at a community-based,
25 not-for-profit program that serves children or families who
26 have experienced or are at risk for child abuse or domestic
27 violence and that involves potential risk to staff or clients.
28 A community-based, not-for-profit program may include, but
29 need not be limited to, a supervised visitation program
30 operating under chapter 753.
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1 (2) Any community-based, not-for-profit program at
2 which a law enforcement officer volunteers is responsible for
3 the acts or omissions of the law enforcement officer while he
4 or she is performing services for that program off-duty.
5 However, for purposes of coverage under the Workers'
6 Compensation Law, a law enforcement officer who volunteers as
7 provided in this section and who meets the provisions of s.
8 440.091 shall be considered to have been acting within the
9 course of employment under s. 440.091.
10 (3) A law enforcement officer who volunteers during
11 off-duty hours as provided in this section is exempt from the
12 licensure requirements of chapter 493 for persons who provide
13 security or investigative services.
14 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.
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17 SENATE SUMMARY
18 Repeals provisions relating to the Florida Family
Visitation Network. Provides legislative intent with
19 respect to administering supervised visitation programs.
Defines terms for supervised visitation and supervised
20 exchange services. Provides for developing standards for
supervised visitation and supervised exchange services.
21 Requires compliance with interim minimum standards
developed by the Supreme Court. Requires that supervised
22 visitation programs provide security for all persons
participating in the program. Requires the Clearinghouse
23 on Supervised Visitation to develop training materials.
Directs the clearinghouse to develop and implement a
24 mechanism for data collection. Directs the clearinghouse,
with the assistance of an advisory board, to develop
25 standards for supervised visitation and supervised
exchange services. Requires that a report with
26 recommendations be sent to the Legislature. Requires the
Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to
27 allow agencies employing law enforcement officers to
authorize volunteer service as a means of fulfilling
28 requirements for continuing education. Authorizes law
enforcement agencies to administer a volunteer program
29 for officers to provide security services during off-duty
hours for certain community programs.
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