Senate Bill sb0498c1
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SB 498
By the Committee on Children and Families; and Senator Lynn
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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, and 753.10, F.S.; providing
8 legislative intent with respect to
9 administering supervised visitation programs;
10 defining terms for supervised visitation and
11 supervised exchange services; providing for the
12 development of standards for supervised
13 visitation and supervised exchange services;
14 requiring compliance with interim minimum
15 standards; providing for security of supervised
16 visitation programs; providing for the use of
17 funds generated from an additional fee on
18 requests for a certification of birth to be
19 used by supervised visitation programs to meet
20 security standards; requiring the Clearinghouse
21 on Supervised Visitation to develop training
22 materials; providing for the clearinghouse to
23 fully implement and maintain a mechanism for
24 data collection; encouraging supervised
25 visitation programs to develop partnerships
26 with community organizations; providing for the
27 clearinghouse to develop standards for
28 supervised visitation and supervised exchange
29 services; providing for an advisory board;
30 requiring reports to the Legislature; amending
31 s. 943.135, F.S.; requiring the Criminal
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1 Justice Standards and Training Commission to
2 allow agencies employing law enforcement
3 officers to authorize volunteer service as a
4 means of fulfilling requirements for continuing
5 education; creating s. 943.254, F.S.;
6 authorizing law enforcement agencies to
7 administer a volunteer program for officers to
8 provide security services during off-duty hours
9 for certain community programs; amending s.
10 382.0255, F.S.; requiring the Department of
11 Health to charge an additional fee for requests
12 for a certification of birth issued by the
13 department; providing an effective date.
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15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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17 Section 1. Sections 753.001, 753.002, and 753.004,
18 Florida Statutes, are repealed.
19 Section 2. Sections 753.01, 753.02, 753.03, 753.04,
20 753.05, 753.06, 753.07, 753.08, 753.09, and 753.10, Florida
21 Statutes, are created to read:
22 753.01 Supervised visitation programs; legislative
23 findings and intent.--
24 (1) The Legislature finds that there are children in
25 this state who have been adjudicated dependent by the court
26 and, as a result, are ordered into out-of-home placements. The
27 Legislature finds that a large number of these children
28 experience the separation or divorce of their parents. Some of
29 these children have been determined by the court to be at risk
30 for physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; parental abduction;
31 domestic violence; or other harm as a result of parental
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1 impairment due to substance abuse or other conditions. The
2 Legislature also finds that exposing the children to their
3 parents' continuing conflicts is detrimental to the children.
4 (2) The Legislature recognizes the importance of
5 maintaining contact between children and their noncustodial
6 parents while ensuring the safety of those children from
7 further or potential abuse, danger, or flight. The Legislature
8 further recognizes the importance of minimizing the
9 circumstances in which children are exposed to their parents'
10 anger and disputes.
11 (3) The Legislature finds that supervised visitation
12 programs provide critically needed services by offering
13 children and noncustodial parents the opportunity to maintain
14 a relationship in a safe environment while facilitating safe
15 contact between perpetrators of domestic violence and their
16 children.
17 (4) The Legislature recognizes the need to ensure the
18 safety of the children, parents, and staff participating in
19 child visitations and exchanges. The Legislature also
20 recognizes the need for high-quality program services that
21 meet the many visitation and exchange needs of families,
22 parents, and the courts. Therefore, the Legislature intends to
23 provide, subject to available funding, uniform standards for
24 supervised visitation and supervised exchange services to
25 improve the security, training, and quality of supervised
26 visitation programs and to use those standards to certify
27 supervised visitation programs.
28 753.02 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the
29 term:
30 (1) "Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation" or
31 "clearinghouse" means the entity within the Institute for
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1 Family Violence Studies in the School of Social Work of the
2 Florida State University which serves as a statewide resource
3 on supervised visitation issues by providing technical
4 assistance, training, and research.
5 (2) "Custodial parent" means a natural or adoptive
6 parent, guardian, caregiver, or state agency and its
7 representative, who has temporary or permanent legal custody
8 of a child.
9 (3) "Department" means the Department of Children and
10 Family Services.
11 (4) "Noncustodial parent" means a natural or adoptive
12 parent, guardian, caregiver, or other adult authorized by a
13 court order to have supervised contact with the child.
14 (5) "Supervised exchange" means the supervision of the
15 movement of the child from the custodial parent to the
16 noncustodial parent at the start of the visitation and from
17 the noncustodial parent back to the custodial parent at the
18 end of the visitation.
19 (6) "Supervised visitation" means the contact between
20 a noncustodial parent and child which occurs in the presence
21 of an independent third party.
22 (7) "Supervised visitation program" means a program
23 created to offer safe and structured supervised visitation and
24 supervised exchange services.
25 753.03 Standards for supervised visitation and
26 supervised exchange services.--
27 (1) The clearinghouse shall develop standards under s.
28 753.10 to certify supervised visitation programs in order to
29 ensure the safety, training, and quality of each program.
30 These standards must be uniform for all the programs and a
31 supervised visitation program must meet these standards in
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1 order to be certified. The standards developed must address
2 the purpose, policies, standards of practice, program content,
3 security measures, qualifications of providers, training,
4 credentials of staff, information to be provided to the court,
5 and data collection for supervised visitation programs.
6 (2) A supervised visitation program must be certified
7 before the court, the department, or another entity may refer
8 families for supervised visitation or supervised exchange
9 services.
10 (3) A supervised visitation program is encouraged to
11 voluntarily comply with the standards developed under s.
12 753.10 prior to implementation of the certification process
13 under s. 753.04.
14 753.04 Certification and monitoring of supervised
15 visitation programs.--
16 (1) The process for certifying and monitoring the
17 initial and ongoing compliance of a supervised visitation
18 program with the standards developed under s. 753.10 shall be
19 phased in and is contingent upon the availability of funds.
20 The first phase of the certification process must emphasize
21 compliance with the standards relating to program security.
22 (2) Once the certification process is fully
23 implemented, a supervised visitation program must be certified
24 in order to receive state or federal funds.
25 (3) A supervised visitation program must be certified
26 before it may accept persons referred from courts, the
27 department, or other entities for supervised visitation or
28 supervised exchange services.
29 753.05 Interim minimum standards for supervised
30 visitation programs.--
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1 (1) Until the standards for supervised visitation and
2 supervised exchange services are completed under s. 753.10 and
3 the certification and monitoring process is fully implemented,
4 each supervised visitation program must comply with the
5 "Minimum Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs
6 Agreement" adopted by the Supreme Court on November 18, 1999.
7 Under this order, a supervised visitation program shall enter
8 into an agreement with the circuit court or circuit courts
9 within that program's geographic jurisdiction attesting to the
10 program's willingness to comply with the Supreme Court's
11 standards.
12 (2) Until the standards for supervised visitation and
13 supervised exchange services are completed and a certification
14 and monitoring process is fully implemented, a supervised
15 visitation program may not receive grant funds for access and
16 visitation under 42 U.S.C. s. 669b, unless the program
17 provides documentation to the state agency administering the
18 grant verifying that the program has entered into an agreement
19 with the circuit court as required under subsection (1). This
20 subsection does not obligate the state agency administering
21 the grant to certify a program's compliance with the Minimum
22 Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs Agreements.
23 753.06 Security in supervised visitation programs.--
24 (1) Due to the nature of the relationships that
25 created the need for supervised visitation and supervised
26 exchange services, the security of each person participating
27 in a supervised visitation program must be a priority for each
28 program. Security concerns shall be a substantial component of
29 the adopted standards. Therefore, the safety of the children,
30 custodial and noncustodial parents, and program staff shall be
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1 ensured by each program and the importance of that safety
2 shall be emphasized in all training.
3 (2) Each supervised visitation program is encouraged
4 to collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to
5 facilitate volunteerism by law enforcement officers at
6 supervised visitation programs using mechanisms such as those
7 provided under ss. 943.254 and 943.135(2) and using
8 administrative leave permitted for state employees who
9 participate in community service programs.
10 (3) Funds made available as a result of s. 382.0255
11 shall be used to assist supervised visitation programs meet
12 the standards pertaining to security measures to be developed
13 pursuant to s. 753.10. The funds shall be made available to
14 supervised visitation programs through the Department of
15 Children and Family Services based on criteria recommended by
16 the advisory board provided in s. 753.10.
17 753.07 Training for supervised visitation and
18 supervised exchange services.--Contingent upon the
19 availability of funding, the Clearinghouse on Supervised
20 Visitation shall develop, maintain, and update
21 competency-based training materials for supervised visitation
22 and supervised exchange services which are appropriate to meet
23 the training needs of program staff. The clearinghouse shall
24 also provide training to staff of the supervised visitation
25 programs. The clearinghouse shall track trained staff who have
26 completed training requirements, to the extent permitted by
27 available funding.
28 753.08 Supervised visitation programs; data
29 collection.--Contingent upon the availability of funding, the
30 clearinghouse shall fully implement and maintain a mechanism
31 for collecting data on supervised visitation and supervised
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1 exchange services provided in this state. Each supervised
2 visitation program must maintain and submit the identified
3 data to the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse shall annually
4 compile the information and make it available to the President
5 of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
6 the courts, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the
7 department, and any other organization represented on the
8 advisory board provided for in s. 753.10.
9 753.09 Supervised visitation programs; community
10 partnerships.--A supervised visitation program is encouraged
11 to develop partnerships with other organizations in its
12 community which may be able to offer important resources to
13 strengthen the services provided. Such community partners may
14 include, but are not limited to, county and city governments,
15 such as local extension services, and colleges and
16 universities, such as the University of Florida Institute of
17 Food and Agricultural Sciences and the Florida State
18 University Institute of Family Violence Studies, the Junior
19 League, and the United Way.
20 753.10 Development of standards and a certification
21 process.--
22 (1) The clearinghouse shall develop standards for the
23 supervised visitation and supervised exchange services. The
24 standards developed must address the purpose, policies,
25 standards of practice, program content, security measures,
26 qualifications of providers, training, credentials of staff,
27 information to be provided to the court, and data collection
28 for supervised visitation programs. The standards shall be the
29 basis for certifying supervised visitation programs. A
30 supervised visitation program may not be certified unless it
31 meets the standards adopted by the designated state agency.
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1 (2) The clearinghouse shall use an advisory board to
2 assist in developing the standards. The advisory board must
3 include:
4 (a) Two members of the executive board of the state
5 chapter of the Supervised Visitation Network, appointed by the
6 president of the state chapter of the Supervised Visitation
7 Network.
8 (b) A representative from the Office of the State
9 Courts Administrator, appointed by the State Courts
10 Administrator.
11 (c) A representative from the department, appointed by
12 the Secretary of Children and Family Services.
13 (d) A representative from the Florida Coalition
14 Against Domestic Violence, appointed by the executive director
15 of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
16 (e) A representative from a local law enforcement
17 agency, appointed by the executive director of the Florida
18 Sheriffs Association.
19 (f) A family law judge, appointed by the Chief Justice
20 of the Supreme Court.
21 (g) Two representatives from a supervised visitation
22 program, appointed by the director of the clearinghouse.
23 (h) A representative from the Junior League, selected
24 by the State Board of the Junior League.
25 (i) A representative from the Commission on Marriage
26 and Family Support Initiatives.
27 (3) The clearinghouse, with consultation from the
28 advisory board, shall also develop the criteria and procedures
29 for approving and rejecting certification applications and for
30 monitoring compliance with the certification of a supervised
31 visitation program. Additionally, the clearinghouse shall
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1 recommend the process for phasing in the implementation of the
2 standards and certification procedures and a recommendation
3 concerning the state entity that should certify and monitor
4 the supervised visitation programs.
5 (4) The clearinghouse shall submit a preliminary
6 report containing its recommendations on the uniform standards
7 and the certification and monitoring developed to date by
8 December 31, 2004, and a final report of all recommendations
9 by December 31, 2005, to the President of the Senate, the
10 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice
11 of the Supreme Court.
12 (5) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
13 standards for supervised visitation and supervised exchange
14 services and the criteria and procedures for the certification
15 and monitoring process be adopted as rules by the state entity
16 designated by the Legislature to certify and monitor the
17 supervised visitation programs.
18 Section 3. Present subsections (2), (3), and (4) of
19 section 943.135, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
20 subsections (3), (4), and (5), respectively, and a new
21 subsection (2) is added to that section, to read:
22 943.135 Requirements for continued employment.--
23 (2) The commission shall permit an employing agency to
24 allow an officer to meet up to 3 hours of the 40 hours of
25 required continuing education and training by volunteering at
26 a community-based, not-for-profit organization that serves
27 children or families who have experienced or are at risk for
28 child abuse or domestic violence, including, but not limited
29 to, a supervised visitation program as provided in chapter
30 753. This special population poses complex challenges to law
31 enforcement officers. Continuing education and training
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1 through community service provides a unique learning
2 opportunity for officers to understand the special needs of
3 this group of constituents, build community relations, and
4 provide a visible presence of law enforcement officers in the
5 community. Volunteer time applied as continuing education and
6 training under this subsection may include time spent in
7 providing security services but does not substitute for the
8 continuing education in domestic violence required under s.
9 943.1701.
10 Section 4. Section 943.254, Florida Statutes, is
11 created to read:
12 943.254 Volunteer work by law enforcement officers.--
13 (1) An employing agency may operate or administer a
14 program for law enforcement officers to provide volunteer
15 security services during off-duty hours at a community-based,
16 not-for-profit program that serves children or families who
17 have experienced or are at risk for child abuse or domestic
18 violence and that involves potential risk to staff or clients.
19 A community-based, not-for-profit program may include, but
20 need not be limited to, a supervised visitation program
21 operating under chapter 753.
22 (2) Any community-based, not-for-profit program at
23 which a law enforcement officer volunteers is responsible for
24 the acts or omissions of the law enforcement officer while he
25 or she is performing services for that program off-duty.
26 However, for purposes of coverage under the Workers'
27 Compensation Law, a law enforcement officer who volunteers as
28 provided in this section and who meets the provisions of s.
29 440.091 shall be considered to have been acting within the
30 course of employment under s. 440.091.
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1 (3) A law enforcement officer who volunteers during
2 off-duty hours as provided in this section is exempt from the
3 licensure requirements of chapter 493 for persons who provide
4 security or investigative services.
5 Section 5. Present subsections (3) and (4) of section
6 382.0255, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections
7 (4) and (5), respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added
8 to that section, to read:
9 382.0255 Fees.--
10 (3) The fee charged for each request for a
11 certification of a birth record issued by the department shall
12 be subject to an additional fee of $1, which shall be
13 deposited in the appropriate departmental trust fund. Fees
14 collected pursuant to this section shall be used by the
15 supervised visitation programs to prevent child abuse and
16 domestic violence. On a yearly basis, the department shall
17 transfer the fees collected to the Grants and Donations Trust
18 Fund to be distributed to the supervised visitation programs
19 by the Department of Children and Family Services as provided
20 for in s. 753.06.
21 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 498
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4 Recognizes that the Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation has
already begun implementing the data collection provisions.
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Allows for the organization that could be charged with
6 certifying and monitoring the supervised visitation programs
to be something other than a state agency.
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Provides the Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation with an
8 additional year to complete the tasks directed by the bill but
with a preliminary report by the deadline initially
9 stipulated.
10 Encourages supervised visitation programs to develop
partnerships with other organizations in their community to
11 strengthen the services provided.
12 Adds a fee of $1.00 to the requests for certifications of
birth that are issues by the Department of Health state
13 office.
14 Provides that the funds generated from the fees be used to
assist the supervised visitation programs meet security
15 standards.
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