Senate Bill sb0220c1

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 220

    By the Committee on Children and Families; and Senators Wilson
    and Bullard




    586-2262-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to independent living;

  3         directing the Department of Children and Family

  4         Services to create a pilot program in

  5         Miami-Dade County; specifying eligibility;

  6         limiting enrollment; providing elements of the

  7         program; requiring a young adult to notify the

  8         court of a decision to participate in the pilot

  9         program; identifying a cohort group for the

10         purposes of comparing results; directing the

11         department to prepare a report to the

12         Legislature; providing for expiration of the

13         program; 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.  Optional Continued Foster Care to Age 21

18  Pilot Program.--

19         (1)  The Department of Children and Family Services is

20  directed to develop an optional continued foster care pilot

21  program in Miami-Dade county. A young adult who is not

22  eligible for the Road-to-Independence Scholarship may choose

23  to participate in this pilot program. The department may

24  accept no more than 100 former foster youth who are not

25  eligible to receive the Road-to-Independence Scholarship into

26  the pilot program. Any young adult who was formerly in foster

27  care and who chooses to participate in this program will

28  continue to receive all foster care services, remain under

29  continued court jurisdiction, and remain in their current

30  foster or group home placement or another licensed foster home

31  arranged by the department until he or she leaves the pilot

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 220
    586-2262-05




 1  program or until he or she becomes 21 years of age, whichever

 2  comes first.

 3         (2)  A young adult who elects to participate in the

 4  pilot program must notify the court at the last judicial

 5  review hearing before he or she becomes 18 years of age. The

 6  department must use the independent living assessment tool as

 7  defined in section 409.1451(4)(b)4., Florida Statutes, to

 8  assess each youth no later than one month after he or she

 9  becomes 17 years of age and again upon the young adult's exit

10  from the pilot program or one month before he or she becomes

11  21 years of age, whichever comes first.

12         (3)  The department shall identify a cohort of 100

13  former foster youth who were not eligible for the

14  Road-to-Independence Scholarship and who live in a county

15  other than Miami-Dade County. This cohort shall be compared to

16  the participants of the pilot program by using the same

17  independent living assessment tool.

18         (4)  The department must prepare and present a report

19  to the Legislature on the findings of the pilot program no

20  later than December 1, 2008. The report must include an

21  analysis, including a fiscal analysis, and a recommendation of

22  the benefits and drawbacks of duplicating the pilot program in

23  the entire state.

24         Section 2.  This act shall expire on July 1, 2009.

25         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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    Florida Senate - 2005                            CS for SB 220
    586-2262-05




 1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 2                         Senate Bill 220

 3                                 

 4  Removes the provisions amending s. 409.1451, F.S.

 5  Removes statewide expansion of services to young adults not
    eligible for the Road-to-Independence Scholarship.
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    Creates an optional continued foster care pilot program in
 7  Miami-Dade County and provides for the conditions,
    eligibility, elements and duration of the pilot.
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    Requires the department to identify a cohort of 100 former
 9  foster youth not eligible for the Road-to-Independence
    Scholarship and who do not live in Miami-Dade County to
10  compare to the pilot program participants.

11  Requires the department to submit a report to the Legislature
    on the findings of the pilot program no later than December 1,
12  2008.

13  Provides for repeal of this act.

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