| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to child protective investigations; |
| 3 | amending s. 39.01, F.S.; revising the definition of the |
| 4 | term "other person responsible for a child's welfare" to |
| 5 | include employees of any school; amending s. 39.301, F.S.; |
| 6 | prohibiting the use of information contained in reports of |
| 7 | child abuse, abandonment, or neglect for purposes that |
| 8 | adversely affect the interests of persons who are not |
| 9 | identified as responsible for such abuse, abandonment, or |
| 10 | neglect; amending s. 39.302, F.S.; prohibiting the use of |
| 11 | information contained in reports of child abuse, |
| 12 | abandonment, or neglect in institutional investigations |
| 13 | for purposes that adversely affect the interests of |
| 14 | persons not identified as responsible; providing |
| 15 | circumstances under which the Department of Children and |
| 16 | Family Services may rely on such information in a decision |
| 17 | to renew or revoke a license; amending s. 39.202, F.S.; |
| 18 | providing access to confidential reports and records in |
| 19 | cases of child abuse or neglect to staff of certain child |
| 20 | advocacy centers; providing an effective date. |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 23 |
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| 24 | Section 1. Subsection (47) of section 39.01, Florida |
| 25 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 26 | 39.01 Definitions.--When used in this chapter, unless the |
| 27 | context otherwise requires: |
| 28 | (47) "Other person responsible for a child's welfare" |
| 29 | includes the child's legal guardian, legal custodian, or foster |
| 30 | parent; an employee of any a private school, public or private |
| 31 | child day care center, residential home, institution, facility, |
| 32 | or agency; or any other person legally responsible for the |
| 33 | child's welfare in a residential setting; and also includes an |
| 34 | adult sitter or relative entrusted with a child's care. For the |
| 35 | purpose of departmental investigative jurisdiction, this |
| 36 | definition does not include law enforcement officers, or |
| 37 | employees of municipal or county detention facilities or the |
| 38 | Department of Corrections, while acting in an official capacity. |
| 39 | Section 2. Subsection (22) is added to section 39.301, |
| 40 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 41 | 39.301 Initiation of protective investigations.-- |
| 42 | (22) When an investigation is closed and a person is not |
| 43 | identified as a caregiver responsible for the abuse, neglect, or |
| 44 | abandonment alleged in the report, the fact that the person is |
| 45 | named in some capacity in the report may not be used in any way |
| 46 | to adversely affect the interests of that person. This |
| 47 | prohibition applies to any use of the information in employment |
| 48 | screening, licensing, child placement, adoption, or any other |
| 49 | decision by a private adoption agency or a state agency or its |
| 50 | contracted providers. |
| 51 | Section 3. Subsection (7) is added to section 39.302, |
| 52 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 53 | 39.302 Protective investigations of institutional child |
| 54 | abuse, abandonment, or neglect.-- |
| 55 | (7) When an investigation of institutional abuse, neglect, |
| 56 | or abandonment is closed and a person is not identified as a |
| 57 | caregiver responsible for the abuse, neglect, or abandonment |
| 58 | alleged in the report, the fact that the person is named in some |
| 59 | capacity in the report may not be used in any way to adversely |
| 60 | affect the interests of that person. This prohibition applies to |
| 61 | any use of the information in employment screening, licensing, |
| 62 | child placement, adoption, or any other decision by a private |
| 63 | adoption agency or a state agency or its contracted providers. |
| 64 | If such a person is a licensee of the department and is named in |
| 65 | any capacity in three or more reports within a 5-year period, |
| 66 | the department may review those reports and determine whether |
| 67 | the information contained in the reports is relevant for |
| 68 | purposes of determining whether the person's license should be |
| 69 | renewed or revoked. If the information is relevant to the |
| 70 | decision to renew or revoke the license, the department may rely |
| 71 | on the information contained in the report in making that |
| 72 | decision. |
| 73 | Section 4. Paragraph (q) is added to subsection (2) of |
| 74 | section 39.202, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 75 | 39.202 Confidentiality of reports and records in cases of |
| 76 | child abuse or neglect.-- |
| 77 | (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), access to such |
| 78 | records, excluding the name of the reporter which shall be |
| 79 | released only as provided in subsection (5), shall be granted |
| 80 | only to the following persons, officials, and agencies: |
| 81 | (q) Staff of a child advocacy center that is established |
| 82 | and operated under s. 39.3035. |
| 83 | Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |