Senate Bill sb0448
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2006 SB 448
By Senator Wilson
33-13A-06
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to independent living;
3 requiring the Department of Children and Family
4 Services to create a pilot program in
5 Miami-Dade County to provide continued foster
6 care until participants reach the age of 21
7 years; providing eligibility requirements;
8 requiring that the circuit court select
9 participants; prescribing services that will be
10 continued; requiring periodic administration to
11 participants of an independent living
12 assessment tool; requiring the department to
13 submit a report to the court; requiring the
14 selection of a cohort group for the purpose of
15 comparing results; requiring reports to the
16 Legislature; providing for expiration of the
17 program; providing an appropriation.
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19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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21 Section 1. Optional pilot program for continued foster
22 care to age 21.--
23 (1) The Department of Children and Family Services
24 shall develop an optional continued foster care pilot program
25 in Miami-Dade County. The circuit court having jurisdiction
26 over young adults who are prospective participants shall
27 select participants for the program on its own authority or
28 upon the recommendation of the young adult who wishes to
29 participate, his or her case manager, or guardian ad litem.
30 Each participant must be younger than 18 years of age at the
31 time of entry into the program and must be or must have been
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 448
33-13A-06
1 in foster care. The department or its lead agency may not
2 accept more than 50 participants into the pilot program. A
3 participant will continue to receive all foster care services,
4 will remain under continued court jurisdiction, and will
5 remain in his or her current foster or group home placement or
6 another licensed foster home arranged by the lead agency until
7 he or she leaves the pilot program or reaches 21 years of age,
8 whichever occurs first.
9 (2) The department or the lead agency must use the
10 independent living assessment tool referred to in s.
11 409.1451(4)(b)4., Florida Statutes, to assess each young adult
12 no later than 1 month after he or she reaches 17 years of age
13 to determine the young adult's specific needs and recommend
14 appropriate services. The independent living assessment tool
15 must be administered annually to determine the program's
16 effectiveness or lack thereof. The department or lead agency
17 must annually submit a report to the court as part of the
18 judicial review.
19 (3) The Department of Children and Family Services
20 shall select a cohort of 50 young adults who were formerly in
21 foster care, who were not eligible for the
22 Road-To-Independence Scholarship, and who live in a county
23 similar to Miami-Dade County and shall compare this cohort to
24 the participants in the pilot program by administering to them
25 the same independent living assessment tool.
26 (4) The department or lead agency shall prepare an
27 annual report and submit it to the Legislature by January 31
28 of each year and shall submit a final report by December 1,
29 2010. The annual reports must compare the young adults in the
30 pilot program to the cohort selected under subsection (3). The
31 final report must include an analysis, including a fiscal
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 448
33-13A-06
1 analysis, and a recommendation of the benefits and drawbacks
2 of duplicating the pilot program throughout the state.
3 (5) This section expires July 1, 2010.
4 Section 2. There is appropriated from the General
5 Revenue Fund to the Department of Children and Family
6 Services, District 11, for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the sum
7 of $500,000 to be used in implementing the pilot program
8 created under section 1 of this act.
9 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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12 SENATE SUMMARY
13 Requires the Department of Children and Family Services
to create a pilot program in Miami-Dade County to provide
14 continued foster care until participants reach the age of
21 years. Provides eligibility requirements. Provides for
15 the circuit court to select participants. Prescribes
services that will be continued. Requires the periodic
16 administration of an independent living assessment tool
to participants. Requires the department to submit a
17 report to the court. Requires the selection of a cohort
group for the purpose of comparing results. Requires an
18 annual and a final report to the Legislature. Provides
for expiration of the program on July 1, 2010. Provides
19 an appropriation.
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