| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to juvenile animal cruelty; providing |
| 3 | legislative findings; creating a task force on juvenile |
| 4 | cruelty to animals; providing powers and duties; requiring |
| 5 | the task force to consider specified issues and make |
| 6 | recommendations; providing membership; requiring a report; |
| 7 | providing for administrative support and travel |
| 8 | reimbursement; providing for dissolution of the task |
| 9 | force; providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Task force on juvenile cruelty to animals.-- |
| 14 | (1) The Legislature recognizes that multiple research |
| 15 | studies have found statistically significant correlations |
| 16 | between acts of animal cruelty by juveniles and violent behavior |
| 17 | against persons and that a literature review conducted by the |
| 18 | federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention found |
| 19 | that juvenile animal cruelty may be characteristic of the |
| 20 | developmental histories of 25 to 60 percent of violent adult |
| 21 | offenders. The Legislature further recognizes that it is |
| 22 | critical for the rehabilitation of juvenile animal cruelty |
| 23 | offenders and for the protection of society that the Legislature |
| 24 | establish a policy requiring the Department of Juvenile Justice |
| 25 | to assess the specific rehabilitation needs of juvenile animal |
| 26 | cruelty offenders and to provide programs that will treat these |
| 27 | offenders and halt further antisocial conduct. |
| 28 | (2) There is created a task force to review and evaluate |
| 29 | the state's laws that define and address animal cruelty and the |
| 30 | department's practices for treating and rehabilitating juvenile |
| 31 | offenders of such laws. The task force shall make findings that |
| 32 | include, but are not limited to: |
| 33 | (a) Identification of statutes that address animal |
| 34 | cruelty. |
| 35 | (b) Compilation of statistics regarding the number of |
| 36 | juveniles in this state who have been found, between July 1, |
| 37 | 2001, and June 30, 2006, to have committed an act of animal |
| 38 | cruelty in violation of s. 828.12, Florida Statutes, and |
| 39 | identification of the disposition imposed in each of those |
| 40 | cases. |
| 41 | (c) A profile of the delinquency and criminal histories of |
| 42 | the juveniles involved in the cases identified in paragraph (b) |
| 43 | before and after commission of the act of animal cruelty. |
| 44 | (d) Identification of the department's practices, |
| 45 | procedures, and programs for the treatment and rehabilitation of |
| 46 | juvenile animal cruelty offenders. |
| 47 | (e) A summary of research regarding juvenile animal |
| 48 | cruelty offenders and of any recommendations contained therein |
| 49 | for the treatment and rehabilitation of these offenders. |
| 50 | (f) Identification of best and evidence-based practices |
| 51 | and model programs used in other jurisdictions for the treatment |
| 52 | and rehabilitation of juvenile animal cruelty offenders. |
| 53 | (3) Based on its findings, the task force shall make |
| 54 | recommendations for the improvement of the state's policies and |
| 55 | laws that address juvenile animal cruelty. Such recommendations |
| 56 | shall specifically include, but are not limited to, |
| 57 | identification of methods to assess the needs of juvenile animal |
| 58 | cruelty offenders, treatment programs that will best |
| 59 | rehabilitate juvenile animal cruelty offenders, service delivery |
| 60 | mechanisms to ensure that recommended treatment programs are |
| 61 | available statewide, and any funding needs above existing |
| 62 | resources to ensure adequate availability of recommended |
| 63 | treatment programs. |
| 64 | (4) On or before August 1, 2006, the secretary of the |
| 65 | department shall appoint up to 12 members to the task force. The |
| 66 | task force membership shall include, but is not limited to: |
| 67 | three persons who collectively have experience with the conduct |
| 68 | of juvenile animal cruelty research and with the treatment and |
| 69 | rehabilitation of juvenile animal cruelty offenders; two |
| 70 | department employees who collectively are responsible for |
| 71 | research and planning and delinquency prevention and treatment |
| 72 | programming; and two representatives of providers of juvenile |
| 73 | delinquency prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services. |
| 74 | (5) The task force shall submit a written report of its |
| 75 | findings and recommendations to the Governor, the President of |
| 76 | the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by |
| 77 | January 1, 2007. |
| 78 | (6) Administrative support for the task force shall be |
| 79 | provided by the department. Members of the task force shall |
| 80 | serve without compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement |
| 81 | under s. 112.061, Florida Statutes, for travel and per diem |
| 82 | expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties. |
| 83 | The task force shall strive to minimize travel and per diem |
| 84 | expenses by performing, when practicable, its duties in the |
| 85 | location where the majority of task force members reside. |
| 86 | (7) The task force shall be dissolved upon submission of |
| 87 | its report. |
| 88 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |