Senate Bill sb0020

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                    SB 20

    By Senator Lynn





    7-71-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to supervised visitation

  3         programs for children; repealing ss. 753.001,

  4         753.002, and 753.004, F.S., relating to the

  5         Florida Family Visitation Network; creating ss.

  6         753.01, 753.02, 753.03, 753.04, 753.05, 753.06,

  7         753.07, 753.08, 753.09, and 753.10, F.S.;

  8         providing legislative findings and intent with

  9         respect to administering supervised visitation

10         programs; defining terms for supervised

11         visitation and supervised exchange services;

12         providing for the development of standards for

13         supervised visitation and supervised exchange

14         services; requiring compliance with interim

15         minimum standards; providing for security of

16         supervised visitation programs; providing for

17         the use of funds generated from an additional

18         fee on requests for a certification of birth to

19         be used by supervised visitation programs to

20         meet security standards; requiring the

21         Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation to

22         develop training materials; providing for the

23         clearinghouse to fully implement and maintain a

24         mechanism for data collection; encouraging

25         supervised visitation programs to develop

26         partnerships with community organizations;

27         providing for the clearinghouse to develop

28         standards for supervised visitation and

29         supervised exchange services; providing for an

30         advisory board; requiring reports to the

31         Legislature; amending s. 943.135, F.S.;

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 1         requiring the Criminal Justice Standards and

 2         Training Commission to allow agencies employing

 3         law enforcement officers to authorize volunteer

 4         service as a means of fulfilling requirements

 5         for continuing education; creating s. 943.254,

 6         F.S.; 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; requiring that the fee be used to

14         fund supervised visitation programs; providing

15         an effective date.

16  

17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

18  

19         Section 1.  Sections 753.001, 753.002, and 753.004,

20  Florida Statutes, are repealed.

21         Section 2.  Sections 753.01, 753.02, 753.03, 753.04,

22  753.05, 753.06, 753.07, 753.08, 753.09, and 753.10, Florida

23  Statutes, are created to read:

24         753.01  Supervised visitation programs; legislative

25  findings and intent.--

26         (1)  The Legislature finds that there are children in

27  this state who have been adjudicated dependent by the court

28  and, as a result, are ordered into out-of-home placements. The

29  Legislature finds that a large number of these children

30  experience the separation or divorce of their parents. Some of

31  these children have been determined by the court to be at risk

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 1  for physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; parental abduction;

 2  domestic violence; or other harm as a result of parental

 3  impairment due to substance abuse or other conditions. The

 4  Legislature also finds that exposing the children to their

 5  parents' continuing conflicts is detrimental to the children.

 6         (2)  The Legislature recognizes the importance of

 7  maintaining contact between children and their noncustodial

 8  parents while ensuring the safety of those children from

 9  further or potential abuse, danger, or flight. The Legislature

10  further recognizes the importance of minimizing the

11  circumstances in which children are exposed to their parents'

12  anger and disputes.

13         (3)  The Legislature finds that supervised visitation

14  programs provide critically needed services by offering

15  children and noncustodial parents the opportunity to maintain

16  a relationship in a safe environment while facilitating safe

17  contact between perpetrators of domestic violence and their

18  children.

19         (4)  The Legislature recognizes the need to ensure the

20  safety of the children, parents, and department staff who

21  participate in child visitations and exchanges. The

22  Legislature also recognizes the need for high-quality program

23  services that meet the many visitation and exchange needs of

24  families, parents, and the courts. Therefore, the Legislature

25  intends to provide, subject to available funding, uniform

26  standards for supervised visitation and supervised exchange

27  services to improve the security and quality of, and the

28  training for, supervised visitation programs and to use those

29  standards to certify supervised visitation programs.

30         753.02  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the

31  term:

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 1         (1)  "Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation" or

 2  "clearinghouse" means the entity within the Institute for

 3  Family Violence Studies in the School of Social Work of the

 4  Florida State University which serves as a statewide resource

 5  on supervised visitation issues by providing technical

 6  assistance, training, and research.

 7         (2)  "Custodian" has the same meaning as "custodial

 8  parent" and "primary residential parent," as defined in s.

 9  61.046, and "caregiver," as defined in s. 39.01.

10         (3)  "Department" means the Department of Children and

11  Family Services.

12         (4)  "Supervised exchange" means the supervision of the

13  movement of a child from the custodian to the visitor at the

14  start of the visitation and from the visitor back to the

15  custodian at the end of the visitation.

16         (5)  "Supervised visitation" means the contact between

17  the child and a visitor, which contact occurs in the presence

18  of an independent third party.

19         (6)  "Supervised visitation program" means a program

20  created to offer safe and structured supervised visitation and

21  supervised exchange services.

22         (7)  "Visitor" has the same meaning as "noncustodial

23  parent," as defined in s. 61.046, and includes other persons

24  authorized by court order to have supervised contact with the

25  child.

26         753.03  Standards for supervised visitation and

27  supervised exchange services.--

28         (1)  The clearinghouse shall develop standards under s.

29  753.10 to certify supervised visitation programs in order to

30  ensure the safety and quality of each program. Standards must

31  be uniform for all the programs, and a supervised visitation

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 1  program must meet these standards in order to be certified.

 2  The standards developed must address the purpose, policies,

 3  standards of practice, program content, security measures,

 4  qualifications of providers, training standards, credentials

 5  of staff, information to be provided to the court, and data

 6  collection for supervised visitation programs.

 7         (2)  If a certification program is established under s.

 8  753.04, a supervised visitation program must be certified

 9  before the court, the department, or another entity may refer

10  families to it for supervised visitation or supervised

11  exchange services.

12         (3)  A supervised visitation program is encouraged to

13  voluntarily comply with the standards developed under s.

14  753.10 before implementing the certification process under s.

15  753.04.

16         753.04  Certification and monitoring of supervised

17  visitation programs.--

18         (1)  The process for certifying and monitoring the

19  initial and ongoing compliance of a supervised visitation

20  program with the standards developed under s. 753.10 shall be

21  phased in and is contingent upon the availability of funds.

22  The first phase of the certification process must emphasize

23  compliance with the standards relating to program security.

24         (2)  Once the certification process is fully

25  implemented, a supervised visitation program must be certified

26  in order to receive state or federal funds.

27         (3)  A supervised visitation program must be certified

28  before it may accept persons referred from courts, the

29  department, or other entities for supervised visitation or

30  supervised exchange services.

31  

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 1         753.05  Interim minimum standards for supervised

 2  visitation programs.--

 3         (1)  Until the standards for supervised visitation and

 4  supervised exchange services are completed under s. 753.10 and

 5  the certification and monitoring process is fully implemented,

 6  each supervised visitation program must comply with the

 7  "Minimum Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs

 8  Agreement" adopted by the Supreme Court on November 18, 1999.

 9  Under this order, a supervised visitation program shall enter

10  into an agreement with the circuit court or circuit courts

11  within the geographic jurisdiction of the program attesting to

12  the willingness of the program to comply with the Supreme

13  Court's standards.

14         (2)  Until the standards for supervised visitation and

15  supervised exchange services are completed and a certification

16  and monitoring process is fully implemented, a supervised

17  visitation program may not receive grant funds for access and

18  visitation under 42 U.S.C. s. 669b unless the program provides

19  documentation to the state agency administering the grant

20  verifying that the program has entered into an agreement with

21  the circuit court as required under subsection (1). This

22  subsection does not obligate the state agency administering

23  the grant to certify a program's compliance with the Minimum

24  Standards for Supervised Visitation Programs Agreement.

25         753.06  Security in supervised visitation programs.--

26         (1)  Due to the nature of the relationships that have

27  created the need for supervised visitation and supervised

28  exchange services, the security of each person participating

29  in a supervised visitation program must be a priority for each

30  program. Security concerns must be a substantial component of

31  the adopted standards. Therefore, the safety of the children,

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 1  custodians, visitors, and program staff must be ensured by

 2  each program, and the importance of that safety must be

 3  emphasized in all training.

 4         (2)  Each supervised visitation program is encouraged

 5  to collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to

 6  facilitate volunteerism by law enforcement officers at

 7  supervised visitation programs using mechanisms such as those

 8  provided under ss. 943.254 and 943.135(2) and using

 9  administrative leave permitted for state employees who

10  participate in community service programs.

11         (3)  Funds made available as a result of s. 382.0255

12  shall be used to assist supervised visitation programs in

13  meeting the standards pertaining to security measures

14  developed under s. 753.10. The funds shall be made available

15  to supervised visitation programs through the Department of

16  Children and Family Services using criteria recommended by the

17  clearinghouse as provided in s. 753.10.

18         753.07  Training for supervised visitation and

19  supervised exchange services.--Contingent upon the

20  availability of funding, the clearinghouse shall develop,

21  maintain, and update competency-based training materials for

22  supervised visitation and supervised exchange services which

23  are appropriate to meet the training needs of program staff.

24  The clearinghouse shall also provide training to staff of the

25  supervised visitation programs. The clearinghouse shall track

26  trained staff who have completed training requirements, to the

27  extent permitted by 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 concerning supervised visitation and

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 1  supervised exchange services provided in this state. Each

 2  supervised visitation program must maintain and submit the

 3  identified data to the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse shall

 4  annually compile the information and make it available to the

 5  President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of

 6  Representatives, the courts, the Chief Justice of the Supreme

 7  Court, the department, and any other organization represented

 8  on the 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. The community partners may

14  include, but are not limited to, county and municipal

15  governments, such as local extension services; 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

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 develop criteria and procedures for

29  approving and rejecting certification applications and

30  monitoring compliance with the certification of a supervised

31  visitation program. The clearinghouse shall recommend the

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 1  process for phasing in the implementation of the standards and

 2  certification procedures, criteria for distributing funds to

 3  eligible programs, and the state entity that should certify

 4  and monitor the supervised visitation programs.

 5         (4)  The clearinghouse shall submit a preliminary

 6  report containing its recommendations for the uniform

 7  standards and the certification and monitoring developed to

 8  date by December 31, 2007, and a final report of all

 9  recommendations by December 31, 2008, to the President of the

10  Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the

11  Chief Justice 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 off-duty for that program.

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 under this section shall be used by the supervised

15  visitation programs to prevent child abuse and domestic

16  violence. On a yearly basis, the department shall transfer the

17  fees collected to the Grants and Donations Trust Fund to be

18  distributed to the supervised visitation programs by the

19  Department of Children and Family Services as provided in s.

20  753.06.

21         Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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 1            *****************************************

 2                          SENATE SUMMARY

 3    Repeals provisions relating to the Florida Family
      Visitation Network. Provides legislative findings and
 4    intent with respect to administering supervised
      visitation programs. Provides for developing standards
 5    for supervised visitation and supervised exchange
      services. Requires compliance with interim minimum
 6    standards. Provides for security of supervised visitation
      programs. Provides for the use of funds generated from an
 7    additional fee on requests for a certification of birth
      to be used by supervised visitation programs to meet
 8    security standards. Requires the Clearinghouse on
      Supervised Visitation to develop training materials.
 9    Encourages supervised visitation programs to develop
      partnerships with community organizations. Directs the
10    clearinghouse to develop standards for supervised
      visitation and supervised exchange services. Creates an
11    advisory board. Requires the Criminal Justice Standards
      and Training Commission to allow agencies employing law
12    enforcement officers to authorize volunteer service as a
      means of fulfilling requirements for continuing
13    education. Authorizes law enforcement agencies to
      administer a volunteer program for officers to provide
14    security services during off-duty hours for certain
      community programs. Requires the Department of Health to
15    charge an additional fee for requests for a certification
      of birth issued by the department. Requires that the fee
16    be used to fund supervised visitation programs.

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