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The Committee on Health and Human Services Appropriations (Gaetz)

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recommended the following amendment:

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     Senate Amendment (with directory clause amendment)

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     Between lines 153 and 154,

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insert:

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     (e)  Abandons the child. Within the context of the

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definition of "harm," the term "abandoned the child" or

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"abandonment of the child" means a situation in which the parent

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or legal custodian of a child or, in the absence of a parent or

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legal custodian, the caregiver, while being able, makes no

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provision for the child's support and has failed to establish or

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maintain a substantial and positive relationship with the child.

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For purposes of this paragraph, "establish or maintain a

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substantial and positive relationship" includes, but is not

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limited to, frequent and regular contact with the child through

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frequent and regular visitation or frequent and regular

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communication to or with the child, and the exercise of parental

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rights and responsibilities. Marginal efforts and incidental or

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token visits or communications are not sufficient to establish or

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maintain a substantial and positive relationship with a child.

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"abandons the child" means that the parent or legal custodian of

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a child or, in the absence of a parent or legal custodian, the

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person responsible for the child's welfare, while being able,

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makes no provision for the child's support and makes no effort to

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communicate with the child, which situation is sufficient to

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evince a willful rejection of parental obligation. If the efforts

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of the parent or legal custodian or person primarily responsible

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for the child's welfare to support and communicate with the child

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are only marginal efforts that do not evince a settled purpose to

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assume all parental duties, the child may be determined to have

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been abandoned. The term "abandoned" does not include an

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abandoned newborn infant as described in s. 383.50.

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====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T =====

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And the directory clause is amended as follows:

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     Delete line 112

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and insert:

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     Section 1.  Subsection (1), paragraphs (e) and (g) of

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present

4/7/2008  10:44:00 AM     4-05884A-08