Florida Senate - 2009 CS for SB 1278
By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
and Senator Altman
585-03972-09 20091278c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to prepaid services for parents of
3 children with developmental disabilities; creating the
4 Prepaid Services for Parents of Children with
5 Developmental Disabilities Study Group to evaluate the
6 creation of a prepaid service plan for children with
7 disabilities; providing for membership; providing for
8 administrative support; providing for the duties of
9 the study group; providing for per diem and travel
10 expenses for members; requiring the study group to
11 present a final report to the Legislature; providing
12 an effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. (1) The Prepaid Services for Parents of Children
17 with Developmental Disabilities Study Group is created for the
18 purpose of evaluating the creation of a prepaid service plan for
19 children with disabilities modeled after the Florida prepaid
20 college program. Such a prepaid service plan would allow funds
21 to be paid into a plan on behalf of a child and then, when the
22 child exits an exceptional student program, provide the child
23 with a voucher to purchase additional services from a qualified,
24 willing service provider. These services would provide support
25 to help the parent retain the benefits to the child of the
26 exceptional student program and to help the child transition to
27 the workforce whenever possible.
28 (2) The study group shall consist of the following:
29 (a) A member of the House of Representatives appointed by
30 the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
31 (b) A member of the Senate appointed by the President of
32 the Senate.
33 (c) The director of the Agency for Persons with
34 Disabilities, or his or her designee.
35 (d) The director of the Division of Vocational
36 Rehabilitation, or his or her designee.
37 (e) The executive director of the State Board of
38 Administration, or his or her designee.
39 (f) The Commissioner of Education, or his or her designee.
40 (g) The executive director of The Arc of Florida, or his or
41 her designee.
42 (h) An Arc of Florida family board member appointed by the
43 executive director of The Arc of Florida.
44 (i) The chairperson of the Family Care Council Florida, or
45 his or her designee.
46 (j) A parent representative from the Family Care Council
47 Florida appointed by the chairperson of the Family Care Council
48 Florida.
49 (3) The Agency for Persons with Disabilities shall provide
50 administrative support for the study group.
51 (4) The study group shall evaluate and develop findings and
52 recommendations regarding the following:
53 (a) The services for which such a voucher could be used.
54 (b) The financial requirements for such a system.
55 (c) The qualifications of service providers.
56 (d) The steps that would be necessary to qualify prepaid
57 service plan funds for a federal waiver match program or other
58 federal funding and the possibilities of such a waiver match or
59 other federal funding.
60 (5) Members of the study group shall serve without
61 compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement for per diem and
62 travel expenses as provided in s. 112.061, Florida Statutes.
63 (6) The members of the study group shall be appointed by
64 July 30, 2009, and shall hold their first meeting by September
65 1, 2009. The final report of the study group shall be presented
66 to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
67 Representatives no later than January 29, 2010. The group is
68 abolished and this section is repealed upon submission of the
69 group’s final report.
70 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.