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