Florida Senate - 2013 SB 1834
By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs
586-03368-13 20131834__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to crossover youth; creating a pilot
3 project to serve youth in common to the Department of
4 Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile
5 Justice; providing for selection of a county for the
6 project; requiring the Secretary of Children and
7 Families to seek proposals from interested providers;
8 specifying elements to be included in the project;
9 requiring reports to the Governor and the Legislature;
10 providing an effective date.
11
12 WHEREAS, hundreds of youth each month in this state are
13 served in both the child welfare system and juvenile justice
14 system, and
15 WHEREAS, a significant number of these children who reside
16 in residential group homes have felony arrest records, and
17 WHEREAS, these youth tend to have a greater need for
18 specialized services and can have a negative effect on other
19 youth in the same group residential settings, and
20 WHEREAS, the state needs to assess the impact of these
21 youth on the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and to
22 develop better integrated systems of care and improved services
23 to respond to the needs of these youth, NOW, THEREFORE,
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Crossover Youth pilot project.–The Crossover
28 Youth pilot project is established as a collaborative initiative
29 of the Department of Children and Families and the Department of
30 Juvenile Justice. The project will demonstrate a more effective
31 service model for crossover youth, efficient coordination of
32 services between agencies, and the evidence of improved outcomes
33 for youth residing in the pilot project facility. The term
34 “crossover youth” means youth younger than 18 years of age who
35 receive services from the Department of Children and Families
36 and the Department of Juvenile Justice.
37 (1) The pilot project shall be in one county with a high
38 rate of crossover youth which is mutually agreed upon by the
39 Secretary of Children and Families and the Secretary of Juvenile
40 Justice. Counties that have a unified family court shall be
41 given preference.
42 (2) The Secretary of Children and Families shall seek
43 proposals from interested child welfare service providers to
44 elicit innovative approaches for the pilot project. The
45 Secretary of Children and Families, in consultation with the
46 Secretary of Juvenile Justice, shall select one or more
47 residential homes from the pilot county to participate in the
48 project.
49 (3) The pilot project must include, but need not be limited
50 to, the following:
51 (a) Training provided by the Department of Juvenile Justice
52 to pilot home staff.
53 (b) Intervention services by the Department of Juvenile
54 Justice to youth on probation who reside in pilot homes.
55 (c) Enhanced security measures at pilot homes.
56 (d) Unified treatment plans for crossover youth served by
57 multiple state and local agencies.
58 (e) Interventions to ensure that youth at low risk of
59 reoffending are not negatively affected by high-risk crossover
60 youth.
61 (4) The pilot project must begin no later than July 1,
62 2013, and must end June 30, 2014.
63 (5) The Department of Children and Families and the
64 Department of Juvenile Justice shall jointly prepare an interim
65 report and final report on findings and recommendations relating
66 to the pilot project. The reports must include performance
67 measure data, including, but not limited to:
68 (a) The number of youth served by the pilot project,
69 including demographic information, prior offense history, and
70 relative risk to reoffend at time of placement as determined by
71 the Department of Juvenile Justice.
72 (b) The number of youth who receive a charge for a new
73 violation of law while under supervision of the pilot project.
74 (c) The number of youth who receive a violation of
75 probation while under supervision of the pilot project.
76 (d) The reduction in risk factors.
77 (e) The increase in protective factors.
78 (f) The number of youth who transfer out of the pilot home
79 for behavioral reasons.
80 (g) The number of calls to law enforcement as a result of
81 incidents involving youth in the pilot home.
82 (h) The academic performance of youth in the pilot home.
83
84 The interim report is due December 31, 2013, and the final
85 report is due August 31, 2014. The Department of Children and
86 Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice shall submit the
87 reports to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
88 Speaker of the House of Representatives.
89 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.