Florida Senate - 2015                                  SB 2510-A
       
       
        
       By Senator Lee
       
       
       
       
       
       24-00013-15A                                         20152510A__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to allocation of funds for community
    3         based care lead agencies; amending s. 409.991, F.S.;
    4         revising the equity allocation model for funding
    5         community-based care lead agencies; providing an
    6         effective date.
    7          
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Section 409.991, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   11  read:
   12         409.991 Allocation of funds for community-based care lead
   13  agencies.—
   14         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   15         (a) “Core services funds funding” means all funds allocated
   16  to community-based care lead agencies operating under contract
   17  with the department pursuant to s. 409.987, with the following
   18  exceptions:
   19         1. Funds appropriated for independent living;
   20         2. Funds appropriated for maintenance adoption subsidies;
   21         3. Funds allocated by the department for protective
   22  investigations training;
   23         4. Nonrecurring funds;
   24         5. Designated mental health wrap-around services funds; and
   25         6. Funds for special projects for a designated community
   26  based care lead agency.
   27         (b) “Equity allocation model” means an allocation model
   28  that uses the following factors:
   29         1. Proportion of the child population children in poverty;
   30         2. Proportion of child abuse hotline workload; and
   31         3. Proportion of children in care; and
   32         4. Proportion of contribution in the reduction of out-of
   33  home care.
   34         (c) “Proportion of child population” means the proportion
   35  of children, up to 18 years of age during the previous calendar
   36  year, in the geographic area served by the community-based care
   37  lead agency “Proportion of children in poverty” means the
   38  average of the proportion of children in the geographic area
   39  served by the community-based care lead agency based on the
   40  following subcomponents:
   41         1. Children up to 18 years of age who are below the poverty
   42  level as determined by the latest available Small Area Income
   43  and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) from the United States Census
   44  Bureau;
   45         2. Children eligible for free or reduced-price meals as
   46  determined by the latest available survey published by the
   47  Department of Education; and
   48         3. The number of children in families receiving benefits
   49  from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
   50  (SNAP) in the most recent month as determined by the department.
   51         (d) “Proportion of child abuse hotline workload” means the
   52  weighted average of the following subcomponents:
   53         1. The average number of initial and additional child abuse
   54  reports received during the month for the most recent 12 months
   55  based on child protective investigations trend reports as
   56  determined by the department. This subcomponent shall be
   57  weighted as 20 percent of the factor.
   58         2. The average count of children in investigations in the
   59  most recent 12 months based on child protective investigations
   60  trend reports as determined by the department. This subcomponent
   61  shall be weighted as 40 percent of the factor.
   62         3. The average count of children in investigations with a
   63  most serious finding of verified abuse in the most recent 12
   64  months based on child protective investigations trend reports as
   65  determined by the department. This subcomponent shall be
   66  weighted as 40 percent of the factor.
   67         (e) “Proportion of children in care” means the proportion
   68  of the sum of the number of children in care receiving in-home
   69  services and the number of children in out-of-home care with a
   70  case management overlay during the most recent 12-month period.
   71  This subcomponent shall be weighted as follows:
   72         1. Sixty percent shall be based on children in out-of-home
   73  care.
   74         2. Forty percent shall be based on children in in-home care
   75  at the end of the most recent month as reported in the child
   76  welfare services trend reports as determined by the department.
   77         (f) “Proportion of contribution in the reduction of out-of
   78  home care” means the proportion of the number of children in
   79  out-of-home care on December 31, 2006, minus the number of
   80  children in out-of-home care as of the end of the most recent
   81  month as reported in the child welfare services trend reports as
   82  determined by the department.
   83         (2) The equity allocation of core services funds shall be
   84  calculated based on the following weights:
   85         (a) Proportion of the child population children in poverty
   86  shall be weighted as 5 30 percent of the total;
   87         (b) Proportion of child abuse hotline workload shall be
   88  weighted as 15 30 percent of the total; and
   89         (c) Proportion of children in care shall be weighted as 80
   90  30 percent of the total; and
   91         (d) Proportion of contribution to the reduction in out-of
   92  home care shall be weighted as 10 percent of the total.
   93         (3) Beginning in the 2015-2016 2013-2014 state fiscal year,
   94  100 90 percent of the recurring core services funding for each
   95  community-based care lead agency shall be based on the prior
   96  year recurring base of core services funds and 10 percent shall
   97  be based on the equity allocation model.
   98         (4) Unless otherwise specified in the General
   99  Appropriations Act, any new core services funds shall be
  100  allocated based on the equity allocation model as follows:
  101         (a) Twenty percent of new funding shall be allocated among
  102  all community-based care lead agencies.
  103         (b) Eighty percent of new funding shall be allocated among
  104  community-based care lead agencies that are funded below their
  105  equitable share. Funds allocated pursuant to this paragraph
  106  shall be weighted based on each community-based care lead
  107  agency’s relative proportion of the total amount of funding
  108  below the equitable share. Such allocations must be proportional
  109  to the proportion of funding based on the equity model and
  110  allocated only to the community-based care lead agency contracts
  111  if the current funding proportion is less than the proportion of
  112  funding based on the equity model.
  113         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.