Florida Senate - 2017                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1044
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì1263460Î126346                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/26/2017           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Garcia) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 1773 - 1829
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 27. Effective January 1, 2018, section 409.16741,
    6  Florida Statutes, is created to read:
    7         409.16741 Substance-exposed newborns; legislative findings
    8  and intent; screening and assessment; case management;
    9  training.—
   10         (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.–
   11         (a) The Legislature finds that children, their families,
   12  and child welfare agencies have been affected by multiple
   13  substance abuse epidemics over the past several decades, and
   14  parental substance abuse is again becoming a growing reason for
   15  removing children from their homes and placing them in foster
   16  care.
   17         (b) The Legislature also finds that infants are the largest
   18  age group of children entering foster care and that parental
   19  substance abuse disorders are having a major impact not only on
   20  increasing child removals, but also on preventing or delaying
   21  reunification of families and increasing termination of parental
   22  rights.
   23         (c) The Legislature further finds that two aspects of
   24  parental substance abuse affect the child welfare system:
   25  prenatal exposure when it is determined that there are immediate
   26  safety factors that necessitate the newborn being placed in
   27  protective custody; and postnatal use that affects the ability
   28  of the parent to safely care for the child.
   29         (d) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that the
   30  department establish and monitor a coordinated approach to
   31  working with children and their families affected by substance
   32  abuse and dependence.
   33         (2) SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT.—The department shall develop
   34  or adopt one or more initial screening and assessment
   35  instruments to identify, determine the needs of, and plan
   36  services for substance-exposed newborns and their families. In
   37  addition to the conditions of the infant, conditions or
   38  behaviors of the mother or father which may indicate a risk of
   39  harm to the child shall be considered during any assessment.
   40         (3) CASE MANAGEMENT.—
   41         (a) The department shall conduct regular multidisciplinary
   42  staffings relating to services provided for substance-exposed
   43  newborns and their families to ensure that all parties possess
   44  relevant information and that services are coordinated across
   45  systems identified in this chapter. The department or community
   46  based care lead agency, as appropriate, shall coordinate these
   47  staffings and include individuals involved in the child’s care.
   48         (b) Each region of the department and each community-based
   49  care lead agency shall jointly assess local service capacity to
   50  meet the specialized service needs of substance-exposed newborns
   51  and their families and establish a plan to develop the necessary
   52  capacity. Each plan shall be developed in consultation with
   53  entities and agencies involved in the individuals’ care.
   54         (4) TRAINING.—The department and community-based care lead
   55  agencies shall ensure that cases in which there is a substance
   56  exposed newborn are assigned to child protective investigators
   57  and case managers who have specialized training in working with
   58  substance-exposed newborns and their families. The department
   59  and lead agencies shall ensure that child protective
   60  investigators and case managers receive this training before
   61  accepting a case when possible. If a child protective
   62  investigator or case manager with specialized training is not
   63  available, the investigator or case manager shall consult with
   64  department staff or the case management organization staff with
   65  such expertise.
   66  
   67  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   68  And the title is amended as follows:
   69         Delete line 136
   70  and insert:
   71         cases when possible; providing for consultation;
   72         creating s. 409.16742, F.S.; providing