Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 96
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì526162ÉÎ526162                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/25/2021           .                                
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       The Committee on Rules (Book) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (335142) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 508 - 547
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 3. Present subsections (3) through (11) of section
    7  39.2015, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (4)
    8  through (12), respectively, a new subsection (3) is added to
    9  that section, and subsection (1) and present subsections (3) and
   10  (4) of that section are amended, to read:
   11         39.2015 Critical incident rapid response team.—
   12         (1) As part of the department’s quality assurance program,
   13  the department shall provide an immediate multiagency
   14  investigation of certain child deaths or other serious
   15  incidents, including, but not limited to, allegations of sexual
   16  abuse of a child as described in this chapter. The purpose of
   17  such investigation is to identify root causes and rapidly
   18  determine the need to change policies and practices related to
   19  child protection and child welfare.
   20         (3) An immediate onsite investigation conducted by a
   21  critical incident rapid response team is required for all
   22  reports received by the department containing allegations of
   23  sexual abuse of a child as described in this chapter who is
   24  currently placed in out-of-home care if the child was the
   25  subject of a verified report of suspected abuse or neglect
   26  during the previous 6 months. Only one team shall be deployed
   27  for an allegation of sexual abuse that is based on the same act,
   28  criminal episode, or transaction regardless of the number of
   29  reports that are received by the department.
   30         (4)(3) Each investigation shall be conducted by a
   31  multiagency team of at least five professionals with expertise
   32  in child protection, child welfare, and organizational
   33  management. The team may consist of employees of the department,
   34  community-based care lead agencies, Children’s Medical Services,
   35  and community-based care provider organizations; faculty from
   36  the institute consisting of public and private universities
   37  offering degrees in social work established pursuant to s.
   38  1004.615; or any other person with the required expertise. The
   39  team shall include, at a minimum, a Child Protection Team
   40  medical director, a representative from a child advocacy center
   41  pursuant to s. 39.3035 who has specialized training in sexual
   42  abuse, or a combination of such specialists if deemed
   43  appropriate. With respect to investigations conducted under this
   44  section related to allegations of child sexual abuse, the Child
   45  Protection Team medical director may designate a member of the
   46  Child Protection Team to participate in the investigation as his
   47  or her designee. The majority of the team must reside in
   48  judicial circuits outside the location of the incident. The
   49  secretary shall appoint a team leader for each group assigned to
   50  an investigation. Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3), at
   51  the discretion of the team leader, the team or select team
   52  members may conduct all or part of the investigation remotely.
   53         (5)(4) An investigation shall be initiated as soon as
   54  possible, but not later than 2 business days after the case is
   55  reported to the department. A preliminary report on each case
   56  shall be provided to the secretary no later than 30 days after
   57  the investigation begins for the investigation of a child death,
   58  and 45 days for the investigation of an allegation of child
   59  sexual abuse.
   60  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   61  And the title is amended as follows:
   62         Delete line 27
   63  and insert:
   64         membership of multiagency teams; authorizing in
   65         certain circumstances for the investigation to be
   66         conducted remotely; specifying the time in which a
   67         report must be provided to the secretary; amending s.
   68         39.202,