Florida Senate - 2024                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 536
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì418884SÎ418884                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/13/2024           .                                
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       The Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services
       (Garcia) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 172 - 399
    4  and insert:
    5         not disclosed to the department. Civil penalties must be
    6  paid by the board and not from any state or federal funds.
    7         2.If a contract is executed for which a conflict of
    8  interest was not disclosed to the department before execution of
    9  the contract, the following penalties apply:
   10         a.A civil penalty in the amount of $50,000 for a first
   11  offense.
   12         b.A civil penalty in the amount of $100,000 for a second
   13  or subsequent offense.
   14         3.The civil penalties for failure to disclose a conflict
   15  of interest under subparagraphs 1. and 2. apply to any contract
   16  entered into, regardless of the method of procurement,
   17  including, but not limited to, formal procurement, single-source
   18  contracts, and contracts that do not meet the minimum threshold
   19  for formal procurement.
   20         4.A contract procured for which a conflict of interest was
   21  not disclosed to the department before execution of the contract
   22  must be reprocured.
   23         5.The department may, at its sole discretion, prohibit
   24  execution of a contract for which a conflict of interest exists,
   25  or will exist after execution.
   26         Section 2. Paragraphs (c), (i), (j), (k), and (l) of
   27  subsection (1) of section 409.988, Florida Statutes, are amended
   28  to read:
   29         409.988 Community-based care lead agency duties; general
   30  provisions.—
   31         (1) DUTIES.—A lead agency:
   32         (c) Shall follow the financial guidelines developed by the
   33  department and shall comply with regular, independent auditing
   34  of its financial activities, including any requests for records
   35  associated with such financial audits within the timeframe
   36  established by the department or its contracted vendors provide
   37  for a regular independent auditing of its financial activities.
   38  The results of the financial audit must Such financial
   39  information shall be provided to the community alliance
   40  established under s. 20.19(5).
   41         (i) Shall comply with federal and state statutory
   42  requirements and agency rules in the provision of contractual
   43  services. Any subcontract in excess of $250,000 must comply with
   44  the competitive procurement process.
   45         (j) May subcontract for the provision of services,
   46  excluding management and oversight functions, required by the
   47  contract with the lead agency and the department; however, the
   48  subcontracts must specify how the provider will contribute to
   49  the lead agency meeting the performance standards established
   50  pursuant to the child welfare results-oriented accountability
   51  system required by s. 409.997. The contract with the department
   52  must detail the administrative functions and services the lead
   53  agency is allowed to subcontract. The lead agency shall directly
   54  provide no more than 35 percent of all child welfare services
   55  provided unless it can demonstrate a need, within the lead
   56  agency’s geographic service area where there is a lack of viable
   57  providers available to perform the necessary services. The
   58  approval period to exceed the threshold is limited to 2 years.
   59  During this 2-year period, the lead agency must submit quarterly
   60  reports to the department and the community alliance showing its
   61  efforts to recruit providers to the geographic service area. The
   62  lead agency must reprocure for these services before the end of
   63  the 2-year period, to exceed this threshold. The local community
   64  alliance in the geographic service area in which the lead agency
   65  is seeking to exceed the threshold shall review the lead
   66  agency’s justification for need and recommend to the department
   67  whether the department should approve or deny the lead agency’s
   68  request for an exemption from the services threshold. If there
   69  is not a community alliance operating in the geographic service
   70  area in which the lead agency is seeking to exceed the
   71  threshold, such review and approval or denial of the lead
   72  agency’s request for an exemption from the services threshold
   73  must recommendation shall be made by the department. by
   74  representatives of local stakeholders, including at least one
   75  representative from each of the following:
   76         1. The department.
   77         2. The county government.
   78         3. The school district.
   79         4. The county United Way.
   80         5. The county sheriff’s office.
   81         6. The circuit court corresponding to the county.
   82         7. The county children’s board, if one exists.
   83         (k) Shall publish on its website by the 15th day of each
   84  month at a minimum the data specified in subparagraphs 1.-9. 1.
   85  5., calculated using a standard methodology determined by the
   86  department, for the preceding calendar month regarding its case
   87  management services. The following information must shall be
   88  reported by each individual subcontracted case management
   89  provider, by the lead agency, if the lead agency provides case
   90  management services, and in total for all case management
   91  services subcontracted or directly provided by the lead agency:
   92         1. The average caseload of case managers, including only
   93  filled positions;
   94         2. The total number and percentage of case managers who
   95  have 25 or more cases on their caseloads;
   96         3. The turnover rate for case managers and case management
   97  supervisors for the previous 12 months;
   98         4. The percentage of required home visits completed; and
   99         5. Performance on outcome measures required pursuant to s.
  100  409.997 for the previous 12 months;.
  101         6.The number of unlicensed placements for the previous
  102  month;
  103         7.The percentage and trends for foster parent and group
  104  home recruitment and licensure for the previous month;
  105         8.The percentage of families being served through family
  106  support, in-home, and out-of-home services for the previous
  107  month; and
  108         9.The percentage of cases that converted from nonjudicial
  109  to judicial for the previous month.
  110  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  111  And the title is amended as follows:
  112         Delete lines 20 - 28
  113  and insert:
  114         community-based care lead agency duties;