Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 304
Ì826378RÎ826378
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/13/2025 .
.
.
.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs (Sharief)
recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
6 section 39.201, Florida Statutes, to read:
7 39.201 Required reports of child abuse, abandonment, or
8 neglect, sexual abuse of a child, and juvenile sexual abuse;
9 required reports of death; reports involving a child who has
10 exhibited inappropriate sexual behavior.—
11 (1) MANDATORY REPORTING.—
12 (d) Any report made by a person whose occupation is listed
13 in sub-subparagraph (b)2.a. must contain a summary of the
14 analysis used to rule out a differential diagnosis of the
15 conditions specified in s. 39.303(4)(b).
16 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2), paragraph (a)
17 of subsection (5), and paragraph (c) of subsection (14) of
18 section 39.301, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
19 39.301 Initiation of protective investigations.—
20 (2)(a) The department shall immediately forward allegations
21 of criminal conduct to the municipal or county law enforcement
22 agency of the municipality or county in which the alleged
23 conduct has occurred, unless the parent or legal custodian:
24 1. Has alleged that the child has a preexisting diagnosis
25 specified in s. 39.303(4)(b); or
26 2. Is requesting that the child have an examination under
27 s. 39.304(1)(c).
28
29 Allegations of criminal conduct that are not immediately
30 forwarded to the law enforcement agency pursuant to subparagraph
31 1. or subparagraph 2. must be immediately forwarded to the law
32 enforcement agency upon completion of the investigation under
33 this part if criminal conduct is still alleged.
34 (5)(a) Upon commencing an investigation under this part,
35 the child protective investigator shall inform any subject of
36 the investigation of the following:
37 1. The names of the investigators and identifying
38 credentials from the department.
39 2. The purpose of the investigation.
40 3. The right to obtain his or her own attorney and ways
41 that the information provided by the subject may be used.
42 4. The possible outcomes and services of the department’s
43 response.
44 5. The right of the parent or legal custodian to be engaged
45 to the fullest extent possible in determining the nature of the
46 allegation and the nature of any identified problem and the
47 remedy.
48 6. The duty of the parent or legal custodian to report any
49 change in the residence or location of the child to the
50 investigator and that the duty to report continues until the
51 investigation is closed.
52 7. The duty of the parent or legal custodian to report any
53 preexisting diagnosis for the child which is specified in s.
54 39.303(4)(b) and provide any medical records that support that
55 diagnosis in a timely manner.
56 (14)
57 (c) The department, in consultation with the judiciary,
58 shall adopt by rule:
59 1. Criteria that are factors requiring that the department
60 take the child into custody, petition the court as provided in
61 this chapter, or, if the child is not taken into custody or a
62 petition is not filed with the court, conduct an administrative
63 review. Such factors must include, but are not limited to,
64 noncompliance with a safety plan or the case plan developed by
65 the department, and the family under this chapter, and prior
66 abuse reports with findings that involve the child, the child’s
67 sibling, or the child’s caregiver.
68 2. Requirements that if after an administrative review the
69 department determines not to take the child into custody or
70 petition the court, the department shall document the reason for
71 its decision in writing and include it in the investigative
72 file. For all cases that were accepted by the local law
73 enforcement agency for criminal investigation pursuant to
74 subsection (2), the department must include in the file written
75 documentation that the administrative review included input from
76 law enforcement. In addition, for all cases that must be
77 referred to Child Protection Teams pursuant to s. 39.303(5) and
78 (6) s. 39.303(4) and (5), the file must include written
79 documentation that the administrative review included the
80 results of the team’s evaluation.
81 Section 3. Present subsections (4) through (10) of section
82 39.303, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (5)
83 through (11), respectively, a new subsection (4) is added to
84 that section, and subsection (3) and present subsections (5) and
85 (6) of that section are amended, to read:
86 39.303 Child Protection Teams and sexual abuse treatment
87 programs; services; eligible cases.—
88 (3) The Department of Health shall use and convene the
89 Child Protection Teams to supplement the assessment and
90 protective supervision activities of the family safety and
91 preservation program of the Department of Children and Families.
92 This section does not remove or reduce the duty and
93 responsibility of any person to report pursuant to this chapter
94 all suspected or actual cases of child abuse, abandonment, or
95 neglect or sexual abuse of a child. The role of the Child
96 Protection Teams is to support activities of the program and to
97 provide services deemed by the Child Protection Teams to be
98 necessary and appropriate to abused, abandoned, and neglected
99 children upon referral. The specialized diagnostic assessment,
100 evaluation, coordination, consultation, and other supportive
101 services that a Child Protection Team must be capable of
102 providing include, but are not limited to, the following:
103 (a) Medical diagnosis and evaluation services, including
104 provision or interpretation of X rays and laboratory tests, and
105 related services, as needed, and documentation of related
106 findings.
107 (b) Telephone consultation services in emergencies and in
108 other situations.
109 (c) Medical evaluation related to abuse, abandonment, or
110 neglect, as defined by policy or rule of the Department of
111 Health.
112 (d) Such psychological and psychiatric diagnosis and
113 evaluation services for the child or the child’s parent or
114 parents, legal custodian or custodians, or other caregivers, or
115 any other individual involved in a child abuse, abandonment, or
116 neglect case, as the team may determine to be needed.
117 (e) Expert medical, psychological, and related professional
118 testimony in court cases.
119 (f) Case staffings to develop treatment plans for children
120 whose cases have been referred to the team. A Child Protection
121 Team may provide consultation with respect to a child who is
122 alleged or is shown to be abused, abandoned, or neglected, which
123 consultation shall be provided at the request of a
124 representative of the family safety and preservation program or
125 at the request of any other professional involved with a child
126 or the child’s parent or parents, legal custodian or custodians,
127 or other caregivers. In every such Child Protection Team case
128 staffing, consultation, or staff activity involving a child, a
129 family safety and preservation program representative shall
130 attend and participate.
131 (g) Case service coordination and assistance, including the
132 location of services available from other public and private
133 agencies in the community.
134 (h) Such training services for program and other employees
135 of the Department of Children and Families, employees of the
136 Department of Health, and other medical professionals as is
137 deemed appropriate to enable them to develop and maintain their
138 professional skills and abilities in handling child abuse,
139 abandonment, and neglect cases. The training service must
140 include training in the recognition of and appropriate responses
141 to head trauma and brain injury in a child under 6 years of age
142 as required by ss. 402.402(2) and 409.988.
143 (i) Educational and community awareness campaigns on child
144 abuse, abandonment, and neglect in an effort to enable citizens
145 more successfully to prevent, identify, and treat child abuse,
146 abandonment, and neglect in the community.
147 (j) Child Protection Team assessments that include, as
148 appropriate, medical evaluations, medical consultations, family
149 psychosocial interviews, specialized clinical interviews, or
150 forensic interviews.
151
152 A Child Protection Team that is evaluating a report of medical
153 neglect and assessing the health care needs of a medically
154 complex child shall consult with a physician who has experience
155 in treating children with the same condition.
156 (4) A Child Protection Team shall consult with a physician
157 licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or an advanced
158 practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 464 who has
159 experience in and routinely provides medical care to pediatric
160 patients when evaluating a report of:
161 (a) Medical neglect and assessing the needs of a medically
162 complex child; or
163 (b) A child with a reported preexisting diagnosis of any of
164 the following:
165 1. Rickets.
166 2. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
167 3. Osteogenesis imperfecta.
168 4. Vitamin D deficiency.
169 5. Any other medical condition known to appear to be caused
170 by, or known to be misdiagnosed as, abuse.
171 (6)(5) All abuse and neglect cases transmitted for
172 investigation to a circuit by the hotline must be simultaneously
173 transmitted to the Child Protection Team for review. For the
174 purpose of determining whether a face-to-face medical evaluation
175 by a Child Protection Team is necessary, all cases transmitted
176 to the Child Protection Team which meet the criteria in
177 subsection (5) (4) must be timely reviewed by:
178 (a) A physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459
179 who holds board certification in pediatrics and is a member of a
180 Child Protection Team;
181 (b) A physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459
182 who holds board certification in a specialty other than
183 pediatrics, who may complete the review only when working under
184 the direction of the Child Protection Team medical director or a
185 physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who holds
186 board certification in pediatrics and is a member of a Child
187 Protection Team;
188 (c) An advanced practice registered nurse licensed under
189 chapter 464 who has a specialty in pediatrics or family medicine
190 and is a member of a Child Protection Team;
191 (d) A physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or
192 chapter 459, who may complete the review only when working under
193 the supervision of the Child Protection Team medical director or
194 a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who holds
195 board certification in pediatrics and is a member of a Child
196 Protection Team; or
197 (e) A registered nurse licensed under chapter 464, who may
198 complete the review only when working under the direct
199 supervision of the Child Protection Team medical director or a
200 physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who holds
201 board certification in pediatrics and is a member of a Child
202 Protection Team.
203 (7)(6) A face-to-face medical evaluation by a Child
204 Protection Team is not necessary when:
205 (a) The child was examined for the alleged abuse or neglect
206 by a physician who is not a member of the Child Protection Team,
207 and a consultation between the Child Protection Team medical
208 director or a Child Protection Team board-certified
209 pediatrician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician
210 assistant working under the supervision of a Child Protection
211 Team medical director or a Child Protection Team board-certified
212 pediatrician, or registered nurse working under the direct
213 supervision of a Child Protection Team medical director or a
214 Child Protection Team board-certified pediatrician, and the
215 examining physician concludes that a further medical evaluation
216 is unnecessary;
217 (b) The child protective investigator, with supervisory
218 approval, has determined, after conducting a child safety
219 assessment, that there are no indications of injuries as
220 described in paragraphs (5)(a)-(h) (4)(a)-(h) as reported; or
221 (c) The Child Protection Team medical director or a Child
222 Protection Team board-certified pediatrician, as authorized in
223 subsection (6) (5), determines that a medical evaluation is not
224 required.
225
226 Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), a Child Protection
227 Team medical director or a Child Protection Team pediatrician,
228 as authorized in subsection (6) (5), may determine that a face
229 to-face medical evaluation is necessary.
230 Section 4. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (1) of
231 section 39.304, Florida Statutes, to read:
232 39.304 Photographs, medical examinations, X rays, and
233 medical treatment of abused, abandoned, or neglected child.—
234 (1)
235 (c) If an examination is performed on a child under
236 paragraph (b), the parent or legal custodian from whom the child
237 was removed pursuant to s. 39.401 may:
238 1. If the initial examination was not performed by the
239 Child Protection Team, request that the child be examined by the
240 Child Protection Team as soon as practicable;
241 2. If the initial examination was performed by the Child
242 Protection Team, for the purpose of obtaining a second opinion
243 on diagnosis or treatment, request that the child be examined by
244 a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or an
245 advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 464 of
246 his or her choosing who routinely provides medical care to
247 pediatric patients; or
248 3. For the purpose of ruling out a differential diagnosis,
249 request that the child be examined by a physician licensed under
250 chapter 458 or chapter 459 or an advanced practice registered
251 nurse licensed under chapter 464 who routinely provides
252 diagnosis of and medical care to pediatric patients for the
253 conditions specified in s. 39.303(4)(b).
254
255 An examination requested under subparagraph 2. or subparagraph
256 3. must be paid for by the parent or legal custodian making such
257 request or as otherwise covered by insurance or Medicaid. An
258 examination may not be requested under this paragraph for the
259 purpose of obtaining a second opinion as to whether a child has
260 been sexually abused.
261 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
262
263 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
264 And the title is amended as follows:
265 Delete everything before the enacting clause
266 and insert:
267 A bill to be entitled
268 An act relating to specific medical diagnoses in child
269 protective investigations; amending s. 39.201, F.S.;
270 requiring that reports made by certain persons contain
271 a summary of a specified analysis; amending s. 39.301,
272 F.S.; providing an exception to the requirement that
273 the Department of Children and Families immediately
274 forward certain allegations to a law enforcement
275 agency; requiring a child protective investigator to
276 inform the subject of an investigation of a certain
277 duty; conforming a cross-reference; amending s.
278 39.303, F.S.; requiring Child Protection Teams to
279 consult with a licensed physician or advanced practice
280 registered nurse when evaluating certain reports;
281 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
282 amending s. 39.304, F.S.; authorizing, under a certain
283 circumstance, a parent or legal custodian from whom a
284 child was removed to request specified examinations of
285 the child; requiring that certain examinations be paid
286 for by the parent or legal custodian making the
287 request or as otherwise covered by insurance or
288 Medicaid; prohibiting the request of an examination
289 for a specified purpose; providing an effective date.