Florida Senate - 2011             CONFERENCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 2114
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 153282                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                 Floor: AD/CR          .                                
             05/06/2011 05:34 PM       .                                
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       The Conference Committee on SB 2114 recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Conference Committee Amendment (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 1. Section 985.441, Florida Statutes, is amended to
    7  read:
    8         985.441 Commitment.—
    9         (1) The court that has jurisdiction of an adjudicated
   10  delinquent child may, by an order stating the facts upon which a
   11  determination of a sanction and rehabilitative program was made
   12  at the disposition hearing:
   13         (a) Commit the child to a licensed child-caring agency
   14  willing to receive the child; however, the court may not commit
   15  the child to a jail or to a facility used primarily as a
   16  detention center or facility or shelter.
   17         (b) Commit the child to the department at a restrictiveness
   18  level defined in s. 985.03. Such commitment must be for the
   19  purpose of exercising active control over the child, including,
   20  but not limited to, custody, care, training, urine monitoring
   21  for substance abuse, electronic monitoring, and treatment of the
   22  child and release of the child from residential commitment into
   23  the community in a postcommitment nonresidential conditional
   24  release program. If the child is not successful in the
   25  conditional release program, the department may use the transfer
   26  procedure under subsection (4) (3).
   27         (c) Commit the child to the department for placement in a
   28  program or facility for serious or habitual juvenile offenders
   29  in accordance with s. 985.47.
   30         1. Following a delinquency adjudicatory hearing under s.
   31  985.35 and a delinquency disposition hearing under s. 985.433
   32  that results in a commitment determination, the court shall, on
   33  its own or upon request by the state or the department,
   34  determine whether the protection of the public requires that the
   35  child be placed in a program for serious or habitual juvenile
   36  offenders and whether the particular needs of the child would be
   37  best served by a program for serious or habitual juvenile
   38  offenders as provided in s. 985.47. The determination shall be
   39  made under ss. 985.47(1) and 985.433(7).
   40         2. Any commitment of a child to a program or facility for
   41  serious or habitual juvenile offenders must be for an
   42  indeterminate period of time, but the time may not exceed the
   43  maximum term of imprisonment that an adult may serve for the
   44  same offense.
   45         (d) Commit the child to the department for placement in a
   46  program or facility for juvenile sexual offenders in accordance
   47  with s. 985.48, subject to specific appropriation for such a
   48  program or facility.
   49         1. The child may only be committed for such placement
   50  pursuant to determination that the child is a juvenile sexual
   51  offender under the criteria specified in s. 985.475.
   52         2. Any commitment of a juvenile sexual offender to a
   53  program or facility for juvenile sexual offenders must be for an
   54  indeterminate period of time, but the time may not exceed the
   55  maximum term of imprisonment that an adult may serve for the
   56  same offense.
   57         (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the court having
   58  jurisdiction over an adjudicated delinquent child whose
   59  underlying offense was a misdemeanor may not commit the child
   60  for any misdemeanor offense or any probation violation at a
   61  restrictiveness level other than minimum-risk nonresidential
   62  unless the probation violation is a new violation of law
   63  constituting a felony. However, the court may commit such child
   64  to a low-risk or moderate-risk residential placement if:
   65         1. The child has previously been adjudicated for a felony
   66  offense;
   67         2. The child has been adjudicated or had adjudication
   68  withheld for three or more misdemeanor offenses;
   69         3. The child is before the court for disposition for a
   70  violation of s. 800.03, s. 806.031, or s. 828.12; or
   71         4. The court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that
   72  the protection of the public requires such placement or that the
   73  particular needs of the child would be best served by such
   74  placement. Such finding must be in writing.
   75         (3)(2) The nonconsent of the child to commitment or
   76  treatment in a substance abuse treatment program in no way
   77  precludes the court from ordering such commitment or treatment.
   78         (4)(3) The department may transfer a child, when necessary
   79  to appropriately administer the child’s commitment, from one
   80  facility or program to another facility or program operated,
   81  contracted, subcontracted, or designated by the department,
   82  including a postcommitment nonresidential conditional release
   83  program, except that the department may not transfer any child
   84  adjudicated solely for a misdemeanor to a residential program
   85  except as provided in subsection (2). The department shall
   86  notify the court that committed the child to the department and
   87  any attorney of record for the child, in writing, of its intent
   88  to transfer the child from a commitment facility or program to
   89  another facility or program of a higher or lower restrictiveness
   90  level. The court that committed the child may agree to the
   91  transfer or may set a hearing to review the transfer. If the
   92  court does not respond within 10 days after receipt of the
   93  notice, the transfer of the child shall be deemed granted.
   94         Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (5) of section
   95  985.0301, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   96         985.0301 Jurisdiction.—
   97         (5)
   98         (d) The court may retain jurisdiction over a child
   99  committed to the department for placement in a juvenile prison
  100  or in a high-risk or maximum-risk residential commitment program
  101  to allow the child to participate in a juvenile conditional
  102  release program pursuant to s. 985.46. In no case shall The
  103  jurisdiction of the court may not be retained after beyond the
  104  child’s 22nd birthday. However, if the child is not successful
  105  in the conditional release program, the department may use the
  106  transfer procedure under s. 985.441(4) s. 985.441(3).
  107         Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 985.033, Florida
  108  Statutes, is amended to read:
  109         985.033 Right to counsel.—
  110         (2) This section does not apply to transfer proceedings
  111  under s. 985.441(4) s. 985.441(3), unless the court sets a
  112  hearing to review the transfer.
  113         Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 985.46, Florida
  114  Statutes, is amended to read:
  115         985.46 Conditional release.—
  116         (4) A juvenile under nonresidential commitment placement
  117  continues will continue to be on commitment status and is
  118  subject to the transfer provision under s. 985.441(4) s.
  119  985.441(3).
  120         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.
  121  
  122  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  123  And the title is amended as follows:
  124  
  125         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  126  and insert:
  127                        A bill to be entitled                      
  128         An act relating to juvenile justice; amending s.
  129         985.441, F.S.; revising provisions concerning active
  130         control over a child committed to the Department of
  131         Juvenile Justice; prohibiting a court from committing
  132         certain youth at a restrictiveness level other than
  133         minimum-risk nonresidential; authorizing a court to
  134         commit certain youth to a low-risk or moderate-risk
  135         residential placement; limiting transfers of certain
  136         youth; amending ss. 985.0301, 985.033, and 985.46,
  137         F.S.; conforming cross-references; providing an
  138         effective date.
  139  
  140         WHEREAS, 94 percent of Florida youth grow up to be
  141  productive citizens, but the 6 percent of Florida youth who
  142  become delinquent cost the state of Florida an average of $5,200
  143  per child annually according to 2008 statistics, and
  144         WHEREAS, according to national studies, 27 percent of
  145  abused or neglected children become delinquent, and
  146         WHEREAS, one of the most effective ways to reduce
  147  delinquency is to prevent child abuse, abandonment, and neglect,
  148  and
  149         WHEREAS, Florida’s juvenile commitment programs have a 39
  150  percent recidivism rate within 1 year, and
  151         WHEREAS, the Department of Juvenile Justice shows that 59
  152  percent of the juveniles being rearrested offend within 120 days
  153  after being released, revealing a critical transition period
  154  currently not being addressed, and
  155         WHEREAS, the State of Washington undertook a study that
  156  demonstrated that a significant level of future prison
  157  construction can be avoided, taxpayer dollars can be saved, and
  158  crime rates can be reduced by a portfolio of evidence-based
  159  youth service options, and
  160         WHEREAS, it has been proven that at-risk youth benefit from
  161  a comprehensive approach through coordination of intensive
  162  prevention, diversion, and family services, and
  163         WHEREAS, local management fosters all these approaches,
  164  ensures stronger relationships between providers and the family,
  165  and allows providers to assist in strengthening relationships
  166  between the child and the family, and
  167         WHEREAS, instead of competing for funding, prevention,
  168  diversion, and juvenile justice services should cooperate with
  169  the goal of keeping youth out of juvenile detention, NOW,
  170  THEREFORE,