Florida Senate - 2011         (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7118
       
       
       
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Budget
       
       
       
       
       576-02201E-11                                         20117118__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to juvenile justice; creating s.
    3         985.665, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
    4         the term “regional coordinating agency”; providing
    5         requirements for a regional coordinating agency;
    6         requiring the Department of Juvenile Justice to
    7         contract with regional coordinating agencies for
    8         specified services relating to juvenile justice;
    9         giving hiring preference to current department
   10         employees who meet provider qualifications if they
   11         apply for employment with the regional coordinating
   12         agencies; providing that the department may maintain
   13         certain statewide contracts in place on the effective
   14         date of the act; providing for annual measurement and
   15         reporting concerning the outcomes and effectiveness of
   16         community-based juvenile justice services; requiring
   17         regional coordinating agencies to comply with
   18         specified requirements; providing for liability of
   19         regional coordinating agencies and contracted
   20         providers with respect to the treatment of juvenile
   21         offenders; providing for governance of regional
   22         coordinating agencies; providing for 2-year pilot
   23         programs in specified judicial circuits; requiring
   24         that the regional coordinating agencies participating
   25         in the pilot programs be established organizations
   26         within the circuit; requiring the pilot programs to
   27         commence by a specified date; requiring annual
   28         evaluation reports to the Governor and Legislature;
   29         requiring reports; amending s. 985.441, F.S.;
   30         prohibiting a court from committing certain youth at a
   31         restrictiveness level other than minimum-risk
   32         nonresidential; authorizing a court to commit certain
   33         youth to a low- or moderate-risk residential
   34         placement; amending ss. 985.0301, 985.033, and 985.46,
   35         F.S.; conforming cross-references; providing an
   36         effective date.
   37  
   38         WHEREAS, 94 percent of Florida youth grow up to be
   39  productive citizens, but the 6 percent of Florida youth who
   40  become delinquent cost the state of Florida an average of $5,200
   41  per child annually according to 2008 statistics, and
   42         WHEREAS, according to national studies, 27 percent of
   43  abused or neglected children become delinquent, and
   44         WHEREAS, one of the most effective ways to reduce
   45  delinquency is to prevent child abuse, abandonment, and neglect,
   46  and
   47         WHEREAS, Florida’s juvenile commitment programs have a 39
   48  percent recidivism rate within 1 year, and
   49         WHEREAS, the Department of Juvenile Justice shows that 59
   50  percent of the juveniles being rearrested offend within 120 days
   51  after being released, revealing a critical transition period
   52  currently not being addressed, and
   53         WHEREAS, the State of Washington undertook a study that
   54  demonstrated that a significant level of future prison
   55  construction can be avoided, taxpayer dollars can be saved, and
   56  crime rates can be reduced by a portfolio of evidence-based
   57  youth service options, and
   58         WHEREAS, it has been proven that at-risk youth benefit from
   59  a comprehensive approach through coordination of intensive
   60  prevention, diversion, and family services, and
   61         WHEREAS, local management fosters all these approaches,
   62  ensures stronger relationships between providers and the family,
   63  and allows providers to assist in strengthening relationships
   64  between the child and the family, and
   65         WHEREAS, instead of competing for funding, prevention,
   66  diversion, and juvenile justice services should cooperate with
   67  the goal of keeping youth out of juvenile detention, NOW,
   68  THEREFORE,
   69  
   70  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   71  
   72         Section 1. Section 985.665, Florida Statutes, is created to
   73  read:
   74         985.665 Community-based juvenile justice.—
   75         (1)(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to direct the
   76  department to contract with competent community-based agencies
   77  to coordinate and manage juvenile justice and related services.
   78  By implementing community-based juvenile justice, the community
   79  based regional coordinating agency will provide flexibility to
   80  assess needs, apportion the funds allocated to the department
   81  for this purpose, and build the appropriate continuum of care
   82  resulting in more local ownership of juvenile justice problems
   83  and better service outcomes. The community-based juvenile
   84  justice model is designed to treat most of the juveniles in
   85  services that are located and managed in their home communities
   86  and that will promote greater family involvement and engagement,
   87  promote better system and service coordination, and achieve more
   88  significant economic and operational efficiencies. These
   89  services may include intervention, prevention, assessment
   90  centers, diversion programs, civil citation, home detention,
   91  alternatives to detention, community-based services, probation,
   92  day treatment, independent living, evidence-based programs,
   93  residential programming, and detention.
   94         (b) As used in this section, the term “regional
   95  coordinating agency” means a single nonprofit or county
   96  government agency with which the department shall contract for
   97  the provision of juvenile justice services in a community that
   98  consists of at least one entire county.
   99         (c) The requirements for a regional coordinating agency
  100  include, but are not limited to:
  101         1. The organizational infrastructure and financial capacity
  102  to coordinate, integrate, and manage all juvenile justice
  103  services in the designated community in cooperation with law
  104  enforcement agencies and the judiciary.
  105         2. The ability to ensure continuity of care from entry to
  106  exit for all juveniles referred to the agency by law enforcement
  107  agencies, the court system, and other referral sources.
  108         3. The ability to contract with providers to create a local
  109  network of juvenile justice services.
  110         4. The willingness to accept accountability for meeting the
  111  outcomes and performance standards related to juvenile justice
  112  established by the Legislature and the Federal Government.
  113         5. The capability and willingness to serve all juveniles
  114  referred to the agency by law enforcement agencies and the court
  115  system with funding from the department.
  116         6. The willingness to ensure that each individual who
  117  provides juvenile justice services has successfully completed
  118  the training required by the department as of July 1, 2011.
  119         (2) The department shall contract with the regional
  120  coordinating agency for the delivery, administration, and
  121  management of services, including the services specified in
  122  subsection (1) relating to juvenile justice, and other related
  123  services or programs, as appropriate. The department shall
  124  retain responsibility for the quality of contracted services and
  125  programs and shall ensure that services are delivered in
  126  accordance with applicable federal and state statutes and
  127  regulations. This subsection does not affect the right of the
  128  Department of Juvenile Justice to maintain any existing
  129  statewide contract with a provider which is in place prior to
  130  July 1, 2012.
  131         (3)(a) The department, in partnership with an objective,
  132  competent entity, shall establish a quality assurance program
  133  for community-based juvenile justice. The quality assurance
  134  program must include national standards for each specific
  135  component of these services. The department, in consultation
  136  with the regional coordinating agencies that are undertaking
  137  community-based juvenile justice, shall establish minimum
  138  thresholds for each component of service. Each regional
  139  coordinating agency must be evaluated annually by the department
  140  or by an objective, competent entity designated by the
  141  department under the provisions of the quality assurance
  142  program.
  143         (b) The department shall establish and operate a
  144  comprehensive system to measure and report annually the outcomes
  145  and effectiveness of the services that are part of the regional
  146  coordinating agencies’ community-based juvenile justice service
  147  programs. The department shall use these findings in making
  148  recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature for future
  149  program and funding priorities in the juvenile justice system.
  150         (4) With the exception of county governments, each regional
  151  coordinating agency shall contract out all services to providers
  152  meeting the current department standards under this chapter.
  153  However, persons employed by the department in the provision of
  154  juvenile justice and related services whose positions are
  155  outsourced under this section shall be given hiring preference
  156  by the regional coordinating agency if provider qualifications
  157  are met. The regional coordinating agency must comply with
  158  statutory requirements and agency rules in the provision of
  159  contractual services. In order to eliminate or reduce the number
  160  of duplicate inspections by various program offices, the
  161  department shall coordinate inspections required pursuant to
  162  approval of agencies under this section.
  163         (5) With respect to the treatment of juvenile offenders
  164  under this section, regional coordinating agencies and
  165  contracted providers shall be treated as the state and its
  166  agencies and subdivisions for liability purposes under s.
  167  768.28.
  168         (6) The operations of a regional coordinating agency shall
  169  be governed by a local board of directors, of which 75 percent
  170  of the membership shall be comprised of persons residing within
  171  the service area of the regional coordinating agency.
  172         (7) The department shall establish a minimum of two pilot
  173  program sites in the Sixth and Ninth Judicial Circuits to
  174  operate for 2 years each, commencing no later than January 1,
  175  2013. The department shall initiate the request for proposal
  176  process, pursuant to s. 287.057(1)(b), no later than December
  177  31, 2011. Regional coordinating agencies, which must be
  178  established organizations within the circuit, shall be selected
  179  from the request for proposal. The department shall have a
  180  start-up contract in place no later than January 1, 2012, and a
  181  services contract in place no later than January 1, 2013, with
  182  the regional coordinating agencies for each of the pilot program
  183  sites. Contracts with organizations responsible for the pilot
  184  programs shall include the management and administration of all
  185  juvenile justice services specified in subsection (1). The
  186  department shall transfer all administrative and operational
  187  funding associated with these services to the regional
  188  coordinating agency, less those funds necessary to provide and
  189  coordinate management of quality assurance and oversight. Each
  190  regional coordinating agency that participates in the pilot
  191  program effort or any future community-based juvenile justice
  192  effort as described in this section must thoroughly analyze and
  193  report the complete direct and indirect costs of delivering
  194  these services through the department and the full cost of
  195  community-based juvenile justice, including the cost of
  196  monitoring and evaluating the contracted services. By January 31
  197  of each year, beginning in 2014, the department shall submit the
  198  evaluation regarding quality performance, outcome measure
  199  attainment, and cost efficiency, as provided in paragraph
  200  (3)(b), for each pilot program in operation during the preceding
  201  fiscal year, to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
  202  House of Representatives, the minority leaders of the Senate and
  203  the House of Representatives, and the Governor.
  204         Section 2. Section 985.441, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  205  read:
  206         985.441 Commitment.—
  207         (1) The court that has jurisdiction of an adjudicated
  208  delinquent child may, by an order stating the facts upon which a
  209  determination of a sanction and rehabilitative program was made
  210  at the disposition hearing:
  211         (a) Commit the child to a licensed child-caring agency
  212  willing to receive the child; however, the court may not commit
  213  the child to a jail or to a facility used primarily as a
  214  detention center or facility or shelter.
  215         (b) Commit the child to the department at a restrictiveness
  216  level defined in s. 985.03. Such commitment must be for the
  217  purpose of exercising active control over the child, including,
  218  but not limited to, custody, care, training, urine monitoring
  219  for substance abuse, electronic monitoring, and treatment of the
  220  child and release of the child from residential commitment into
  221  the community in a postcommitment nonresidential conditional
  222  release program. If the child is not successful in the
  223  conditional release program, the department may use the transfer
  224  procedure under subsection (3).
  225         (c) Commit the child to the department for placement in a
  226  program or facility for serious or habitual juvenile offenders
  227  in accordance with s. 985.47.
  228         1. Following a delinquency adjudicatory hearing under s.
  229  985.35 and a delinquency disposition hearing under s. 985.433
  230  that results in a commitment determination, the court shall, on
  231  its own or upon request by the state or the department,
  232  determine whether the protection of the public requires that the
  233  child be placed in a program for serious or habitual juvenile
  234  offenders and whether the particular needs of the child would be
  235  best served by a program for serious or habitual juvenile
  236  offenders as provided in s. 985.47. The determination shall be
  237  made under ss. 985.47(1) and 985.433(7).
  238         2. Any commitment of a child to a program or facility for
  239  serious or habitual juvenile offenders must be for an
  240  indeterminate period of time, but the time may not exceed the
  241  maximum term of imprisonment that an adult may serve for the
  242  same offense.
  243         (d) Commit the child to the department for placement in a
  244  program or facility for juvenile sexual offenders in accordance
  245  with s. 985.48, subject to specific appropriation for such a
  246  program or facility.
  247         1. The child may only be committed for such placement
  248  pursuant to determination that the child is a juvenile sexual
  249  offender under the criteria specified in s. 985.475.
  250         2. Any commitment of a juvenile sexual offender to a
  251  program or facility for juvenile sexual offenders must be for an
  252  indeterminate period of time, but the time may not exceed the
  253  maximum term of imprisonment that an adult may serve for the
  254  same offense.
  255         (2)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the court that has
  256  jurisdiction of an adjudicated delinquent child whose underlying
  257  offense is a misdemeanor may not commit the child at a
  258  restrictiveness level other than minimum-risk nonresidential if
  259  the child is adjudicated with a misdemeanor or probation
  260  violation for a misdemeanor, other than a new law violation
  261  constituting a felony. However, the court may commit such child
  262  to a low-risk or moderate-risk residential placement if the
  263  child:
  264         1. Has previously been adjudicated or had adjudication
  265  withheld for a felony offense;
  266         2. Has previously been adjudicated or had adjudication
  267  withheld for two or more misdemeanor offenses;
  268         3. Is before the court for disposition for a violation of
  269  s. 828.12, s. 806.031, or s. 800.03; or
  270         4. Proves to be unsuitable for the nonresidential program
  271  by refusing to follow the court’s order, program requirements,
  272  or the treatment plan as set up by the department.
  273         (b) If the child has been previously committed to a
  274  moderate-risk residential program, the court may commit the
  275  child to any restrictiveness level.
  276         (3)(2) The nonconsent of the child to commitment or
  277  treatment in a substance abuse treatment program in no way
  278  precludes the court from ordering such commitment or treatment.
  279         (4)(3) The department may transfer a child, when necessary
  280  to appropriately administer the child’s commitment, from one
  281  facility or program to another facility or program operated,
  282  contracted, subcontracted, or designated by the department,
  283  including a postcommitment nonresidential conditional release
  284  program, except that the department may not transfer any child
  285  adjudicated solely for a misdemeanor to a residential program
  286  except as provided in subsection (2). The department shall
  287  notify the court that committed the child to the department and
  288  any attorney of record for the child, in writing, of its intent
  289  to transfer the child from a commitment facility or program to
  290  another facility or program of a higher or lower restrictiveness
  291  level. The court that committed the child may agree to the
  292  transfer or may set a hearing to review the transfer. If the
  293  court does not respond within 10 days after receipt of the
  294  notice, the transfer of the child shall be deemed granted.
  295         Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (5) of section
  296  985.0301, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  297         985.0301 Jurisdiction.—
  298         (5)
  299         (d) The court may retain jurisdiction over a child
  300  committed to the department for placement in a juvenile prison
  301  or in a high-risk or maximum-risk residential commitment program
  302  to allow the child to participate in a juvenile conditional
  303  release program pursuant to s. 985.46. In no case shall the
  304  jurisdiction of the court be retained beyond the child’s 22nd
  305  birthday. However, if the child is not successful in the
  306  conditional release program, the department may use the transfer
  307  procedure under s. 985.441(4) s. 985.441(3).
  308         Section 4. Subsection (2) of section 985.033, Florida
  309  Statutes, is amended to read:
  310         985.033 Right to counsel.—
  311         (2) This section does not apply to transfer proceedings
  312  under s. 985.441(4) s. 985.441(3), unless the court sets a
  313  hearing to review the transfer.
  314         Section 5. Subsection (4) of section 985.46, Florida
  315  Statutes, is amended to read:
  316         985.46 Conditional release.—
  317         (4) A juvenile under nonresidential commitment placement
  318  will continue to be on commitment status and subject to the
  319  transfer provision under s. 985.441(4) s. 985.441(3).
  320         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.