Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 228
       
       
        
       By Senator Bracy
       
       
       
       
       
       11-00258-18                                            2018228__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to serving commercially sexually
    3         exploited children; amending s. 409.1754, F.S.;
    4         requiring the Department of Children and Families to
    5         collect certain data; requiring the department to
    6         gather feedback on the efficiency of screening and
    7         assessment instruments from users and to review such
    8         feedback annually; requiring the department to improve
    9         such instruments that remain invalidated; requiring
   10         each region of the department and each community-based
   11         care lead agency to establish a plan to recruit
   12         providers of specialized services to commercially
   13         sexually exploited children and to increase the
   14         service capacity of existing providers in order to
   15         develop the necessary capacity to meet the needs of
   16         commercially sexually exploited children; providing an
   17         effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) and paragraph
   22  (c) of subsection (3) of section 409.1754, Florida Statutes, are
   23  amended to read:
   24         409.1754 Commercial sexual exploitation of children;
   25  screening and assessment; training; multidisciplinary staffings;
   26  service plans.—
   27         (1) SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT.—
   28         (c) The department shall adopt rules that specify the
   29  initial screening and assessment instruments to be used and
   30  provide requirements for their use and for the reporting of data
   31  collected through their use. The department shall collect and
   32  enter data acquired through the use of such instruments into its
   33  electronic case management system to allow for a review of the
   34  efficiency of the instruments in order to determine their
   35  predictive value. The department shall gather systematic
   36  feedback from users of the instruments, including child
   37  protective investigators, case managers, and juvenile assessment
   38  centers, to improve the instruments. The department shall review
   39  such data and feedback at least once annually. Based on findings
   40  from its review, the department shall make improvements to the
   41  instruments at that time, unless the instruments have been
   42  validated as required in paragraph (b).
   43         (3) TRAINING; LOCAL PROTOCOLS.—
   44         (c) Each region of the department and each community-based
   45  care lead agency shall jointly assess local service capacity to
   46  meet the specialized service needs of commercially sexually
   47  exploited children and establish a plan to recruit providers of
   48  such specialized services and increase the service capacity of
   49  existing providers to develop the necessary capacity. Each plan
   50  shall be developed in consultation with community-based care
   51  lead agencies, local law enforcement officials, local school
   52  officials, runaway and homeless youth program providers, local
   53  probation departments, children’s advocacy centers, guardians ad
   54  litem, public defenders, state attorneys’ offices, safe houses,
   55  and child advocates and service providers who work directly with
   56  commercially sexually exploited children.
   57         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.