Florida Senate - 2020                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1326
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì835096CÎ835096                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: RS            .                                
                  02/28/2020           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Simpson) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraphs (b), (d), and (e) of subsection (5)
    6  of section 20.19, Florida Statutes, are amended, and a new
    7  subsection (7) is added to that section, to read:
    8         20.19 Department of Children and Families.—There is created
    9  a Department of Children and Families.
   10         (5) COMMUNITY ALLIANCES.—
   11         (b) The duties of the community alliance include, but are
   12  not limited to:
   13         1. Joint planning for resource utilization in the
   14  community, including resources appropriated to the department
   15  and any funds that local funding sources choose to provide.
   16         2. Needs assessment and establishment of community
   17  priorities for service delivery.
   18         3. Determining community outcome goals to supplement state
   19  required outcomes.
   20         4. Serving as a catalyst for community resource
   21  development, including, but not limited to, identifying existing
   22  programs and services delivered by and assistance available from
   23  community-based organizations and faith-based organizations, and
   24  encouraging the development and availability of such programs,
   25  services, and assistance by such organizations. The community
   26  alliance shall ensure that the community-based care lead agency
   27  is aware of such programs, services, and assistance and work to
   28  facilitate the lead agency’s appropriate use of these resources.
   29         5. Providing for community education and advocacy on issues
   30  related to delivery of services.
   31         6. Promoting prevention and early intervention services.
   32         (d) The initial membership of the community alliance in a
   33  county, at a minimum, must shall be composed of the following:
   34         1. A representative from the department.
   35         2. A representative from county government.
   36         3. A representative from the school district.
   37         4. A representative from the county United Way.
   38         5. A representative from the county sheriff’s office.
   39         6. A representative from the circuit court corresponding to
   40  the county.
   41         7. A representative from the county children’s board, if
   42  one exists.
   43         8.A representative of a faith-based organization involved
   44  in efforts to prevent child maltreatment, strengthen families,
   45  or promote adoption.
   46         (e) At any time after the initial meeting of the community
   47  alliance, The community alliance shall adopt bylaws and may
   48  increase the membership of the alliance to include the state
   49  attorney for the judicial circuit in which the community
   50  alliance is located, or his or her designee, the public defender
   51  for the judicial circuit in which the community alliance is
   52  located, or his or her designee, and other individuals and
   53  organizations who represent funding organizations, are community
   54  leaders, have knowledge of community-based service issues, or
   55  otherwise represent perspectives that will enable them to
   56  accomplish the duties listed in paragraph (b), if, in the
   57  judgment of the alliance, such change is necessary to adequately
   58  represent the diversity of the population within the community
   59  alliance service circuits.
   60         (7)OFFICE OF QUALITY.—The department shall establish an
   61  enterprise wide Office of Quality to ensure that the department
   62  and contracted service providers meet the highest levels of
   63  performance standards.
   64         (a)Duties of the office include, but are not limited to,
   65  all of the following:
   66         1. Identifying performance standards and metrics for
   67  department programs and all other service providers, including,
   68  but not limited to, behavioral health managing entities,
   69  community-based care lead agencies, and attorney services.
   70         2. Conducting ongoing quality assurance reviews of
   71  department programs and contracted service providers on at least
   72  a quarterly basis using cases randomly selected by the
   73  department.
   74         3. Strengthening the department’s data and analytic
   75  capabilities to identify systemic strengths and deficiencies.
   76         4. In consultation with the department’s program offices,
   77  recommending unique and varied initiatives to correct
   78  programmatic and systemic deficiencies.
   79         5. Collaborating and engaging partners of the department to
   80  improve service quality, efficiency, and effectiveness.
   81         6. Reporting any persistent failure by the department or
   82  contracted providers to meet performance standards and
   83  recommending corrective actions to the secretary.
   84         7. By each December 1, developing and submitting an annual
   85  report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
   86  Speaker of the House of Representatives for the preceding fiscal
   87  year which encompasses all legislatively mandated statewide
   88  reports required to be issued by the department.
   89         (b) The department may adopt rules to administer this
   90  subsection.
   91         Section 2. Section 409.991, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   92  read:
   93         (Substantial rewording of section. See s. 409.991,
   94         F.S., for present text.)
   95         409.991Allocation of funds for community-based care lead
   96  agencies.—
   97         (1)As used in this section, the term core services funds”
   98  means all funds allocated to lead agencies operating under
   99  contract with the department pursuant to s. 409.987, with the
  100  following exceptions:
  101         (a) Funds appropriated for independent living services;
  102         (b) Funds appropriated for maintenance adoption subsidies;
  103         (c) Funds allocated by the department for child protective
  104  investigative service training;
  105         (d) Nonrecurring funds;
  106         (e) Designated mental health wrap-around service funds;
  107         (f) Funds for special projects for a designated lead
  108  agency; and
  109         (g) Funds appropriated for the Guardianship Assistance
  110  Program established under s. 39.6225.
  111         (2) The department shall use an objective, workload-based
  112  methodology to identify and report the optimal level of funding
  113  for each lead agency considering demand for each of the
  114  following:
  115         (a) Prevention services;
  116         (b) Client services;
  117         (c) Licensed out-of-home care costs; and
  118         (d) Staffing, using the ratio for case managers compared to
  119  the caseload requirements specified in s. 20.19(4)(c)2.
  120         (3) The allocation of core services funds must be based on
  121  the following:
  122         (a) The total optimal funding amount as determined by
  123  adding together the funding for prevention services, client
  124  services, licensed out-of-home care, and staffing.
  125         (b) A comparison of the total optimal funding amount to the
  126  actual allocated funding for the most recent fiscal year to
  127  determine the percentage of optimal funding the lead agency is
  128  currently receiving.
  129         (4) By November 1 of each year, the secretary must submit a
  130  report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
  131  Speaker of the House of Representatives which includes the
  132  current funding level of each lead agency based on the optimal
  133  funding level as determined by using each lead agency workload
  134  using the department’s methodology. The report must identify any
  135  lead agency that is persistently funded at less than the optimal
  136  funding level and recommend strategies to address the shortfall
  137  including, but not limited to, business process redesign, the
  138  adoption of best practices, and requesting additional funding.
  139         (5) The department may adopt rules to establish the optimal
  140  funding levels for lead agencies.
  141         (6) Unless otherwise specified in the General
  142  Appropriations Act, the department shall allocate any new
  143  funding for core services, based on the department’s
  144  methodology, to achieve optimal funding for all lead agencies
  145  inversely proportional to each lead agency optimal funding
  146  percentage.
  147         (7) Unless otherwise specified in the General
  148  Appropriations Act, the department shall consider a lead
  149  agency’s funding level compared to its optimal funding level
  150  when allocating funding from the risk pool, as provided in s.
  151  409.990.
  152         Section 3. Subsections (24) and (25) are added to section
  153  409.996, Florida Statutes, to read:
  154         409.996 Duties of the Department of Children and Families.
  155  The department shall contract for the delivery, administration,
  156  or management of care for children in the child protection and
  157  child welfare system. In doing so, the department retains
  158  responsibility for the quality of contracted services and
  159  programs and shall ensure that services are delivered in
  160  accordance with applicable federal and state statutes and
  161  regulations.
  162         (24)In collaboration with lead agencies, service
  163  providers, and other community stakeholders, the department
  164  shall develop a statewide accountability system based on
  165  measurable quality standards. The accountability system must be
  166  implemented by July 1, 2021.
  167         (a)The accountability system must:
  168         1. Assess the overall health of the child welfare system,
  169  by circuit, using grading criteria established by the
  170  department;
  171         2. Include a quality measurement system with domains and
  172  clearly defined levels of quality. The system must measure the
  173  performance standards for child protective investigators, lead
  174  agencies, and children’s legal services throughout the system of
  175  care, using criteria established by the department, and, at a
  176  minimum, address applicable federal- and state-mandated metrics.
  177         3. Align with the principles of the results-oriented
  178  accountability program established under s. 409.997.
  179         (b) After the development and implementation of the
  180  accountability system under this subsection, the department and
  181  each lead agency shall use the information from the
  182  accountability system to promote enhanced quality service
  183  delivery within their respective areas of responsibility.
  184         (c) By December 1 of each year, the department shall submit
  185  a report on the overall health of the child welfare system to
  186  the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
  187  the House of Representatives.
  188         (d) The department may adopt rules to implement this
  189  subsection.
  190         (25) Subject to an appropriation, for the 2020-2021 and
  191  2021-2022 fiscal years, the department shall implement a pilot
  192  project in the Sixth and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits,
  193  respectively, aimed at improving child welfare outcomes.
  194         (a) In implementing the pilot projects, the department
  195  shall establish performance metrics and performance standards to
  196  assess improvements in safety, permanency, and the well-being of
  197  children in the local system of care for the lead agencies in
  198  those judicial circuits. Such metrics and standards must be
  199  aligned with indicators used in the most recent federal Child
  200  and Family Services Reviews.
  201         (b) The lead agencies in the Sixth and Thirteenth Judicial
  202  Circuits shall provide performance data to the department each
  203  quarter. The department shall review the data for accuracy and
  204  completeness and then shall compare the actual performance of
  205  the lead agencies to the established performance metrics and
  206  standards. Each lead agency that exceeds performance metrics and
  207  standards is eligible for incentive funding.
  208         (c) For the first quarter of each fiscal year, the
  209  department may advance incentive funding to the lead agencies in
  210  an amount equal to one quarter of the total allocated to the
  211  pilot project. After each quarter, the department shall assess
  212  the performance of the lead agencies for that quarter and adjust
  213  the subsequent quarter’s incentive funding based on its actual
  214  prior quarter performance.
  215         (d) The department shall include the results of the pilot
  216  projects in the report required under s. 20.19(7). The report
  217  must include the department’s findings and recommendations
  218  relating to the pilot projects.
  219         (e) This subsection expires July 1, 2022.
  220         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
  221  
  222  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  223  And the title is amended as follows:
  224         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  225  and insert:
  226                        A bill to be entitled                      
  227         An act relating to the Department of Children and
  228         Families; amending s. 20.19, F.S.; revising duties and
  229         membership of community alliances; requiring the
  230         department to establish an Office of Quality;
  231         providing duties of the office; requiring the office
  232         to develop and submit a report to the Governor and the
  233         Legislature annually by a specified date; authorizing
  234         the department to adopt rules; amending s. 409.991,
  235         F.S.; defining the term “core services funds”;
  236         requiring the department to develop a methodology to
  237         identify and report the optimal level of funding for
  238         community-based care lead agencies; providing
  239         requirements for the allocation of core services
  240         funds; requiring the Secretary of the Department of
  241         Children and Families to submit a report to the
  242         Governor and Legislature annually by a specified date;
  243         providing requirements for such report; authorizing
  244         the department to adopt rules; requiring certain
  245         funding to be allocated based on the department’s
  246         methodology, unless otherwise specified in the General
  247         Appropriations Act; amending s. 409.996, F.S.;
  248         requiring the department to develop a statewide
  249         accountability system; requiring that such system be
  250         implemented by a specified date; providing
  251         requirements for such accountability system; requiring
  252         the department and lead agencies to promote enhanced
  253         quality service delivery; requiring the department to
  254         submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature
  255         annually by a specified date; authorizing the
  256         department to adopt rules; requiring the department to
  257         implement pilot projects to improve child welfare
  258         outcomes in specified judicial circuits; requiring the
  259         department to establish performance metrics and
  260         standards to implement the pilot projects; requiring
  261         lead agencies in specified judicial circuits to
  262         provide certain data to the department each quarter;
  263         requiring the department to review such data;
  264         authorizing the department to advance incentive
  265         funding to certain lead agencies that meet specified
  266         requirements; requiring the department to include
  267         certain results in a specified report; providing for
  268         future expiration; providing an effective date.