Florida Senate - 2020 SB 354
By Senator Montford
3-00111-20 2020354__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child care subsidies for foster
3 parents; amending s. 409.145, F.S.; providing an early
4 education or child care subsidy for certain foster
5 parents; providing an effective date.
6
7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
8
9 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 409.145, Florida
10 Statutes, is amended to read:
11 409.145 Care of children; quality parenting; “reasonable
12 and prudent parent” standard.—The child welfare system of the
13 department shall operate as a coordinated community-based system
14 of care which empowers all caregivers for children in foster
15 care to provide quality parenting, including approving or
16 disapproving a child’s participation in activities based on the
17 caregiver’s assessment using the “reasonable and prudent parent”
18 standard.
19 (4) FOSTER CARE ROOM AND BOARD RATES; ADDITIONAL SUBSIDY
20 FOR CHILD CARE EXPENSES.—
21 (a) Effective July 1, 2018, room and board rates shall be
22 paid to foster parents as follows:
23
24 Monthly Foster Care Rate
25 0-5 YearsAge 6-12 YearsAge 13-21 YearsAge
26 $457.95 $469.68 $549.74
27 (b) Each January, foster parents shall receive an annual
28 cost of living increase. The department shall calculate the new
29 room and board rate increase equal to the percentage change in
30 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City
31 Average, All Items, not seasonally adjusted, or successor
32 reports, for the preceding December compared to the prior
33 December as initially reported by the United States Department
34 of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The department shall make
35 available the adjusted room and board rates annually.
36 (c) Effective July 1, 2019, foster parents of level I
37 family foster homes, as defined in s. 409.175(5)(a), shall
38 receive a room and board rate of $333.
39 (d) Effective July 1, 2019, the foster care room and board
40 rate for level II family foster homes, as defined in s.
41 409.175(5)(a), shall be the same as the new rate established for
42 family foster homes as of January 1, 2019.
43 (e) Effective January 1, 2020, paragraph (b) shall only
44 apply to level II through level V family foster homes, as
45 defined in s. 409.175(5)(a).
46 (f) The amount of the monthly foster care room and board
47 rate may be increased upon agreement among the department, the
48 community-based care lead agency, and the foster parent.
49 (g) From July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, community
50 based care lead agencies providing care under contract with the
51 department shall pay a supplemental room and board payment to
52 foster care parents of all family foster homes, on a per-child
53 basis, for providing independent life skills and normalcy
54 supports to children who are 13 through 17 years of age placed
55 in their care. The supplemental payment shall be paid monthly to
56 the foster care parents in addition to the current monthly room
57 and board rate payment. The supplemental monthly payment shall
58 be based on 10 percent of the monthly room and board rate for
59 children 13 through 21 years of age as provided under this
60 section and adjusted annually. Effective July 1, 2019, such
61 supplemental payments shall only be paid to foster parents of
62 level II through level V family foster homes.
63 (h) In addition to the foster care room and board rate, a
64 foster parent who is required under s. 39.604 to place a child
65 in an early education or a child care program and who chooses a
66 program in which the state subsidy from an early learning
67 coalition under part VI of chapter 1002 is insufficient to pay
68 the full cost shall receive a payment of up to $300 per month to
69 pay the difference between the amount of the early learning
70 coalition subsidy and the full cost of the services.
71 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.