HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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5 ORIGINAL STAMP BELOW
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11 Representative(s) Fiorentino, Harrell, and Melvin offered the
12 following:
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14 Amendment to Amendment (374349)
15 On page 1, line 18 through page 7, line 23,
16 remove from the amendment: all of said lines
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18 and insert in lieu thereof:
19 Section 1. Section 240.5311, Florida Statutes, is
20 created to read:
21 240.5311 Learning Gateway Project.--
22 (1)(a) There is created the Learning Gateway Project
23 as a pilot program in Manatee, St. Lucie, and Orange Counties
24 to establish an integrated approach for health care providers
25 and parents to lessen the effects of learning disabilities for
26 young children through prevention, early identification, early
27 education, and appropriate intervention at locations where
28 parents and children routinely go, including but not limited
29 to doctors' offices, school readiness program and child care
30 centers, and schools. Parental consent shall be required for
31 all services provided pursuant to the Learning Gateway
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 Project, including initial contact and further referral for
2 evaluation and services.
3 (b) The Learning Gateway Project shall be guided by a
4 9-member steering committee comprised of a parent of a child
5 who has been diagnosed as having a learning disability, an
6 elementary school teacher with expertise in speech and
7 language, and seven top researchers or practitioners, one each
8 with expertise in the field of:
9 1. Developmental pediatrics.
10 2. Nutrition.
11 3. Children's vision.
12 4. Children's hearing.
13 5. Environmental health and allergies.
14 6. Family medicine.
15 7. Emerging literacy.
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17 The Governor shall appoint the parent, the teacher, and the
18 member with expertise in developmental pediatrics. The
19 President of the Senate shall appoint the members with
20 expertise in nutrition, children's vision, and children's
21 hearing. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall
22 appoint the members with expertise in environmental health and
23 allergies, family medicine, and emerging literacy. The
24 steering committee shall bear fiduciary responsibility for
25 safeguarding the appropriate use of state funds and shall
26 provide an annual accounting of the use of the funds to the
27 Legislative Budget Commission.
28 (c) The steering committee shall work collaboratively
29 with the University of South Florida, the University of
30 Central Florida, and Florida Atlantic University to make the
31 Learning Gateway Project an innovative project based on
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 state-of-the-art research. Each participating university shall
2 contribute the time, research, and knowledge of its top
3 faculty and students in the relevant fields of expertise.
4 (2) The Learning Gateway Project shall operate under
5 the guidance of the steering committee and shall consist of
6 Learning Gateway Centers centrally located at convenient and
7 easily accessible sites in each of the pilot counties. The
8 project shall:
9 (a) Use the expertise, resources, faculty, and
10 students within the participating universities to contribute
11 to the project. As directed by the steering committee of the
12 Learning Gateway Project, the participating universities may
13 use their students to design brochures, perform research,
14 collect data on community resources and programs, and develop
15 and maintain a website to give parents and families, school
16 readiness and child care personnel, teachers, and health care
17 practitioners throughout each of the pilot counties
18 information about early warning signs of learning
19 disabilities, as well as information about Learning Gateway
20 Centers and community-based programs.
21 (b) Work collaboratively with national, state, and
22 local agencies and public and private health and childhood
23 programs to develop a comprehensive list of medical and
24 nonmedical providers of learning disabilities services for
25 young children within each of the pilot counties.
26 (c) Identify the factors that interfere with or
27 inhibit normal development and learning. The Learning Gateway
28 Project shall bring together research that integrates the
29 disciplines relevant to the diagnosis, causes, treatment, and
30 intervention of early learning disabilities.
31 (d) Provide physicians, health care personnel, school
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 readiness and child care personnel, and school personnel
2 throughout each of the pilot counties with medical and
3 nonmedical intervention strategies that help identify such
4 factors as diet, noise, environmental contaminants, and
5 allergies which inhibit learning. Such information shall be
6 prepared so that it can be appropriately presented as part of
7 routine clinic sessions for immunization visits and visits
8 under the "Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
9 Infants, and Children" (WIC) under s. 383.011 and other
10 well-child appointments.
11 (e) Identify the elements of an effective
12 research-based curriculum for each learning disability.
13 (f) Develop a model system of care, through the
14 establishment of the county Learning Gateway Centers, that
15 builds upon, integrates, and identifies the gaps in existing
16 learning disabilities services for young children.
17 (g) Develop two brochures and a website to distribute
18 information throughout each of the pilot counties.
19 1. One brochure shall be designed to educate parents
20 and families about the importance of prenatal care and
21 nutrition and reading and communicating with the child, and
22 shall identify the early warning signs of disabilities that
23 may lead to learning disabilities and developmental delays.
24 This brochure shall be distributed to parents through all of
25 the pilot county's early childhood programs, including but not
26 limited to programs administered by the local school readiness
27 coalitions, county public health units, healthy start
28 coalitions, and workforce centers.
29 2. One brochure shall be developed to provide
30 physicians, parents, school readiness and child care
31 personnel, and teachers information on the Learning Gateway
4
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 Project and the Learning Gateway Centers, as well as all the
2 programs, facilities, resources, and services available within
3 each pilot county to address learning disabilities in young
4 children.
5 3. The website shall provide ready access for parents,
6 physicians and other health care personnel, school readiness
7 and child care personnel, and teachers to information
8 regarding the Learning Gateway Project and the Learning
9 Gateway Centers for the purpose of referral and information on
10 the learning disabilities addressed by the project. It shall
11 itemize the resources available for intervention, diagnosis,
12 and treatment, as well as county listings of available related
13 services and providers, indexed by learning disability,
14 throughout the pilot counties.
15 (3)(a) The Learning Gateway Centers shall develop a
16 network of all available services to address learning
17 disabilities in young children within each pilot county and
18 submit the list and description to the Learning Gateway
19 Project for inclusion in the website. The Learning Gateway
20 Centers shall use the list to refer parents to programs or
21 facilities appropriate to meet their child's needs. For the
22 purpose of serving areas of the pilot counties where no
23 services currently exist or where the private providers lack
24 the expertise to diagnose and provide strategies for improved
25 learning, each Learning Gateway Center may use Learning
26 Gateway Project funds to set up clinics to diagnose learning
27 disabilities. The Learning Gateway Centers may provide
28 services to parents, physicians, and other health care
29 providers where there is a gap in the service available from
30 public and private providers; may provide direct service to
31 children who do not receive coverage under state, federal, or
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 private insurance or may contract for specialty services; and
2 may provide for services to children whose parents are
3 dissatisfied with their present services.
4 (b) The Learning Gateway Center in each pilot county
5 shall provide a single point of access for learning
6 disablities screening, assessment, integration of services,
7 linkages of providers, referrals, and services for children
8 and their families. The Learning Gateway Centers shall provide
9 to parents and physicians a one-stop referral center for
10 accurate information on public and private professionals who
11 can assist in determining the physical, emotional,
12 nutritional, environmental, and mental factors that may be
13 interfering with learning and normal development.
14 (c) Staff of the Learning Gateway Centers must be
15 knowledgeable about child development, early identification of
16 learning disabilities, access to needed health care services
17 and health insurance coverage for such services, and state and
18 federal funds available for services in the local area. If
19 the following services are not provided by existing service
20 systems, upon the request of the parent the Learning Gateway
21 Centers shall:
22 1. Conduct appropriate screening or refer for such
23 services.
24 2. Make referrals for needed services and assist
25 families in the application process.
26 3. Provide educational and training classes for
27 parents and families, school readiness and child care
28 personnel, and teachers.
29 (d) The specific services and supports provided by the
30 Learning Gateway Centers may include:
31 1. Speech and language therapy.
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 2. Comprehensive medical screening and referral.
2 3. Multisensory strategies for learning.
3 4. Therapy for learning differences in reading and
4 math.
5 5. Referral for services pursuant to Part B or Part C
6 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
7 (e) The Learning Gateway Centers shall designate a
8 central information and referral access phone number for each
9 center, to improve access to local supports and services for
10 children and their families.
11 (f) Under the guidance of the steering committee, the
12 Learning Gateway Centers shall provide training and updates
13 concerning effective instructional and behavioral practices
14 and interventions based on advances in the field and shall
15 encourage practitioners in designing and implementing
16 research-based practices.
17 (4) By January 2003, the Learning Gateway Project
18 steering committee shall report to the Governor, the President
19 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
20 on the coordination of services; the number and types of
21 referrals made by the Learning Gateway Centers; the measurable
22 improvement in academic performance of children served by the
23 Learning Gateway Centers; and parental satisfaction regarding
24 the services provided pursuant to the Learning Gateway
25 Project.
26 (5) This project shall be implemented subject to the
27 General Appropriations Act. Funds for the project shall be
28 administered by the Department of Education and shall not be
29 used for facilities.
30 Section 2. By October 15, 2001, the Florida Department
31 of Education shall finalize all administrative rule revisions
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1018, 1st Eng.
Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)
1 necessary to properly implement the 1997 amendments to the
2 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
3 Section 3. By October 15, 2001, the Florida Department
4 of Education shall report to the Governor, the Speaker of the
5 House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate the
6 additional rule authority it needs, if any, to implement the
7 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
8 Section 4. Nothing in this act shall require or
9 authorize the imposition of additional paperwork for ESE
10 teachers.
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