HB 1177 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the safety of children; providing a
3	popular name; providing legislative intent; requiring
4	certain children to be enrolled in an early education or
5	child care program; providing attendance and reporting
6	responsibilities of the child's parent or guardian and of
7	the Family Safety Program Office of the Department of
8	Children and Family Services; requiring law enforcement
9	agencies to investigate certain reports; providing an
10	effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1. Rilya Wilson Act; legislative intent;
15	requirements; attendance and reporting responsibilities.--
16	(1) POPULAR NAME.--This act shall be known by the popular
17	name the "Rilya Wilson Act."
18	(2) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--The Legislature recognizes that
19	children who are clients of the Family Safety Program Office of
20	the Department of Children and Family Services due to abuse,
21	neglect, or exploitation are at increased risk of poor school
22	performance and other behavioral and social problems. It is the
23	intent of the Legislature that children who are currently
24	clients of the Family Safety Program Office of the Department of
25	Children and Family Services be provided with an age-appropriate
26	education program to help ameliorate the negative consequences
27	of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
28	(3) REQUIREMENTS.--A child who is between the age of 3
29	years old and school-entry age who is a client of the Family
30	Safety Program Office of the Department of Children and Family
31	Services due to abuse, neglect, or exploitation must be enrolled
32	in a licensed public or private early education or child care
33	program and must receive age-appropriate services 5 days a week.
34	The child's parent, legal guardian, or foster parent must select
35	the program that meets their needs and preferences in any
36	licensed public or private early education or child care
37	program.
38	(4) ATTENDANCE AND REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES.--
39	(a) A child who has been placed in a licensed public or
40	private early education or child care program under this section
41	may not be withdrawn from the program without the prior approval
42	of the Family Safety Program Office of the Department of
43	Children and Family Services.
44	(b) A child who is covered by this act shall attend the
45	licensed public or private early education or child care program
46	5 days per week.
47	(c)1. If a child who is covered by this act is absent from
48	the program on any day when he or she is supposed to be present,
49	the child's parent, legal guardian, or foster parent must report
50	the absence to the program by the end of the program day. If the
51	parent, legal guardian, or foster parent fails to timely report
52	the absence, the absence is considered to be unexcused. A
53	licensed public or private early education or child care program
54	shall report any unexcused absence of a child who is enrolled in
55	the program and is covered by this act to the Family Safety
56	Program Office of the Department of Children and Family Services
57	by the end of the program day during which the child is absent.
58	2. The failure of a parent, guardian, or foster parent to
59	report two consecutive absences shall result in appropriate
60	intervention by the Family Safety Program Office.
61	3. Five consecutive unexcused absences constitute an
62	unapproved withdrawal that the Family Safety Program Office of
63	the Department of Children and Family Services must report to
64	the appropriate law enforcement agency, which shall investigate
65	the matter as a missing person report.
66	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.