HB 1177 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Future of Florida's Families recommends the
7	following:
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9	Committee Substitute
10	Remove the entire bill and insert:
11	A bill to be entitled
12	An act relating to the safety of children; providing a
13	popular name; providing legislative intent; requiring
14	certain children to be enrolled in an early education or
15	child care program; providing attendance and reporting
16	responsibilities of the child's parent or caregiver and of
17	the Family Safety Program Office of the Department of
18	Children and Family Services and community-based lead
19	agencies; requiring certain site visits under certain
20	circumstances; requiring reports of missing children to be
21	made to law enforcement authorities; requiring certain
22	notices to parents, caregivers, and the courts; requiring
23	the Department of Children and Family Services, in
24	collaboration with the Agency for Workforce Innovation, to
25	conduct a study relating to certain children being served
26	by the department’s Family Safety Program Office and
27	community-based lead agencies; providing purposes of the
28	study; requiring compilation of certain data; requiring
29	the identification of certain children; requiring an
30	analysis of the expansion required to cover certain
31	additional children and the costs associated with such
32	expansion; requiring the study of certain issues and
33	recommendations resulting from such study; requiring a
34	report; amending s. 411.01, F.S.; requiring that certain
35	children be given first priority for participation in the
36	school readiness program; providing an effective date.
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38	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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40	Section 1. Rilya Wilson Act; legislative intent;
41	requirements; attendance and reporting responsibilities.--
42	(1) POPULAR NAME.--This section shall be known by the
43	popular name the "Rilya Wilson Act."
44	(2) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--The Legislature recognizes that
45	children who are in the care of the state due to abuse, neglect,
46	or exploitation are at increased risk of poor school performance
47	and other behavioral and social problems. It is the intent of
48	the Legislature that children who are currently in the care of
49	the state pursuant to chapter 39, Florida Statutes, be provided
50	with an age-appropriate education program to help ameliorate the
51	negative consequences of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
52	(3) REQUIREMENTS.--A child from age 3 to school entry,
53	under court-ordered protective supervision or in the custody of
54	the Department of Children and Family Services or a community-
55	based lead agency, and enrolled in a licensed early education or
56	child care program, must be enrolled to participate in the
57	program 5 days a week. Notwithstanding the requirements of
58	section 39.202, Florida Statutes, the Department of Children and
59	Family Services is required to notify operators of the licensed
60	early education or child care program subject to the reporting
61	requirements of this act of the enrollment of any child from age
62	3 to school entry, under court-ordered protective supervision or
63	in the custody of the Family Safety Program Office of the
64	Department of Children and Family Services or a community-based
65	lead agency. The case plan developed for a child pursuant to
66	chapter 39, Florida Statutes, who is enrolled in a licensed
67	early education or child care program must contain the
68	participation in this program as a required action. An exemption
69	to participation in the licensed early education or child care
70	program 5 days a week may be granted by the court.
71	(4) ATTENDANCE AND REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES.--
72	(a) A child who has been placed in a licensed early
73	education or child care program and who meets the requirements
74	of subsection (3) may not be withdrawn from the program without
75	the prior approval of the Family Safety Program Office of the
76	Department of Children and Family Services or the community-
77	based lead agency.
78	(b)1. If a child who is covered by this section is absent
79	from the program on any day when he or she is supposed to be
80	present, the person with whom the child resides, whether the
81	parent or caregiver, must report the absence to the program by
82	the end of the business day. If the person with whom the child
83	resides, whether the parent or caregiver, fails to timely report
84	the absence, the absence is considered to be unexcused. The
85	licensed early education and child care program shall report any
86	unexcused absence or seven consecutive excused absences of a
87	child who is enrolled in the program and is covered by this act
88	to the Family Safety Program Office of the Department of
89	Children and Family Services by the end of the business day
90	following the unexcused absence or seven consecutive excused
91	absences.
92	2. The Department of Children and Family Services or
93	community-based lead agency shall conduct a site visit to the
94	residence of the child upon receiving a report from the licensed
95	early education or child care program of two consecutive
96	unexcused absences or seven consecutive excused absences.
97	3. If the site visit results in a determination that the
98	child is missing, the Department of Children and Family Services
99	or community-based lead agency shall report the child as missing
100	to law enforcement authorities and proceed with the necessary
101	actions to locate the child pursuant to the established
102	procedures developed for locating missing children.
103	4. If the site visit results in a determination that the
104	child is not missing, the parent or caregiver shall be notified
105	that failure to ensure the child attends the licensed early
106	education or child care program is a violation of the case plan.
107	If more than two site visits are conducted pursuant to this
108	subsection, staff shall initiate action to notify the court of
109	the parent's or caregiver’s noncompliance with the case plan.
110	Section 2. (1) The Department of Children and Family
111	Services, in collaboration with the Agency for Workforce
112	Innovation, shall conduct a study of the children being served
113	by the department's Family Safety Program Office and the
114	community-based lead agencies pursuant to chapter 39, Florida
115	Statutes. The purpose of the study is to examine children from
116	birth to school-entry age who have been abused, neglected, or
117	abandoned and are under protective supervision or custody of the
118	Department of Children and Family Services or the community-
119	based lead agencies and to determine the role participation in
120	licensed early education or child care programs has in ensuring
121	the safety of these children.
122	(2) The study is to examine and provide the following
123	information:
124	(a) A compilation of data, including percentages, on
125	children from birth to school-entry age under protective
126	supervision or custody of the department or a community-based
127	lead agency that compares children enrolled in licensed early
128	education or child care programs with children not enrolled,
129	based on age, district, and type of placement, including, but
130	not limited to, foster care, relative caregiver, in-home, and
131	nonrelative placements;
132	(b) The identification of children whose case plans
133	require the provision of an early education or child care
134	program, including those for whom such service is not being
135	provided; and
136	(c) A description of the expansion of programs and
137	associated costs required for all children from birth to school-
138	entry age to be served in licensed early education or child care
139	programs based on specific age groups.
140	(3) The study shall explore and provide recommendations
141	for the ways in which licensed early education and child care
142	programs can best assist in ensuring the safety of children form
143	birth to school-entry age under protective supervision or
144	custody of the department or a community-based lead agency. The
145	study shall also examine whether licensed child care or after
146	school programs can assist in ensuring the safety of children
147	between the age of school entry and 13 years under protective
148	supervision or custody of the Department of Children and Family
149	Services or a community-based lead agency to provide
150	recommendations, if necessary.
151	(4) The Department of Children and Family Services, in
152	collaboration with the Agency for Workforce Innovation, shall
153	submit a report on the results of the study to the President of
154	the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
155	chairs of the appropriate substantive committees and
156	appropriation committees by December 31, 2003.
157	Section 3. Subsection (6) of section 411.01, Florida
158	Statutes, is amended to read:
159	411.01 Florida Partnership for School Readiness; school
160	readiness coalitions.--
161	(6) PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY.--The school readiness program
162	shall be established for children under the age of kindergarten
163	eligibility. Priority for participation in the school readiness
164	program shall be given to children who are served by the Family
165	Safety Program Office of the Department of Children and Family
166	Services or a community-based lead agency pursuant to chapter 39
167	and for whom child care is needed to minimize risk of further
168	abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Other eligible populations
169	include childrenwho meet one or more of the following criteria:
170	(a) Children under the age of kindergarten eligibility who
171	are:
172	1. Children determined to be at risk of abuse, neglect, or
173	exploitation and who are currently clients of the Family Safety
174	Program Office of the Department of Children and Family
175	Services.
176	1.2.Children at risk of welfare dependency, including
177	economically disadvantaged children, children of participants in
178	the welfare transition program, children of migrant farmworkers,
179	and children of teen parents.
180	2.3.Children of working families whose family income does
181	not exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
182	3.4.Children for whom the state is paying a relative
183	caregiver payment under s. 39.5085.
184	(b) Three-year-old children and 4-year-old children who
185	may not be economically disadvantaged but who have disabilities,
186	have been served in a specific part-time or combination of part-
187	time exceptional education programs with required special
188	services, aids, or equipment, and were previously reported for
189	funding part time with the Florida Education Finance Program as
190	exceptional students.
191	(c) Economically disadvantaged children, children with
192	disabilities, and children at risk of future school failure,
193	from birth to 4 years of age, who are served at home through
194	home visitor programs and intensive parent education programs
195	such as the Florida First Start Program.
196	(d) Children who meet federal and state requirements for
197	eligibility for the migrant preschool program but who do not
198	meet the criteria of economically disadvantaged.
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200	An "economically disadvantaged" child means a child whose family
201	income is below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
202	Notwithstanding any change in a family's economic status, but
203	subject to additional family contributions in accordance with
204	the sliding fee scale, a child who meets the eligibility
205	requirements upon initial registration for the program shall be
206	considered eligible until the child reaches kindergarten age.
207	Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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