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