| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to children in foster care; providing for |
| 3 | the creation of the Community Advisory Panel on Foster |
| 4 | Care Pilot Program in Duval County; providing purposes and |
| 5 | goals; providing for administration of the program by |
| 6 | community-based care; providing for hiring personnel; |
| 7 | creating the Community Advisory Panel on Foster Care; |
| 8 | providing for panel membership; providing for a |
| 9 | chairperson; providing duties of specified county judges, |
| 10 | the personnel, and the panel; requiring research to |
| 11 | determine the effectiveness of the program; requiring an |
| 12 | annual report to the court and to legislative leaders; |
| 13 | providing for future expiration of the pilot program; |
| 14 | providing an appropriation; providing an effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. Community Advisory Panel on Foster Care Pilot |
| 19 | Program; creation; purpose; administration; panel membership; |
| 20 | duties of court and panel; evaluation.-- |
| 21 | (1) There is created the Community Advisory Panel on |
| 22 | Foster Care Pilot Program in Duval County. The purpose of the |
| 23 | program is to identify educational needs and followup strategies |
| 24 | for foster children who are 6 through 12 years of age and are |
| 25 | enrolled in the Duval County school system. The goal of the |
| 26 | program is to ensure that youth who are in foster care will be |
| 27 | tested appropriately and placed in an educational environment |
| 28 | that optimizes their opportunities for success. |
| 29 | (2) The community-based care (CBC) shall administer the |
| 30 | pilot program. The CBC shall employ a full-time project |
| 31 | coordinator who shall assist the student's case manager in |
| 32 | identifying resources for such assessment and treatment. The CBC |
| 33 | shall also employ a full-time psychologist who will provide |
| 34 | advice, research, assessments, and other services to the judges |
| 35 | and to foster children and their families. |
| 36 | (3) The chief judge for the Fourth Judicial Circuit or his |
| 37 | or her designee shall create the Community Advisory Panel on |
| 38 | Foster Care, which will consist of 15 community volunteers who |
| 39 | are community leaders that have diverse areas of expertise and |
| 40 | talent. The chief judge who is responsible for dependency and |
| 41 | adoption in the Fourth Judicial Circuit or his or her designee |
| 42 | shall appoint four members of the panel; the Department of |
| 43 | Children and Family Services shall appoint four members; the |
| 44 | county school board shall appoint four members; and the guardian |
| 45 | ad litem for Duval County shall appoint three members. The judge |
| 46 | shall chair the panel. |
| 47 | (4) The judge may issue orders and obtain educational |
| 48 | information relating to students who are 6 to 12 years of age |
| 49 | and are in the foster care system in District IV of the |
| 50 | department. The panel shall review the academic progress, |
| 51 | behavioral issues, and attendance of each student and shall |
| 52 | recommend referral of any student for whom the review |
| 53 | demonstrates a need for followup services. The panel may |
| 54 | prioritize referrals by assessing the severity of need and |
| 55 | recommending that the most critical needs be met first. A |
| 56 | student who is failing must be referred for educational testing, |
| 57 | for additional psychological and therapeutic counseling as |
| 58 | recommended, or for both, to determine why he or she is failing |
| 59 | and what accommodations and remediation are needed. |
| 60 | (5) The project coordinator shall oversee the development |
| 61 | of a research component, or assessment tool, that is designed to |
| 62 | determine the effectiveness of the pilot program. |
| 63 | (a) The research data must be set up to link systems among |
| 64 | providers of educational services, psychological services, case |
| 65 | management, and the court system. |
| 66 | (b) The entity that designs the assessment tool must, |
| 67 | during the first year of the pilot program, undertake the |
| 68 | following tasks: |
| 69 | 1. Discovery. This phase includes meeting with information |
| 70 | technology staff from the department, school board staff, and |
| 71 | caseworkers. |
| 72 | 2. Development. This phase consists of determining the |
| 73 | best method for data entry, the best database, and the best data |
| 74 | format. |
| 75 | 3. Implementation. This phase comprises completing, |
| 76 | testing, and delivering the assessment tool. |
| 77 | 4. Maintenance. This phase involves developing a |
| 78 | maintenance plan and schedule, after the initiation of the |
| 79 | assessment methodology. |
| 80 | (6) The project coordinator shall submit an annual report |
| 81 | to the court and to the President of the Senate and the Speaker |
| 82 | of the House of Representatives. |
| 83 | (7) The pilot program expires on July 1, 2009. |
| 84 | Section 2. The sum of $300,000 is appropriated from the |
| 85 | General Revenue Fund to the Fourth Circuit Court in Duval County |
| 86 | for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, to be used in implementing the |
| 87 | Community Advisory Panel on Foster Care Pilot Program created in |
| 88 | section 1 of this act. |
| 89 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |