Florida Senate - 2007 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1942
Barcode 105456
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Community Affairs (Hill) recommended the
12 following amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Section 409.147, Florida Statutes, is
19 created to read:
20 409.147 Children's zones.--
21 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.--
22 (a) The Legislature finds that:
23 1. There are neighborhoods in this state where the
24 infrastructure and opportunities that middle-class communities
25 take for granted are nonexistent or so marginal that they are
26 ineffective.
27 2. Children in these neighborhoods are read to by an
28 adult on a regular basis and attend a prekindergarten
29 education program at a much lower rate than children in other
30 communities. The children experience below-average performance
31 on standardized tests and graduate from high school in fewer
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1 numbers. Most children are eligible for the free or
2 reduced-price school lunch program.
3 3. Children in these neighborhoods often suffer from
4 high rates of asthma, a higher risk of lead poisoning, and
5 inadequate health care, and they are routinely exposed to
6 violence and crime.
7 4. In spite of these obstacles, these communities are
8 many times home to strong individuals and institutions that
9 are committed to making a difference in the lives of children
10 and their families.
11 (b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to
12 assist disadvantaged areas within the state by creating a
13 community-based service network that develops, coordinates,
14 and provides quality education, accessible health care,
15 youth-development programs, opportunities for employment, and
16 safe and affordable housing for children and families living
17 within its boundaries.
18 (2) POLICY AND PURPOSE.--It is the policy of this
19 state to provide the necessary means to assist local
20 communities, children and families, and the private sector in
21 creating a sound educational, social, and economic
22 environment. In order to achieve this objective, the state
23 seeks to provide appropriate investments of sufficient
24 importance to encourage the community partners to commit
25 financial and other resources to the severely disadvantaged
26 areas. The purpose of this section is to establish a process
27 that clearly identifies the severely disadvantaged areas and
28 provides guidance for developing a new social service paradigm
29 that systematically coordinates programs that address the
30 critical needs of children and their families and for
31 directing efforts to rebuild the basic infrastructure of the
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1 community. The Legislature, therefore, declares that the
2 creation of children's zones, through the collaborative
3 efforts of government and the private sector, to be a public
4 purpose.
5 (3) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
6 (a) "Governing body" means the commission or other
7 legislative body governing a county or municipality.
8 (b) "Office" means the Office of Adoption and Child
9 Protection within the Executive Office of the Governor.
10 (c) "Planning team" means a children's zone planning
11 team established under this section.
12 (d) "Resident" means a person who lives or who
13 operates a small community-based business or organization
14 within the boundaries of a children's zone.
15 (4) CHILDREN'S ZONE NOMINATING PROCESS.--A county or
16 municipality, or a county and one or more municipalities
17 together, may request the office to designate an area as a
18 children's zone only after the governing body:
19 (a) Adopts a resolution that:
20 1. Finds that an area exists in the county or
21 municipality, or in the county and one or more municipalities,
22 which chronically exhibits extreme and unacceptable levels of
23 poverty, unemployment, and physical deterioration, as well as
24 limited access to quality educational, health care, and social
25 services;
26 2. Determines that the rehabilitation, conservation,
27 or redevelopment, or a combination thereof, of the area is
28 necessary in the interest of improving the health, wellness,
29 education, living conditions, and livelihoods of children and
30 their families in the county, municipality, or the county and
31 one or more municipalities; and
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1 3. Determines that the revitalization of the area can
2 occur only if the state and the private sector invest
3 resources in infrastructure and services.
4 (b) Establishes a children's zone planning team in
5 conformity with this section.
6 (c) Develops and adopts a strategic community plan
7 under this section.
8 (d) Creates a corporation not for profit under this
9 section.
10 (5) CHILDREN'S ZONE PLANNING TEAM.--
11 (a) After adopting the resolution, the county or
12 municipality must establish a planning team to be known as a
13 children's zone planning team.
14 (b) The planning team must include residents,
15 representatives of community-based organizations, and other
16 community institutions. No fewer than 50 percent of the
17 members must be residents.
18 (c) The planning team must:
19 1. Develop a planning process that sets direction for,
20 builds commitment to, and develops the capacity to realize the
21 children's zone concept.
22 2. Develop a vision of what the children's zone will
23 look like when the challenges, problems, and opportunities in
24 the zone are successfully addressed.
25 3. Identify important opportunities, strengths,
26 challenges, and problems in the children's zone.
27 4. Develop a strategic community plan consisting of
28 goals, objectives, tasks, responsible parties, resources
29 needed, timelines, and plans for monitoring implementation and
30 outcomes.
31 (d) The planning team shall designate working groups
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1 to specifically address each of the following focus areas:
2 1. Early development and care of children;
3 2. Education of children and youth;
4 3. Health and wellness;
5 4. Youth support;
6 5. Parent and guardian support;
7 6. Adult education, training, and jobs;
8 7. Community safety; and
9 8. Housing and community development.
10 (6) CHILDREN'S ZONE STRATEGIC COMMUNITY PLAN.--After
11 adopting the governing body resolution, the working group
12 shall develop objectives and identify strategies for each of
13 the focus areas. The objectives for a working group may
14 include, but are not limited to:
15 (a) Early development and care of children.
16 1. Providing resources to enable every child to be
17 adequately nurtured in the first 3 years of life.
18 2. Ensuring that all schools are ready for children
19 and all children are ready for school.
20 3. Facilitating enrollment in half-day or full-day
21 prekindergarten for all 3-year old and 4-year old children.
22 4. Strengthening parent and guardian relationships
23 with care providers.
24 5. Providing support and education for families and
25 child care providers.
26 (b) Education of children and youth.
27 1. Increasing the level and degree of accountability
28 among those responsible for the development and well-being of
29 all children in the children's zone.
30 2. Changing the structure and function of schools to
31 increase the quality and the amount of time spent on
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1 instruction, and to increase programmatic options and
2 offerings.
3 3. Creating a safe and respectful environment for
4 student learning.
5 4. Identifying and supporting points of alignment
6 between the children's zone community plan and the school
7 district's strategic plan.
8 (c) Health and wellness.
9 1. Facilitating enrollment of all eligible children in
10 Florida Kidcare and providing full access to high-quality drug
11 and alcohol treatment services.
12 2. Eliminating health disparities between racial and
13 cultural groups, including improving outcomes and increasing
14 interventions.
15 3. Providing fresh, good quality, affordable, and
16 nutritious food within the children's zone.
17 4. Providing 100 percent of children in the children's
18 zone with access to safe, structured and unstructured
19 recreation.
20 (d) Youth support.
21 1. Increasing the rates of high school graduation.
22 2. Increasing leadership development and employment
23 opportunities for youth.
24 (e) Parent and guardian support.
25 1. Increasing parent and adult literacy.
26 2. Expanding access to critical resources for parents
27 such as jobs, transportation, day care, and after-school care.
28 3. Improving the effectiveness of systems that
29 communicate and collaborate with parents, and the ways in
30 which parents communicate and collaborate with systems.
31 4. Making the services of the Healthy Families Florida
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1 program available to provide multiyear support to expectant
2 parents and those raising infants and toddlers.
3 (f) Adult education, training, and jobs.
4 1. Creating job opportunities for adults which lead to
5 career development.
6 2. Establishing in the children's zone a career and
7 technical school, or a satellite of such a school, which
8 includes a one-stop career center.
9 (g) Community safety.
10 1. Providing a safe environment for all children at
11 home, school, and within the community.
12 2. Eliminating the economic, political, and social
13 forces that lead to a lack of safety within the family,
14 community, school, and institutional structures.
15 3. Assessing policies and practices, including
16 sentencing, incarceration, detention, and data reporting, in
17 order to reduce youth violence, crime, and recidivism.
18 (h) Housing and community development.
19 1. Strengthening the residential real estate market.
20 2. Building on existing efforts when developing a
21 comprehensive land use strategic plan that promotes
22 socioeconomic diversity.
23 3. Promoting neighborhood-beautification strategies.
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25 In addition, the planning team shall develop objectives and
26 identify strategies for addressing issues that necessitate
27 involvement across more than one of the focus areas.
28 (7) CHILDREN'S ZONE CORPORATION.--After adopting the
29 governing body's resolution, the county or municipality must
30 create a corporation not for profit which must be registered,
31 incorporated, organized, and operated in compliance with
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1 chapter 617. The purpose of the corporation is to facilitate
2 fundraising, to secure broad community ownership for the
3 children's zone, and, if the area proposed by the governing
4 body is designated as a children's zone, to:
5 (a) Begin to transfer responsibility for planning from
6 the children's zone planning team to the corporation; and
7 (b) Begin the implementation and governance of the
8 children's zone community plan.
9 (8) CREATION OF MAGIC CITY CHILDREN'S ZONE, INC.,
10 PILOT PROJECT.--
11 (a) There is created within the Liberty City
12 neighborhood in Miami-Dade County a 10-year pilot project zone
13 that, by November 1, 2007, shall be managed by an entity
14 organized as a corporation not for profit which shall be
15 registered, incorporated, organized, and operated in
16 compliance with chapter 617. The corporation shall be known as
17 the Magic City Children's Zone, Inc., and shall be
18 administratively housed within the Belafonte Tacolcy Center.
19 However, Magic City Children's Zone, Inc., is not subject to
20 control, supervision, or direction by the Belafonte Tacolcy
21 Center.
22 (b) This pilot project is designed to apply to an area
23 that is large enough to include all of the necessary
24 components of community life, including, but not limited to,
25 schools, places of worship, recreational facilities,
26 commercial areas, and common space, yet small enough to allow
27 programs and services to reach every willing member of the
28 neighborhood. Therefore, the geographic boundaries of the
29 pilot project are:
30 1. Northwest 79th Street to the north;
31 2. Northwest 36th Street to the south;
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1 3. North Miami Avenue to the east; and
2 4. Northwest 27th Avenue to the west.
3 (c)1. The corporation shall be governed by a 15-member
4 board of directors. The board of directors shall consist of
5 the following members:
6 a. The chief executive officer of the Belafonte
7 Tacolcy Center.
8 b. The executive director of Miami-Dade College,
9 Carrie P. Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center.
10 c. The director of the City of Miami Parks.
11 d. The director of the Miami-Dade Cultural Arts
12 Center.
13 e. The chief executive officer of the Urban League of
14 Greater Miami.
15 f. The director of the Liberty City Service
16 Partnership.
17 g. The regional superintendent of the Miami-Dade
18 County Public Schools.
19 h. The president of the Student Government Association
20 of Northwestern High School.
21 i. The president of the Student Government Association
22 of Edison High School.
23 j. The president of the Parent-Teacher-Student
24 Association of Northwestern High School.
25 k. The president of the Parent-Teacher-Student
26 Association of Edison High School.
27 l. Four members from the local private business
28 sector, to be appointed by a majority vote of the members
29 designated in this paragraph, all of whom must have
30 significant experience in one of the focus areas specified in
31 this section.
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1 2. All members appointed to the board of directors
2 shall be appointed no later than 90 days after the
3 incorporation of the Magic City Children's Zone, Inc. The 11
4 members designated under this paragraph shall be appointed to
5 4-year terms. The four members initially appointed under
6 sub-subparagraph 1.l. shall be appointed to 2-year terms.
7 Members designated or appointed thereafter shall be appointed
8 to 4-year terms. A member may not serve for more than 8 years
9 in consecutive terms.
10 3. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner in
11 which the original designation or appointment was made, and a
12 member designated or appointed to fill a vacancy shall be
13 appointed for the remainder of that term.
14 4. The board of directors shall annually elect a
15 chairperson and a vice chairperson from among the board's
16 members. The members may, by a vote of at least eight board
17 members, remove a member from the position of chairperson or
18 vice chairperson before the expiration of his or her term as
19 chairperson or vice chairperson. His or her successor shall be
20 elected to serve for the remainder of the removed
21 chairperson's or vice chairperson's term.
22 5. The board of directors shall meet at least four
23 times each year, upon the call of the chairperson, at the
24 request of the vice chairperson, or at the request of a
25 majority of the membership. A majority of the membership
26 constitutes a quorum. The board of directors may take official
27 action by a majority vote of the members present at any
28 meeting at which a quorum is present. The board may conduct
29 its meetings through teleconferences or other similar means.
30 6. A member of the board of directors may be removed
31 by a majority of the membership. Absence from three
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1 consecutive meetings results in the automatic removal of a
2 member.
3 7. Each member of the board of directors shall serve
4 without compensation, but is entitled to reimbursement for
5 travel and per diem expenses as provided in s. 112.061 while
6 in the performance of his or her duties.
7 8. The corporation shall create a standing advisory
8 board to assist in any part of its delegated duties. The
9 membership of the advisory board must reflect the expertise
10 necessary for implementing the children's zone pilot project.
11 9. The board of directors has the power and duty to:
12 a. Adopt articles of incorporation and bylaws
13 necessary to govern its activities;
14 b. Begin to transfer responsibility for planning from
15 the children's zone planning team to the corporation;
16 c. Begin the implementation and governance of the
17 children's zone community plan; and
18 d. Enter into a contract with a management consultant
19 having experience working with social service and educational
20 entities for the purpose of developing a 10-year comprehensive
21 business plan to carry out this section.
22 (d) Magic City Children's Zone, Inc., shall submit an
23 annual report to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
24 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 31,
25 2008, and each year thereafter which must include a
26 comprehensive and detailed report of its operations,
27 activities, and accomplishments for the previous year as well
28 as the corporation's goals for the current year. The initial
29 report must also include information concerning the status of
30 the development of a business plan.
31 Section 2. The sum of $3.6 million in nonrecurring
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1 funds is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund and the
2 sum of $28,362 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the
3 Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund to the Ounce of Prevention Fund
4 of Florida, Inc., during the 2007-2008 fiscal year as a grant
5 for a 3-year period for the purposes of implementing the
6 provisions of this act.
7 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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10 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
11 And the title is amended as follows:
12 Delete everything before the enacting clause
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14 and insert:
15 A bill to be entitled
16 An act relating to children's zones; creating
17 s. 409.147, F.S.; providing legislative
18 findings and intent; providing policy and
19 purpose; defining terms; providing a process
20 for nominating and selecting a children's zone;
21 requiring a governing body to pass a
22 resolution; requiring the governing body to
23 establish a children's zone planning team;
24 providing the powers and responsibilities of
25 the planning team; requiring that the planning
26 team designate working groups; specifying focus
27 areas for the working groups; providing for the
28 development of a strategic community plan;
29 providing objectives for each of the focus
30 areas; requiring the governing body to create a
31 corporation; establishing the Magic City
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1 Children's Zone pilot project; providing for
2 management by an entity organized as a
3 corporation not for profit; providing
4 geographic boundaries for the zone; providing
5 for designation and appointment of a board of
6 directors; providing for duties of the board of
7 directors; requiring the board to enter into a
8 contract to develop a business plan; providing
9 for a report; providing an appropriation;
10 providing an effective date.
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