| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to supervised visitation and exchange |
| 3 | monitoring; creating s. 753.06, F.S.; adopting state |
| 4 | standards for supervised visitation programs; |
| 5 | providing for modification; requiring the standards to |
| 6 | be published on the website of the Clearinghouse on |
| 7 | Supervised Visitation; requiring each program to |
| 8 | annually affirm compliance with the standards to the |
| 9 | court; providing that after a specified date only |
| 10 | those programs that adhere to the state standards may |
| 11 | receive state funding; creating s. 753.07, F.S.; |
| 12 | providing factors for the court or child-placing |
| 13 | agency to consider when referring cases for supervised |
| 14 | visitation or exchange monitoring; specifying training |
| 15 | requirements for persons providing such services; |
| 16 | authorizing supervised visitation programs to alert |
| 17 | the court to problems with referred cases; creating s. |
| 18 | 753.08, F.S.; requiring supervised visitation programs |
| 19 | to conduct security background checks of employees and |
| 20 | volunteers; providing requirements for such checks; |
| 21 | requiring that an employer furnish a copy of the |
| 22 | personnel record for the employee or former employee |
| 23 | upon request; providing immunity to employers who |
| 24 | provide information for purposes of a background |
| 25 | check; requiring that all applicants hired or |
| 26 | certified by a program after a specified date undergo |
| 27 | a level 2 background screening; delegating |
| 28 | responsibility for screening criminal history |
| 29 | information and for costs; authorizing a supervised |
| 30 | visitation program to participate in the Volunteer and |
| 31 | Employee Criminal History System in order to obtain |
| 32 | criminal history information; providing that certain |
| 33 | persons providing services at a supervised visitation |
| 34 | program are presumed to act in good faith and are |
| 35 | immune from civil or criminal liability; providing an |
| 36 | effective date. |
| 37 |
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| 38 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 39 |
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| 40 | Section 1. Section 753.06, Florida Statutes, is created to |
| 41 | read: |
| 42 | 753.06 Standards; funding limitations.- |
| 43 | (1) The standards announced in the final report submitted |
| 44 | to the Legislature pursuant to s. 753.03(4) shall be the basis |
| 45 | for the state's standards for supervised visitation and exchange |
| 46 | monitoring, and may be modified only by the advisory board |
| 47 | created under s. 753.03(2) after reasonable notice to the |
| 48 | programs, but not more often than annually. The clearinghouse |
| 49 | shall publish the standards, as modified, on its website. The |
| 50 | published standards shall be the state standards for supervised |
| 51 | visitation programs. |
| 52 | (2) Each supervised visitation program must annually |
| 53 | affirm in a written agreement with the court that it abides by |
| 54 | the standards. If the program has a contract with a child- |
| 55 | placing agency, that contract must include an affirmation that |
| 56 | the program complies with the standards. A copy of the agreement |
| 57 | or contract must be made available to any party upon request. |
| 58 | (3) On or after January 1, 2013, only a supervised |
| 59 | visitation program that has affirmed in a written agreement with |
| 60 | the court that it abides by and is in compliance with the state |
| 61 | standards may receive state funding for supervised visitation or |
| 62 | exchange monitoring services. |
| 63 | Section 2. Section 753.07, Florida Statutes, is created to |
| 64 | read: |
| 65 | 753.07 Referrals.- |
| 66 | (1) Courts and referring child-placing agencies must |
| 67 | adhere to the following priorities when determining where to |
| 68 | refer cases for supervised visitation or exchange monitoring: |
| 69 | (a) For cases that are filed under chapter 61 or chapter |
| 70 | 741 in which the courts are the primary source of referrals, the |
| 71 | court shall direct referrals as follows: |
| 72 | 1. The order must refer the parties to a supervised |
| 73 | visitation program that has a written agreement with the court |
| 74 | as provided in s. 753.06(2) if such a program exists in the |
| 75 | community. |
| 76 | 2. If a program does not exist, or if the existing program |
| 77 | is not able to accept the referral for any reason, the court may |
| 78 | refer the case to a local mental health professional. Such |
| 79 | professional is not required to abide by the state standards |
| 80 | established in s. 753.06; however, the professional must affirm |
| 81 | to the court in writing that he or she has completed the |
| 82 | clearinghouse's free, online supervised visitation training |
| 83 | program and has read and understands the state standards. |
| 84 | (b) In cases governed by chapter 39, the referring child- |
| 85 | placing agency must adhere to the following: |
| 86 | 1. The agency that has primary responsibility for the case |
| 87 | must ensure that each family is assessed for problems that could |
| 88 | present safety risks during parent-child contact. If risks are |
| 89 | found, agency staff shall consider referring the parties to a |
| 90 | local supervised visitation program that has affirmed in writing |
| 91 | that it adheres to the state standards if such a program exists |
| 92 | in the community. |
| 93 | 2. If agency staff determines that there is no need for a |
| 94 | supervised visitation, a supervised visitation program does not |
| 95 | exist, or the existing program is unable to accept the referral |
| 96 | for any reason, the child protective investigator or case |
| 97 | manager who has primary responsibility for the case may: |
| 98 | a. Supervise the parent-child contact himself or herself. |
| 99 | However, before a child protective investigator or case manager |
| 100 | may supervise visits, he or she must review or receive training |
| 101 | on the online training manual for the state's supervised |
| 102 | visitation programs and affirm in writing to his or her own |
| 103 | agency that he or she has received training on, or has reviewed |
| 104 | and understands, the state standards. |
| 105 | b. Designate a foster parent or relative to supervise the |
| 106 | parent-child visits in those cases that do not warrant the |
| 107 | supervision of the child protective investigator or case |
| 108 | manager. However, the designated foster parent or relative must |
| 109 | first be apprised that the case manager conducted a safety |
| 110 | assessment described in subparagraph 1., and must be provided |
| 111 | access to free training material on the foster parent's or |
| 112 | relative's role in supervised visitation. Such materials may be |
| 113 | created by the clearinghouse using existing or new material and |
| 114 | must be approved by the department. Such training may be |
| 115 | included in any preservice foster parent training conducted by |
| 116 | the agency. |
| 117 | 3. If a program does not exist, or if the existing program |
| 118 | is unable to accept the referral and the child protective |
| 119 | investigator or case manager is unable to supervise the parent- |
| 120 | child contact or designate a foster parent or relative to |
| 121 | supervise the visits as described in subparagraph 2., the agency |
| 122 | that has primary responsibility for the case may refer the case |
| 123 | to another qualified staff member within that agency to |
| 124 | supervise the contact. However, before the staff member may |
| 125 | supervise any visits, he or she must review or receive training |
| 126 | on the online training manual for supervised visitation programs |
| 127 | and affirm in writing to his or her own agency that he or she |
| 128 | has received training on, or has reviewed and understands, the |
| 129 | training manual and the state standards. |
| 130 | 4. The agency that has primary responsibility for the case |
| 131 | may not refer the case to a subcontractor or other agency to |
| 132 | perform the supervised visitation unless that subcontractor's or |
| 133 | other agency's child protective investigators or case managers |
| 134 | who supervise onsite or offsite visits have reviewed or received |
| 135 | training on the clearinghouse's online training manual for |
| 136 | supervised visitation programs and affirm to their own agency |
| 137 | that they have received training on, or have reviewed and |
| 138 | understand, the training manual and the state standards. |
| 139 | (2) This section does not prohibit the court from allowing |
| 140 | a litigant's relatives or friends to supervise visits if the |
| 141 | court determines that such supervision is safe. However, such |
| 142 | informal supervisors must be made aware of the free online |
| 143 | clearinghouse materials that they may voluntarily choose to |
| 144 | review. These materials must provide information that helps |
| 145 | educate the informal supervisors about the inherent risks and |
| 146 | complicated dynamics of supervised visitation. |
| 147 | (3) Supervised visitation programs may alert the court in |
| 148 | writing if there are problems with referred cases and the court |
| 149 | may set a hearing to address these problems. |
| 150 | Section 3. Section 753.08, Florida Statutes, is created to |
| 151 | read: |
| 152 | 753.08 Security background checks; immunity.- |
| 153 | (1) Because of the special trust or responsibility placed |
| 154 | on volunteers and employees of supervised visitation programs, |
| 155 | such program must conduct a security background investigation |
| 156 | before hiring an employee or certifying a volunteer. |
| 157 | (a) A security background investigation must include, but |
| 158 | need not be limited to, employment history checks, reference |
| 159 | checks, local criminal history records checks through local law |
| 160 | enforcement agencies, and statewide criminal history records |
| 161 | checks through the Department of Law Enforcement. |
| 162 | (b) Upon request, an employer shall furnish a copy of the |
| 163 | personnel record for the employee or former employee who is the |
| 164 | subject of a security background investigation. The information |
| 165 | contained in the record may include, but need not be limited to, |
| 166 | disciplinary matters and the reason the employee was terminated |
| 167 | from employment, if applicable. An employer who releases a |
| 168 | personnel record for purposes of a security background |
| 169 | investigation is presumed to have acted in good faith and is not |
| 170 | liable for information contained in the record without a showing |
| 171 | that the employer maliciously falsified the record. |
| 172 | (c) All employees hired or volunteers certified on or |
| 173 | after October 1, 2012, must undergo a state and national |
| 174 | criminal history record check. Supervised visitation programs |
| 175 | shall contract with the department, the court administrator, or |
| 176 | the clerk of court to conduct level 2 background checks under |
| 177 | chapter 435. The cost for the fingerprint processing may be |
| 178 | borne by the program or the person subject to the background |
| 179 | check. The department, court administrator, or clerk of court |
| 180 | shall screen the criminal history results to determine if an |
| 181 | applicant meets the minimum requirements and is responsible for |
| 182 | payment to the Department of Law Enforcement by invoice to the |
| 183 | department, the court administrator, or the clerk of court or |
| 184 | via payment from a credit card by the applicant or a vendor on |
| 185 | behalf of the applicant. If the department, court administrator, |
| 186 | or clerk of court is unable to conduct the background check, the |
| 187 | supervised visitation program may participate in the Volunteer |
| 188 | and Employee Criminal History System, as authorized by the |
| 189 | National Child Protection Act of 1993 and s. 943.0542, to obtain |
| 190 | criminal history information. |
| 191 | (d) The security background investigation must ensure that |
| 192 | a person is not hired as an employee or certified as a volunteer |
| 193 | if the person has an arrest awaiting final disposition for, has |
| 194 | been convicted of, regardless of adjudication, has entered a |
| 195 | plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, or has been adjudicated |
| 196 | delinquent and the record has not been sealed or expunged for, |
| 197 | any offense referenced under s. 435.04(2). |
| 198 | (e) In analyzing and evaluating the information obtained |
| 199 | in the security background investigation, the program must give |
| 200 | particular emphasis to past activities involving children, |
| 201 | including, but not limited to, child-related criminal offenses |
| 202 | or child abuse. The program has sole discretion in determining |
| 203 | whether to hire or certify a person based on his or her security |
| 204 | background investigation. |
| 205 | (2) Any person who is providing supervised visitation or |
| 206 | exchange monitoring services through a supervised visitation |
| 207 | program and who affirms to the court in writing that he or she |
| 208 | abides by the state standards described in s. 753.06 is |
| 209 | presumed, prima facie, to be acting in good faith and is immune |
| 210 | from any liability, civil or criminal, which otherwise might be |
| 211 | incurred or imposed with regard to the provision of such |
| 212 | services. |
| 213 | Section 4. This act shall take effect October 1, 2012. |