Florida Senate - 2015                                    SB 1404
       
       
        
       By Senator Legg
       
       
       
       
       
       17-00914A-15                                          20151404__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to sexual assault; requiring a state
    3         university and a Florida College System institution to
    4         implement and administer various sexual assault
    5         prevention, education, and training initiatives;
    6         protecting a campus-based victim advocate from certain
    7         types of retaliation by his or her employer; requiring
    8         the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence to
    9         implement specified training programs and to monitor
   10         the campus-based victim advocacy programs’ compliance
   11         with those requirements; providing an effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. A state university and a Florida College System
   16  institution shall implement and administer all of the following
   17  requirements:
   18         (1)(a) A campus-based victim advocacy program must operate
   19  independently from the university police and Florida College
   20  System institution police.
   21         (b) Communications between a campus-based victim advocate
   22  and a victim must be privileged and confidential, and a client
   23  file must be confidential.
   24         (c) A state university and a Florida College System
   25  institution must ensure that campus-based victim advocates
   26  complete a training program developed and conducted by the
   27  Florida Council Against Sexual Violence which includes, but is
   28  not limited to, current information on victims’ rights,
   29  confidentiality, and privileges.
   30         (d) A campus-based victim advocate must be protected from
   31  retaliation by his or her employer for:
   32         1. Maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of a client;
   33  and
   34         2. Exposing a state university’s or a Florida College
   35  System institution’s failure to comply with the federal
   36  requirements under 20 U.S.C. ss. 1681-1688.
   37         (e) A state university and a Florida College System
   38  institution must negotiate and enter into memoranda of
   39  understanding with the local certified rape crisis centers and
   40  send a campus-based first responder who is a law enforcement
   41  officer or victim advocate to all community-based sexual assault
   42  response team meetings.
   43         (f) A state university and a Florida College System
   44  institution must implement and require all students to annually
   45  participate in an in-person sexual assault prevention training
   46  that has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the
   47  commission of rape and that includes, but is not limited to,
   48  bystander intervention training.
   49         (g) University police and Florida College System
   50  institution police shall distribute the Sexual Battery Victim’s
   51  Rights and Services brochure developed by the Florida Council
   52  Against Sexual Violence to all victims reporting sexual battery,
   53  as specified in s. 794.052, Florida Statutes.
   54         (2) The Florida Council Against Sexual Violence shall
   55  implement the training program in paragraph (1)(c) and monitor
   56  the campus-based victim advocacy programs’ compliance with the
   57  requirements under paragraph (1)(c).
   58         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.