Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 522
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-00372A-18                                            2018522__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to incarcerated parents; creating s.
    3         39.6021, F.S.; requiring the Department of Children
    4         and Families to obtain specified information from a
    5         facility where a parent is incarcerated under certain
    6         circumstances; providing an exception; requiring that
    7         a parent who is incarcerated be included in case
    8         planning and provided with a copy of the case plan;
    9         providing requirements for case plans; specifying that
   10         the incarcerated parent is responsible for complying
   11         with facility procedures and policies to access
   12         services or maintain contact with his or her children
   13         as provided in the case plan; requiring the parties to
   14         the case plan to move to amend the case plan if a
   15         parent becomes incarcerated after a case plan has been
   16         developed and the parent’s incarceration has an impact
   17         on permanency for the child; requiring that the case
   18         plan include certain information if the incarcerated
   19         parent is released before it expires; requiring the
   20         department to include certain information in the case
   21         plan if the incarcerated parent does not participate
   22         in its preparation; providing construction; providing
   23         an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 39.6021, Florida Statutes, is created to
   28  read:
   29         39.6021 Case planning when parents are incarcerated or
   30  become incarcerated.—
   31         (1) In a case in which the parent is incarcerated, the
   32  department shall obtain information from the facility where the
   33  parent is incarcerated to determine how the parent can
   34  participate in the preparation and completion of the case plan
   35  and receive the services that are available to the parent at the
   36  facility. This subsection does not apply if the department has
   37  determined that a case plan for reunification with the
   38  incarcerated parent will not be offered.
   39         (2) A parent who is incarcerated must be included in case
   40  planning and must be provided a copy of any case plan that is
   41  developed.
   42         (3) A case plan for a parent who is incarcerated must
   43  comply with ss. 39.6011 and 39.6012 to the extent possible, and
   44  must give consideration to the regulations of the facility where
   45  the parent is incarcerated and to services available at the
   46  facility. The department shall attach a list of services
   47  available at the facility to the case plan. If the facility does
   48  not have a list of available services, the department must note
   49  the unavailability of the list in the case plan.
   50         (4) The incarcerated parent is responsible for complying
   51  with the facility’s procedures and policies to access services
   52  or maintain contact with his or her children as provided in the
   53  case plan.
   54         (5) If a parent becomes incarcerated after a case plan has
   55  been developed, the parties to the case plan must move to amend
   56  the case plan if the parent’s incarceration has an impact on
   57  permanency for the child, including, but not limited to:
   58         (a) Modification of provisions regarding visitation and
   59  contact with the child;
   60         (b) Identification of services within the facility; or
   61         (c) Changing the permanency goal or establishing a
   62  concurrent case plan goal.
   63         (6) If an incarcerated parent is released before the case
   64  plan expires, the case plan must include tasks that must be
   65  completed by the parent and services that must be accessed by
   66  the parent upon the parent’s release.
   67         (7) If the parent does not participate in preparation of
   68  the case plan, the department must include in the case plan a
   69  full explanation of the circumstances surrounding his or her
   70  nonparticipation and must state the nature of the department’s
   71  efforts to secure the incarcerated parent’s participation.
   72         (8) This section does not prohibit the department or the
   73  court from revising a permanency goal after a parent becomes
   74  incarcerated or from determining that a case plan with a goal of
   75  reunification may not be offered to a parent. This section may
   76  not be interpreted as creating additional obligations for a
   77  facility which do not exist in the statutes or regulations
   78  governing that facility.
   79         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.