Florida Senate - 2018                              CS for SB 522
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Rules; and Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       595-02461-18                                           2018522c1
    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 and if
   20         appropriate; requiring the department to include
   21         certain information in the case plan if the
   22         incarcerated parent does not participate in its
   23         preparation; providing construction; providing an
   24         effective date.
   25          
   26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         Section 1. Section 39.6021, Florida Statutes, is created to
   29  read:
   30         39.6021 Case planning when parents are incarcerated or
   31  become incarcerated.—
   32         (1) In a case in which the parent is incarcerated, the
   33  department shall obtain information from the facility where the
   34  parent is incarcerated to determine how the parent can
   35  participate in the preparation and completion of the case plan
   36  and receive the services that are available to the parent at the
   37  facility. This subsection does not apply if the department has
   38  determined that a case plan for reunification with the
   39  incarcerated parent will not be offered.
   40         (2) A parent who is incarcerated must be included in case
   41  planning and must be provided a copy of any case plan that is
   42  developed.
   43         (3) A case plan for a parent who is incarcerated must
   44  comply with ss. 39.6011 and 39.6012 to the extent possible, and
   45  must give consideration to the regulations of the facility where
   46  the parent is incarcerated and to services available at the
   47  facility. The department shall attach a list of services
   48  available at the facility to the case plan. If the facility does
   49  not have a list of available services, the department must note
   50  the unavailability of the list in the case plan.
   51         (4) The incarcerated parent is responsible for complying
   52  with the facility’s procedures and policies to access services
   53  or maintain contact with his or her children as provided in the
   54  case plan.
   55         (5) If a parent becomes incarcerated after a case plan has
   56  been developed, the parties to the case plan must move to amend
   57  the case plan if the parent’s incarceration has an impact on
   58  permanency for the child, including, but not limited to:
   59         (a)Modification of provisions regarding visitation and
   60  contact with the child;
   61         (b) Identification of services within the facility; or
   62         (c) Changing the permanency goal or establishing a
   63  concurrent case plan goal.
   64         (6) If an incarcerated parent is released before the case
   65  plan expires, the case plan must, if appropriate, include tasks
   66  that must be completed by the parent and services that must be
   67  accessed by the parent upon the parent’s release.
   68         (7) If the parent does not participate in preparation of
   69  the case plan, the department must include in the case plan a
   70  full explanation of the circumstances surrounding his or her
   71  nonparticipation and must state the nature of the department’s
   72  efforts to secure the incarcerated parent’s participation.
   73         (8)This section does not prohibit the department or the
   74  court from revising a permanency goal after a parent becomes
   75  incarcerated or from determining that a case plan with a goal of
   76  reunification may not be offered to a parent. This section may
   77  not be interpreted as creating additional obligations for a
   78  facility which do not exist in the statutes or regulations
   79  governing that facility.
   80         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.