Florida Senate - 2020 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 122
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
02/25/2020 .
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Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services
(Rouson) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 371 - 509
4 and insert:
5 (5) WORKFORCE CERTIFICATION.—The department shall approve
6 one or more third-party credentialing entities for the purpose
7 of developing and administering child welfare certification
8 programs for persons who provide child welfare services. A
9 third-party credentialing entity shall request such approval in
10 writing from the department. In order to obtain approval, the
11 third-party credentialing entity must:
12 (a) Establish professional requirements and standards that
13 applicants must achieve in order to obtain a child welfare
14 certification and to maintain such certification.
15 (b) Develop and apply core competencies and examination
16 instruments according to nationally recognized certification and
17 psychometric standards.
18 (c) Maintain a professional code of ethics and a
19 disciplinary process that apply to all persons holding child
20 welfare certification.
21 (d) Maintain a database, accessible to the public, of all
22 persons holding child welfare certification, including any
23 history of ethical violations.
24 (e) Require annual continuing education for persons holding
25 child welfare certification and require certified professionals
26 to comply with the training requirements in subsection (4) as a
27 condition of renewal or initial certification. The third-party
28 credentialing entity shall track and report compliance with this
29 section to the department on an annual basis.
30 (f) Administer a continuing education provider program to
31 ensure that only qualified providers offer continuing education
32 opportunities for certificateholders.
33 (g) All certified child welfare professionals must follow
34 the requirements of the third-party credentialing entities code
35 of ethical and professional conduct and disciplinary procedures.
36 1. The department, community based care lead agencies,
37 sheriff offices and their contracted providers shall report all
38 allegations of suspected or known violations of ethical or
39 professional misconduct standards to the department approved
40 third-party credentialing entity, including all allegations made
41 to the department’s Office of Inspector General on certified
42 personnel.
43 2. The third-party credentialing entity shall review all
44 case records involving the death of a child or other critical
45 incident to ensure compliance with the third-party credentialing
46 entity’s published code of ethical and professional conduct and
47 disciplinary procedures.
48 3. The department shall provide the third-party
49 credentialing entity with all reports necessary to conduct a
50 thorough investigation on all certified child welfare service
51 providers involved with the case.
52 4. The third-party credentialing entity shall immediately
53 suspend the certification of all certified individuals involved
54 in the case pending the results of the initial review of the
55 certified professional’s role and performance as it relates to
56 the case circumstance.
57 5. The department or sub-contracted employer of the
58 certified staff must immediately remove the individual from
59 their duties that require certification as a condition of
60 employment until the initial review is complete and the third
61 party credentialing entity determines if an ethics case is
62 warranted.
63 6. Any decision by a department approved credentialing
64 entity to deny, revoke, or suspend a certification, or otherwise
65 impose sanctions on an individual who is certified, is
66 reviewable by the department. Upon receiving an adverse
67 determination, the person aggrieved may request an
68 administrative hearing pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 120.57(1)
69 within 30 days after completing any appeals process offered by
70 the credentialing entity or the department, as applicable.
71 7. The third-party credentialing entity shall track and
72 report compliance with this subsection to the department.
73 (h) Maintain an advisory committee, including
74 representatives from each region of the department, each
75 sheriff’s office providing child protective services, and each
76 community-based care lead agency, who shall be appointed by the
77 organization they represent. The third-party credentialing
78 entity may appoint additional members to the advisory committee.
79 (6) CHILD WELFARE TRAINING TRUST FUND.—
80 (a) There is created within the State Treasury a Child
81 Welfare Training Trust Fund to be used by the Department of
82 Children and Families for the purpose of funding the
83 professional development of persons providing child welfare
84 services.
85 (b) One dollar from every noncriminal traffic infraction
86 collected pursuant to s. 318.14(10)(b) or s. 318.18 shall be
87 deposited into the Child Welfare Training Trust Fund.
88 (c) In addition to the funds generated by paragraph (b),
89 the trust fund shall receive funds generated from an additional
90 fee on birth certificates and dissolution of marriage filings,
91 as specified in ss. 382.0255 and 28.101, respectively, and may
92 receive funds from any other public or private source.
93 (d) Funds that are not expended by the end of the budget
94 cycle or through a supplemental budget approved by the
95 department shall revert to the trust fund.
96 (7) ATTORNEYS EMPLOYED BY THE DEPARTMENT TO HANDLE CHILD
97 WELFARE CASES.—With the exception of attorneys hired after July
98 1, 2014, but before July 1, 2020, who shall complete the
99 training required under this subsection by January 31, 2021,
100 attorneys hired by the department on or after July 1, 2014,
101 whose primary responsibility is representing the department in
102 child welfare cases shall receive training within the first 6
103 months of employment in:
104 (a) The dependency court process, including the attorney’s
105 role in preparing and reviewing documents prepared for
106 dependency court for accuracy and completeness;
107 (b) Preparing and presenting child welfare cases, including
108 at least 1 week of shadowing an experienced children’s legal
109 services attorney who is preparing and presenting cases;
110 (c) Safety assessment, safety decisionmaking tools, and
111 safety plans;
112 (d) Developing information presented by investigators and
113 case managers to support decisionmaking in the best interest of
114 children; and
115 (e) The experiences and techniques of case managers and
116 investigators, including shadowing an experienced child
117 protective investigator and an experienced case manager for at
118 least 8 hours.
119
120 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
121 And the title is amended as follows:
122 Delete lines 33 - 35
123 and insert:
124 department related workforce training; providing
125 additional duties for third-