Florida Senate - 2023 CS for CS for CS for SB 1064
By the Committee on Fiscal Policy; the Appropriations Committee
on Health and Human Services; the Committee on Children,
Families, and Elder Affairs; and Senator Yarborough
594-04264A-23 20231064c3
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to trauma screening for children
3 removed from caregivers; amending s. 39.523, F.S.;
4 revising legislative findings; requiring the
5 Department of Children and Families or community-based
6 care lead agency to conduct a trauma screening after a
7 child’s removal from his or her home within a certain
8 timeframe; requiring the department or community-based
9 care lead agency to refer the child for a trauma
10 assessment, if indicated appropriate or necessary by
11 the screening, within a certain timeframe; requiring
12 the department or community-based lead agency to refer
13 the child to services and intervention, as needed;
14 requiring that the trauma screening, assessment, and
15 services and intervention be integrated into the
16 child’s overall treatment planning and services;
17 requiring the department or the community-based care
18 lead agency to provide certain information and support
19 for a specified purpose; providing an effective date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. Subsections (1) and paragraph (a) of subsection
24 (2) of section 39.523, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
25 39.523 Placement in out-of-home care.—
26 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—
27 (a) The Legislature finds that it is a basic tenet of child
28 welfare practice and the law that a child be placed in the least
29 restrictive, most family-like setting available in close
30 proximity to the home of his or her parents which meets the
31 needs of the child, and that a child be placed in a permanent
32 home in a timely manner.
33 (b) The Legislature also finds that there is an association
34 between placements that do not meet the needs of the child and
35 adverse outcomes for the child, that mismatching placements to
36 children’s needs has been identified as a factor that negatively
37 impacts placement stability, and that identifying the right
38 placement for each child requires effective assessment.
39 (c) The Legislature also finds that the timely
40 identification of and therapeutic response to acute presentation
41 of symptoms indicative of trauma can reduce adverse outcomes for
42 a child, aid in the identification of services to enhance
43 initial placement stability and of supports to caregivers, and
44 reduce placement disruption.
45 (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that whenever a
46 child is unable to safely remain at home with a parent, the most
47 appropriate available out-of-home placement shall be chosen
48 after an assessment of the child’s needs and the availability of
49 caregivers qualified to meet the child’s needs.
50 (2) ASSESSMENT AND PLACEMENT.—When any child is removed
51 from a home and placed in out-of-home care, a comprehensive
52 placement assessment process shall be completed in accordance
53 with s. 39.4022 to determine the level of care needed by the
54 child and match the child with the most appropriate placement.
55 (a) In accordance with rules adopted by the department, the
56 department or community-based care lead agency or subcontracted
57 agency with the responsibility for assessment and placement
58 must:
59 1. Coordinate a multidisciplinary team staffing as
60 established in s. 39.4022 with the necessary participants for
61 the stated purpose of the staffing.
62 2. Conduct a trauma screening as soon as practicable after
63 the child’s removal from his or her home but no later than 21
64 days after the shelter hearing. If indicated as appropriate or
65 necessary by the screening, the department or community-based
66 care lead agency must, at a minimum:
67 a. Promptly refer the child to appropriate trauma
68 assessment, which must be completed within 30 days, and if
69 appropriate, services and intervention as needed. To the extent
70 possible, the trauma screening, the assessment, and services and
71 intervention must be integrated into the child’s overall
72 behavioral health treatment planning and services.
73 b. In accordance with s. 409.1415(2)(b)3.f., provide
74 information and support, which may include, but need not be
75 limited to, consultation, coaching, training, and referrals to
76 services, to the caregiver of the child to help the caregiver
77 respond to and care for the child in a trauma-informed and
78 therapeutic manner.
79 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.