Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 214
       
       
        
       By Senator Harrell
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00366-24                                            2024214__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to Child Protection Teams; amending s.
    3         39.303, F.S.; expanding the types of reports that the
    4         Department of Children and Families must refer to
    5         Child Protection Teams; reenacting s. 39.301(14)(c),
    6         F.S., relating to the initiation of protective
    7         investigations, to incorporate the amendment made to
    8         s. 39.303, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an
    9         effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraphs (j), (k), and (l) are added to
   14  subsection (4) of section 39.303, Florida Statutes, to read:
   15         39.303 Child Protection Teams and sexual abuse treatment
   16  programs; services; eligible cases.—
   17         (4) The child abuse, abandonment, and neglect reports that
   18  must be referred by the department to Child Protection Teams of
   19  the Department of Health for an assessment and other appropriate
   20  available support services as set forth in subsection (3) must
   21  include cases involving:
   22         (j) A child who was not properly restrained in a motor
   23  vehicle pursuant to s. 316.613 or s. 316.614 when, in the
   24  opinion of a physician, the improper restraint exacerbated the
   25  child’s injuries in a motor vehicle accident or resulted in the
   26  child’s death.
   27         (k) A child who was left unattended or unsupervised in a
   28  motor vehicle pursuant to s. 316.6135 and such action resulted
   29  in an injury to the child or in the child’s death.
   30         (l) Any report from an emergency room physician.
   31         Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
   32  made by this act to section 39.303, Florida Statutes, in a
   33  reference thereto, paragraph (c) of subsection (14) of section
   34  39.301, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
   35         39.301 Initiation of protective investigations.—
   36         (14)
   37         (c) The department, in consultation with the judiciary,
   38  shall adopt by rule:
   39         1. Criteria that are factors requiring that the department
   40  take the child into custody, petition the court as provided in
   41  this chapter, or, if the child is not taken into custody or a
   42  petition is not filed with the court, conduct an administrative
   43  review. Such factors must include, but are not limited to,
   44  noncompliance with a safety plan or the case plan developed by
   45  the department, and the family under this chapter, and prior
   46  abuse reports with findings that involve the child, the child’s
   47  sibling, or the child’s caregiver.
   48         2. Requirements that if after an administrative review the
   49  department determines not to take the child into custody or
   50  petition the court, the department shall document the reason for
   51  its decision in writing and include it in the investigative
   52  file. For all cases that were accepted by the local law
   53  enforcement agency for criminal investigation pursuant to
   54  subsection (2), the department must include in the file written
   55  documentation that the administrative review included input from
   56  law enforcement. In addition, for all cases that must be
   57  referred to Child Protection Teams pursuant to s. 39.303(4) and
   58  (5), the file must include written documentation that the
   59  administrative review included the results of the team’s
   60  evaluation.
   61         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.