The Florida Senate

753.003  Florida Family Visitation Task Force.--

(1)  There is hereby created the Florida Family Visitation Task Force. The task force shall act as the governing body of the Florida Family Visitation Network for 1 year. In doing so, it shall have the duty of carrying out the responsibilities listed in s. 753.002. It shall also:

(a)  Develop the network of supervised visitation programs created in s. 753.002 and encourage the membership of persons and entities interested in the establishment and operation of these programs.

(b)  Create bylaws which shall include, but not be limited to, establishing membership criteria and dues, and a permanent governing board for the Florida Family Visitation Network.

(c)  Serve as an advisory board for the visitation projects of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Florida, established in s. 753.004.

(d)  Develop an evaluation instrument that may be used by supervised visitation programs and should be used for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences' visitation projects. This evaluation must include, but is not limited to, the following components:

1.  The duration that each family used the supervised visitation program.

2.  Whether child support payments were being made by the noncustodial parent before, during, and after the time of service.

3.  The impact the supervised visitation programs had on families, such as reunification, termination of parental rights, and continued visitation.

4.  The cost per family served by the supervised visitation programs.

(e)  Prepare a report with recommendations concerning the development of a continuing and expanding network of supervised visitation programs and recommendations concerning the visitation projects of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leaders of both houses, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Governor, no later than February 1, 1997.

(2)  Membership on the Florida Family Visitation Task Force is voluntary. Membership shall be offered to each of the following:

(a)  One representative from each established state-supervised visitation program as of the effective date of this act, appointed by the executive director or chief administrator of each program.

(b)  One representative from the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, appointed by the Secretary of ¹Health and Rehabilitative Services.

(c)  One family court judge, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

(d)  One representative of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, appointed by the Executive Director.

(e)  One representative of the Guardian ad Litem Program, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

(f)  Two representatives of law enforcement, one appointed by the President of the Police Chief's Association and one by the Executive Director of the Florida Sheriff's Association.

(g)  One representative of the family law section of The Florida Bar, appointed by the President of The Florida Bar.

(h)  One representative from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Florida, appointed by the chief administrator of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

(i)  One representative of the State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior League of Florida, appointed by the chairperson of that committee.

(3)  Subject to the availability of funds, staffing and technical assistance to the Florida Family Visitation Task Force shall be provided by the Institute for Family Violence Studies at Florida State University to carry out the responsibilities under s. 753.002.

(4)  Members of the Florida Family Visitation Task Force shall serve for a 1-year term to begin 30 days after the effective date of this section.

(5)  Members of the Florida Family Visitation Task Force shall serve without compensation, but shall receive per diem and travel expenses to the extent that resources will permit. Members who are employees of state agencies shall receive the per diem and travel expenses from the budgets of their agencies to the extent that their budgets will permit. Members who are not employees of state agencies shall receive per diem and travel expenses from the budget of the Florida Family Visitation Task Force to the extent that resources will permit.

(6)  Members of the Florida Family Visitation Task Force should be offered appointment within 30 days after the effective date of this section. The Florida Family Visitation Task Force may appoint subcommittees that include persons who are knowledgeable in a subject area but are not members of the Florida Family Visitation Task Force and may not vote as such.

(7)  The Florida Family Visitation Task Force shall hold its first meeting within 30 days after the appointments are made.

(8)  This section shall take effect July 1, 1996.

History.--s. 12, ch. 96-402.

¹Note.--The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was redesignated as the Department of Children and Family Services by s. 5, ch. 96-403, and the Department of Health was created by s. 8, ch. 96-403.