The Florida Senate

985.404  Administering the juvenile justice continuum.--

(1)  The Department of Juvenile Justice shall plan, develop, and coordinate comprehensive services and programs statewide for the prevention, early intervention, control, and rehabilitative treatment of delinquent behavior.

(2)  The department shall develop and implement an appropriate continuum of care that provides individualized, multidisciplinary assessments, objective evaluations of relative risks, and the matching of needs with placements for all children under its care, and that uses a system of case management to facilitate each child being appropriately assessed, provided with services, and placed in a program that meets the child's needs.

(3)  The department shall develop or contract for diversified and innovative programs to provide rehabilitative treatment, including early intervention and prevention, diversion, comprehensive intake, case management, diagnostic and classification assessments, individual and family counseling, shelter care, diversified detention care emphasizing alternatives to secure detention, diversified community control, halfway houses, foster homes, community-based substance abuse treatment services, community-based mental health treatment services, community-based residential and nonresidential programs, environmental programs, and programs for serious or habitual juvenile offenders. Each program shall place particular emphasis on reintegration and aftercare for all children in the program.

(4)  The department may transfer a child, when necessary to appropriately administer the child's commitment, from one facility or program to another facility or program operated, contracted, subcontracted, or designated by the department. The department shall notify the court that committed the child to the department, in writing, of its transfer of the child from a commitment facility or program to another facility or program of a higher or lower restrictiveness level. The court that committed the child may agree to the transfer or may set a hearing to review the transfer. If the court does not respond within 10 days after receipt of the notice, the transfer of the child shall be deemed granted.

(5)  The department shall maintain continuing cooperation with the Department of Education, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Labor and Employment Security, and the Department of Corrections for the purpose of participating in agreements with respect to dropout prevention and the reduction of suspensions, expulsions, and truancy; increased access to and participation in GED, vocational, and alternative education programs; and employment training and placement assistance. The cooperative agreements between the departments shall include an interdepartmental plan to cooperate in accomplishing the reduction of inappropriate transfers of children into the adult criminal justice and correctional systems.

(6)  The department may provide consulting services and technical assistance to courts, law enforcement agencies, and other state agencies, local governments, and public and private organizations, and may develop or assist in developing community interest and action programs relating to intervention against, diversion from, and prevention and treatment of, delinquent behavior.

(7)  In view of the importance of the basic values of work, responsibility, and self-reliance to a child's return to his or her community, the department may pay a child a reasonable sum of money for work performed while employed in any of the department's work programs. The work programs shall be designed so that the work benefits the department or the state, their properties, or the child's community. Funds for payments shall be provided specifically for salaries pursuant to this subsection, and payments shall be made pursuant to a plan approved or rules adopted by the department.

(8)  The department shall administer programs and services for children in need of services and families in need of services and shall coordinate its efforts with those of the Federal Government, state agencies, county and municipal governments, private agencies, and child advocacy groups. The department shall establish standards for, providing technical assistance to, and exercising the requisite supervision of, services and programs for children in all state-supported facilities and programs.

(9)  The department shall ensure that personnel responsible for the care, supervision, and individualized treatment of children are appropriately apprised of the requirements of this part and trained in the specialized areas required to comply with standards established by rule.

(10)  The department shall annually collect and report cost data for every program operated or contracted by the department. The cost data shall conform to a format approved by the department and the Legislature. Uniform cost data shall be reported and collected for state-operated and contracted programs so that comparisons can be made among programs. The department shall ensure that there is accurate cost accounting for state-operated services including market-equivalent rent and other shared cost. The cost of the educational program provided to a residential facility shall be reported and included in the cost of a program. The department shall submit an annual cost report to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of each house of the Legislature, the appropriate substantive and appropriations committees of each house of the Legislature, and the Governor, no later than December 1 of each year. Cost-benefit analysis for educational programs will be developed and implemented in collaboration with and cooperation by the Department of Education, local providers, and local school districts. Cost data for the report shall include data collected by the Department of Education for the purposes of preparing the annual report required by s. 230.23161(17).

(11)(a)  The Department of Juvenile Justice, in consultation with the ¹Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, the ²Division of Economic and Demographic Research, and contract service providers, shall develop a cost-effectiveness model and apply the model to each commitment program. Program recommitment rates shall be a component of the model. The cost-effectiveness model shall compare program costs to client outcomes and program outputs. It is the intent of the Legislature that continual development efforts take place to improve the validity and reliability of the cost-effectiveness model and to integrate the standard methodology developed under s. 985.401(4) for interpreting program outcome evaluations.

(b)  The department shall rank commitment programs based on the cost-effectiveness model and shall submit a report to the appropriate substantive and fiscal committees of each house of the Legislature by December 31 of each year.

(c)  Based on reports of the ¹Juvenile Justice Advisory Board on client outcomes and program outputs and on the department's most recent cost-effectiveness rankings, the department may terminate a program operated by the department or a provider if the program has failed to achieve a minimum threshold of program effectiveness. This paragraph does not preclude the department from terminating a contract as provided under s. 985.412 or as otherwise provided by law or contract, and does not limit the department's authority to enter into or terminate a contract.

(d)  In collaboration with the ¹Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, the ²Division of Economic and Demographic Research, and contract service providers, the department shall develop a work plan to refine the cost-effectiveness model so that the model is consistent with the performance-based program budgeting measures approved by the Legislature to the extent the department deems appropriate. The department shall notify the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability of any meetings to refine the model.

(e)  Contingent upon specific appropriation, the department, in consultation with the ¹Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, the ²Division of Economic and Demographic Research, and contract service providers, shall:

1.  Construct a profile of each commitment program that uses the results of the quality assurance report required by s. 985.412, the outcome evaluation report compiled by the ¹Juvenile Justice Advisory Board under s. 985.401, the cost-effectiveness report required in this subsection, and other reports available to the department.

2.  Target, for a more comprehensive evaluation, any commitment program that has achieved consistently high, low, or disparate ratings in the reports required under subparagraph 1.

3.  Identify the essential factors that contribute to the high, low, or disparate program ratings.

4.  Use the results of these evaluations in developing or refining juvenile justice programs or program models, client outcomes and program outputs, provider contracts, quality assurance standards, and the cost-effectiveness model.

(12)(a)  The department shall operate a statewide, regionally administered system of detention services for children, in accordance with a comprehensive plan for the regional administration of all detention services in the state. The plan must provide for the maintenance of adequate availability of detention services for all counties. The plan must cover the department's 15 service districts, with each service district having a secure facility and nonsecure and home detention programs, and the plan may be altered or modified by the Department of Juvenile Justice as necessary.

(b)  The department shall adopt rules prescribing standards and requirements with reference to:

1.  The construction, equipping, maintenance, staffing, programming, and operation of detention facilities;

2.  The treatment, training, and education of children confined in detention facilities;

3.  The cleanliness and sanitation of detention facilities;

4.  The number of children who may be housed in detention facilities per specified unit of floor space;

5.  The quality, quantity, and supply of bedding furnished to children housed in detention facilities;

6.  The quality, quantity, and diversity of food served in detention facilities and the manner in which it is served;

7.  The furnishing of medical attention and health and comfort items in detention facilities; and

8.  The disciplinary treatment administered in detention facilities.

(c)  The rules must provide that the time spent by a child in a detention facility must be devoted to educational training and other types of self-motivation and development. The use of televisions, radios, and audioplayers shall be restricted to educational programming. However, the manager of a detention facility may allow noneducational programs to be used as a reward for good behavior. Exercise must be structured and calisthenic and aerobic in nature and may include weight lifting.

(d)  Each programmatic, residential, and service contract or agreement entered into by the department must include a cooperation clause for purposes of complying with the department's quality assurance requirements, cost-accounting requirements, and the program outcome evaluation requirements.

History.--s. 5, ch. 90-208; s. 3, ch. 91-158; s. 18, ch. 94-209; s. 1335, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-212; ss. 40, 43, ch. 96-398; s. 159, ch. 97-101; s. 64, ch. 97-238; s. 7, ch. 98-186; s. 25, ch. 98-207.

¹Note.--Redesignated as the Juvenile Justice Accountability Board by s. 12, ch. 98-136.

²Note.--The Division of Economic and Demographic Research of the Joint Legislative Management Committee was redesignated as the Office of Economic and Demographic Research. See Joint Rule 3.1 as revised by S.C.R. 2536, 1998.

Note.--Former s. 39.021.