Appointment of Guardians for Children with Special Needs and Disabilities

June 2015 1

Guardians for Dependent Children who are Developmentally Disabled or Incapacitated Guardians for Dependent Children who are Developmentally Disabled or Incapacitated 2

The Regis Little Act to Protect Children with Special Needs The Regis Little Act to Protect Children with Special Needs 3

Formalizes the process of appointment of a guardian or guardian advocate for a young adult determined by the court to meet the requirements of Chapter 744, F.S., for appointment of a guardian or s. 393.12, F.S., for appointment of guardian advocate 4

If youth meets requirements for appointment of a guardian, the updated case plan must be developed in a face-to- face conference with youth, if appropriate, along with others involved in the case The court shall review the necessity of continuing the guardianship and whether restoration of guardianship is needed when young adult turns 22 5

If child meets requirements for appointment of a guardian: Include in the child s updated case plan a multidisciplinary report that includes psychosocial evaluation and educational report if one has not been completed within previous 2 years Identify one or more individuals as a guardian advocate, plenary or limited guardian Allows other parties or participants to also identify guardian or advocate 6

The childs biological or adoptive family members, including the child s parents if the parents rights have not been terminated, may not be considered for service as the plenary or limited guardian unless the court enters a written order finding that such an appointment is in the child s best interest If child meets requirements for appointment of a guardian: 7

Allows proceedings to be initiated within 180 days after the child turns 17 years of age for the appointment of a guardian advocate, plenary guardian, or limited guardian Encourages the use of pro bono representation to initiate proceedings Requires the Department to share information with parties that are interested in the guardianship process for the young adult within 45 days after the first judicial review hearing after the child turns 17 years of age 8

Gives parents of minor children who are the subject of Chapter 39, the ability to act as natural guardians if their rights have not been terminated unless the court finds that it is not in the child s best interests Provides eligible minors due process rights as would be given to adults with alleged developmental disabilities Requires Probate court to initiate proceedings for appointment of a guardian advocate if the petition filed for appointment is filed for a child who is subject to Chapter 39 proceedings when the child has attained 17 years and 6 months or older Requires any proceedings seeking appointment of a guardian advocate or a determination of incapacity and the appointment of a guardian be addressed in a separate proceeding in the court with proper jurisdiction over probate matters 9

Adoption Adoption 10

Addresses ways to strengthen and increase adoptions of children involved in the child welfare system Prioritizes educational stability of foster children Prohibits the Department and CBCs from discriminating against the utilization of home schooling 11

Department is to ensure: Children are enrolled in school in the best educational setting Educational setting meets the child s needs Minimal disruption of education Prohibits Department from showing prejudice against out-of-home caregivers who want to home school a child in the child welfare system 12

Must maintain educational stability for the child with first priority to remain in school attended before entry into out-of-home care if it is in best interest of the child If not in best interest of child, must work with case manager and other professionals to determine best educational setting to meet the child s needs 13

CBCs must make reasonable effort to contact family by phone one year after adoption finalization and document contact(s) Must provide post- adoption services if requested by family and document if services provided and feedback as to quality and effectiveness Must report to Department outcomes achieved and recommendations for improvement 14

A program for CBCs and their subcontractors that awards incentive payments for achievement of specific and measureable adoption performance standards Requires the Department to: Conduct comprehensive baseline assessment of providers performance in eight areas Compile data for most recent 5 years Annually negotiate outcome-based agreements with CBCs Legislatively mandated report Contingent upon funding from the Legislature 15

Recreates an adoption benefits program for full-time employees of state agencies who are adopting children who are in the foster care system Contingent upon funding from the Legislature Once a year open enrollment period Provides a one- time, taxable payment of $5,000 or $10,000 to qualifying employees who adopt children in the foster care system Each state agency shall develop uniform procedure for informing employees about the benefit 16

Each year the Governor shall select and recognize one or more individuals, families, or organizations that make significant contributions to enabling state s foster children to achieve permanency through adoption Department shall define appropriate categories and seek nominations Office of Adoption and Child Protection within Executive Office of Governor shall establish a direct-support organization to provide tokens of recognition 17

Requires licensed child-placing agencies that provide adoption services for intercountry adoptions to meet federal regulations An adoption agency in Florida which provides intercountry adoption services for families residing in Florida must maintain a record that contains: All necessary documents obtained by adoptive parent in order for child to attain US citizenship All supervisory reports prepared before an adoption and after finalization of an adoption All available family and medical history of birth family All legal documents translated into English 18

Child Welfare Child Welfare 19

Critical Incident Rapid Response Team Deployment Critical Incident Rapid Response Team Deployment Reports Reports Requires the CIRRT Advisory Committee to meet at least quarterly and to submit Legislatively mandated reports quarterly to the Secretary Expands Secretary s authority to deploy a CIRRT when a child death or serious injury occurs during an open investigation 20

Limits staffing of reports alleging medical neglect to those reports substantiated by the Child Protection Team 21

Clarifies functions of the Child Abuse Death Review state and local committees: Adds a substance abuse treatment professional to the State Committee State Committee is to provide direction and leadership Local Committees to conduct individual case reviews of deaths, generate information, make recommendations and improvements locally Outlines members to be included on Local Committees Requires to extent possible, individuals who dealt with a child whose death is verified to attend meetings where child s case is reviewed 22

Amends s. 402.301, F.S., to require all personnel of membership organizations affiliated with national organizations which do not provide child care to meet Level 2 background screening requirements Amends s. 402.302(3), F.S., regarding the definition of child care personnel to include membership organizations for the purpose of background screening requirements Amends s. 435.02, F.S., adding local licensing agencies approved pursuant to s. 402.307, F.S., to have access to the Clearinghouse 23

Implements recommendations of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare by clarifying Legislative intent to prioritize evidence- based and trauma-informed services Strengthens language around the services to be provided to dependent children to include services that are supported by research or that are recognized as best practices in the child welfare field Requires the CBCs to give priority to the use of services that are evidenced based and trauma-informed 24

Requires district school boards, charter schools, and private schools that accept scholarship students to hang poster size notices in English and Spanish that provide the abuse hotline number and directions for accessing the Department s internet website along with instructions to call 911 for emergencies 25

CS/CS/HB 21 by Representatives Hager and Harrell Substance Abuse Services Requires the Department to create voluntary certification program for recovery residences and requires background screening of recovery residence employees CS/CS/HB 149 by Representative Rouson Grandparents and Great Grandparents of Florida) Authorizes a grandparent of minor child whose parents are deceased, missing, or in a permanent vegetative state to petition the court for visitation with the grandchild If a minor child is adopted by a stepparent or close relative, the adoptive parent may petition the court to terminate a grandparent visitation order CS/CS/HB 21 by Representatives Hager and Harrell Substance Abuse Services (Chapter 2015 (Chapter 2015- -100, Laws of Florida) 100, Laws of Florida) CS/CS/HB 149 by Representative Rouson Rights of Grandparents and Great Grandparents (Chapter 2015 of Florida) Rights of (Chapter 2015- -134, Laws 134, Laws 26

HB 469 by Representatives Spano Facilities Serving Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Creates a public records exemption for the location information of a safe house safe foster home, or other residential facility serving child victims of sexual exploitation CS/CS/HB 1055 by Representative Harrell (Chapter 2015 Provides that a Critical Incident Rapid Response Team must include a child protection team medical director SB 7032 by Health a Deceased Reenacts and amends public records and public meetings exemptions for certain identifying information held by State and local child abuse death review committees HB 469 by Representatives Spano Public Records/Residential Facilities Serving Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking (Chapter 2015 Public Records/Residential (Chapter 2015- -147, Laws of Florida) 147, Laws of Florida) CS/CS/HB 1055 by Representative Harrell Child Protection (Chapter 2015- -177, Laws of Florida) Child Protection 177, Laws of Florida) SB 7032 by Health Policy Committee a Deceased Child Policy Committee Public Records/Reports of Child (Chapter 2015 Public Records/Reports of 77, Laws of Florida) (Chapter 2015- -77, Laws of Florida) 27

CLS Workload Issue Title IV 2 FTEs Title IV CBC - $6,510,184 (Implementing bill requires allocation based on needs assessment) Sheriffs - $1,548,038 Department - $5,992,038 Maintenance Adoption Subsidies $18,344,758 (new money) $4,288,722 (nonrecurring funding for FY 15-16) CLS Workload Issue $1,259,622, 17 FTEs Title IV- -E Child Welfare Stipend Program 2 FTEs Title IV- -E Training Redesign $1,259,622, 17 FTEs E Child Welfare Stipend Program - - $2,614,038, $2,614,038, E Training Redesign - - $14,050,260 $14,050,260 Maintenance Adoption Subsidies- - 28

CBC Increase Core Services distribution according to new equity formula) CBC Risk Pool CBC Deficits Requires Budget Amendment for money to be released Requires a plan for how the funds will be expended for operational cost Implementation of HB 7013 $2,500,000 ($1M recurring) CBC Adoption Incentives $3,000,000 State Employee Adoption Incentives $250,000 Required changes to FSFN $74,643 1 FTE CBC Increase Core Services $16,153, 541 (proviso requires distribution according to new equity formula) CBC Risk Pool - - $13,000,000 CBC Deficits - - $10,000,000 $16,153, 541 (proviso requires $13,000,000 $10,000,000 Implementation of HB 7013 29

Healthy Families Expansion FSFN $1,337,335 ongoing maintenance, operation, and enhancements $1,000,000 in reserve; requires a proposal for moving application development, test and production environments to an external service provider cloud computing service Results Oriented Accountability System Department shall develop a proposal that specifies timeline for implementation before release of funds Sheriffs $15,054,474 Broward $4,719,787 Manatee $11,828,667 Pinellas Healthy Families Expansion $3.9 million FSFN $3.9 million Results Oriented Accountability System - - $500,000 $500,000 Sheriffs $13,430,952 - Hillsborough $6,241,374 - Pasco $4,537,152 - Seminole 30

APD Home and Community Based Waiver Waitlist Category 1 Category 2 Open case in FSFN and Individuals transitioning out of child welfare to adoption, reunification, permanent placement with relative, guardianship with nonrelative Individuals 18 through 21 who need both waiver and extended foster care services; - APD shall provide waiver services, including residential habilitation and - CBC shall fund room and board at rate established in s. 409.145(4), F.S., and case management and related services - May receive both waiver and extended foster care services Individuals on wait list who are at least 18 but not yet 22 who withdraw consent to remain in extended foster care APD Home and Community Based Waiver Waitlist Category 1 Deemed in Crisis Category 2 Open case in FSFN and Individuals on wait list who are at least 18 but not yet 22 who withdraw consent to remain in extended foster care 31

SB 2510 Factors included in model: Proportion of child population (new) proportion of children up to 18 years of age during previous calendar year in geographic area served by CBC - weighted as 5% of total factors Proportion of child abuse hotline workload (same) weighted as 15% of total factors Proportion of children in care (new definition) proportion of number of children in care receiving in-home services and the number in out-of-home care with a case management overlay during the most recent 12-month period and weighted as follows: (weighted as 80% of total factors) Allocation Model Beginning FY 15-16 - 100% of recurring core services shall be based on prior year 20% of new funding shall be allocated among all CBCs 80% of new funding shall be allocated among CBCs funded below their equitable share SB 2510- -A Factors included in model: A Equity Allocation Model Equity Allocation Model 60% based on children in out-of-home care 40% based on in-home care Allocation Model 32