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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the Task Force on the Monitoring of 2
Children in Out-of-Home Care; creating s. 39.4093, 3
F.S.; creating the Task Force on the Monitoring of 4
Children in Out-of-Home Care for specified purposes; 5
requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to provide 6
certain services; providing for membership by a 7
specified date; requiring the task force to convene by 8
a specified date; authorizing the task force to 9
conduct meetings through teleconference or other 10
electronic means; providing duties of the task force; 11
requiring the Florida Institute for Child Welfare to 12
conduct focus groups or individual interviews and 13
submit its findings to the task force by a spec ified 14
date; requiring the Department of Children and 15
Families to submit certain monthly reports to the task 16
force through a specified date; requiring the task 17
force to submit a report to the Governor and 18
Legislature by a specified date; providing for repea l 19
of the task force unless reviewed and saved by the 20
Legislature; providing an appropriation; providing an 21
effective date. 22
23
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Section 1. Section 39.4093, Florida Statutes, is created 26
to read: 27
39.4093 Task Force on the Monitoring of Children in Out -28
of-Home Care.— 29
(1) CREATION.—The Task Force on the Monitoring of Children 30
in Out-of-Home Care, a task force as defined in s. 20.03(8), is 31
established within the Department of Law Enforcement. The 32
Department of Law Enforcement shall provide administrative and 33
staff support services relating to the functions of the task 34
force. 35
(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the task force is to identify 36
and counter the root causes of why children go missing while in 37
out-of-home care and to ensure that prompt and effective action 38
is taken to address such causes. The task force shall examine 39
and recommend improvements to current policies, procedures, 40
programs, and initiatives to prevent children from going missing 41
while in out-of-home care and to ensure that timely and 42
comprehensive steps are taken to find missing children who are 43
missing for any reason, including, but not limited to, running 44
away, human trafficking, and abduction by a parent or a person 45
who does not have care or custody of the child. 46
(3) MEMBERSHIP; MEETINGS. — 47
(a) The task force shall be composed of the following 48
members: 49
1. A member of the Senate, appointed by the President of 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the Senate. 51
2. A member of the House of Representatives, appointed by 52
the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 53
3. The secretary, or his or her designee. 54
4. The Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice, or 55
his or her designee. 56
5. The executive director of the Statewide Guardian Ad 57
Litem Office, or his or her designee. 58
6. The executive director of the Department of Law 59
Enforcement, or his or her designee. 60
7. A representative from Safe Kids Florida, appointed by 61
the State Surgeon General. 62
8. A representative from the Statewide Council on Human 63
Trafficking, appointed by the Attorney General. 64
9. A representative from a community -based care lead 65
agency that delivers child welfare services in a county defined 66
as rural by the most recent United States Census, appointed by 67
the secretary. 68
10. A representative from a community -based care lead 69
agency that delivers child welfare services in a county defined 70
as urban by the most recent United States Census, appointed by 71
the secretary. 72
11. A licensed foster parent, appointed by the secretary. 73
12. A representative from a residential group care 74
provider, appointed by the secretary. 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
13. A young adult who aged out of the foster care system, 76
appointed by the secretary. 77
(b) Appointments to the task force must be made by August 78
1, 2023. Each member shall serve at the pleasure of the official 79
who appointed the member. A vacancy on the task force shall be 80
filled in the same manner as the original appointment. 81
(c) The task force shall elect a chair from among its 82
members. 83
(d) The task force shall convene no later than September 84
1, 2023. The task force shall meet monthly or upon the call of 85
the chair. The task force may hold its meetings through 86
teleconference or other electronic means. 87
(4) DUTIES.—The duties of the task force include all of 88
the following: 89
(a) Analyzing statistical data regarding children in out -90
of-home care who are missing and the reasons why the children 91
are missing, if known. 92
(b) Identifying the root causes of why children go missing 93
while in out-of-home care and how to prevent chi ldren from going 94
missing while in out -of-home care. 95
(c) Assessing the relationship between children who go 96
missing from out-of-home care and the risks of such children 97
becoming victims of human trafficking. 98
(d) Assessing the comprehensiveness and effec tiveness of 99
existing policies and procedures for preventing children in out -100
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of-home care from going missing, for promptly determining 101
whether such children are missing, and for locating such 102
children. 103
(e) Evaluating the state's approaches to reporting on the 104
individual status of children missing from out -of-home care and 105
the results of the efforts to locate such children, including, 106
but not limited to, the use of technology, training, 107
communication, and cooperation. 108
(f) Measuring the overall performance of efforts to locate 109
and recover children who are missing from out -of-home care, 110
including, but not limited to, the communication and response 111
between community-based care lead agencies, the department, and 112
other entities. 113
(g) Collaborating with the Flo rida Institute for Child 114
Welfare to identify best practices used in other states for 115
monitoring the location of children in out -of-home care who go 116
missing, and evaluating whether such practices should be adopted 117
in the state. 118
(h) Submitting recommendati ons to improve policies, 119
procedures, and systems in the state, including, but not limited 120
to, technology, training, communication, and cooperation, so all 121
entities are effectively monitoring children in out -of-home 122
care, promptly responding when such child ren go missing, and 123
preventing such children from going missing while in out -of-home 124
care. 125
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(5) FOCUS GROUPS AND INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS. —The Florida 126
Institute for Child Welfare shall conduct one or more focus 127
groups or individual interviews with children i n out-of-home 128
care or young adults who were formerly in out -of-home care to 129
assist the task force in fulfilling its duties. The focus groups 130
or individual interviews must, at a minimum, address the reasons 131
why such children seek to leave their out -of-home placement, 132
identify opportunities and resources to assist and prevent 133
children from leaving their placements, and to facilitate the 134
return of such missing children. The institute shall submit the 135
findings from the focus groups and individual interviews to the 136
task force by April 1, 2024. 137
(6) REPORTS.— 138
(a) Through October 1, 2024, the department shall provide 139
monthly reports to the task force to assist the task force in 140
fulfilling its duties. The monthly reports must, at a minimum, 141
address the number and percentage of children in out -of-home 142
care who have been reported missing, the reasons why such 143
children are missing if known, and the length of time between 144
when such children are reported missing and their recovery or 145
return. The monthly report must cat egorize the required data by 146
age, county, community -based care lead agency, and reason, if 147
known. 148
(b) By October 1, 2024, the task force shall submit to the 149
Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the 150
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House of Representatives a report t hat compiles the findings and 151
recommendations of the task force. 152
(7) REPEAL.—This section is repealed June 30, 2025, unless 153
reviewed and saved from repeal by the Legislature. 154
Section 2. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the sum of 155
$140,076 in nonrecurri ng funds is appropriated from the 156
Operating Trust Fund to the Florida Department of Law 157
Enforcement for the purpose of providing administrative and 158
staff support services relating to the Task Force on the 159
Monitoring of Children in Out -of-Home Care. 160
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 161