This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS
DATE: 4/11/2023
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 1101 Education for Children and Young Adults in Out-of-home Care
SPONSOR(S): Health & Human Services Committee, Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee, Tramont
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 272
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee 15 Y, 0 N, As CS Brazzell Brazzell
2) Health & Human Services Committee 17 Y, 0 N, As CS Brazzell Calamas
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The U.S. and Florida Constitutions provide rights to individuals, including children in foster care, as do certain
federal and state laws. Examples include basic rights and a right to privacy under Article I, §2 and Article I,
§23 of the Florida Constitution, the right to high quality education under Article IX of the Florida Constitution,
and due process rights under the U.S. Constitution. Courts have found that foster children have a constitutional
right to be free from unnecessary pain and a fundamental right to physical safety.
Section 39.4085, F.S., sets forth goals for the delivery of services to children in shelter or foster care, including
that services should be directed by the principle that the health and safety of children should be of paramount
concern. Various policies attempt to ensure that children in foster care gain information useful during their time
in care about these rights and goals and address concerns related to them; for example:
DCF has created materials to inform children in foster care.
Case managers or other staff to provide verbal and written instructions to a child entering shelter or
foster care in an understandable manner on how to identify and report child abuse, abandonment, or
neglect. The case manager or other staff must review this information with a child every six months
and upon every placement change until the child leaves shelter or foster care. The case manager
must document in court reports and case notes the date the child received the information.
The Florida Children’s Ombudsman offers help to children by receiving complaints about placement,
care, and services, while assisting in mediating those concerns. The Ombudsman is also a resource
to identify and explain relevant polices or procedures to children, young adults, and their caregivers.
CS/CS/HB 1101 creates requirements for DCF to work with children in out-of-home care to ensure they receive
information on topics including, at a minimum:
Nurturing care, personal safety, and protection from abuse, abandonment, and neglect;
Education;
Placement, visitation, and contact with siblings, family, and other important persons;
Court participation;
Participation in permanency planning, transition planning, and other case planning;
Access to food, clothing, shelter, and health care; and
The topic of normalcy and what that means for children and young adults in out-of-home care.
The bill also establishes the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman and specifies its responsibilities in assisting
children and young adults.
CS/CS/HB 1101 has no fiscal impact on state or local governments.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2023. STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS PAGE: 2
DATE: 4/11/2023
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Department of Children and Families
The mission of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) is to work in partnership with local
communities to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and
advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.
1
Under s. 20.19(4), F.S., DCF must provide services relating to:
Adult protection.
Child care regulation.
Child welfare.
Domestic violence.
Economic self-sufficiency.
Homelessness.
Mental health.
Refugees.
Substance abuse.
DCF must also deliver services by contract through private providers to the extent allowed by law and
funding.
2
These private providers include community based care lead agencies (CBCs) delivering child
welfare services and managing entities (MEs) delivering behavioral health services.
Florida’s Child Welfare System
Chapter 39, F.S., creates the dependency system charged with protecting child welfare. Florida’s
dependency system identifies children and families in need of services through reports to the central
abuse hotline and child protective investigations. DCF and the 19 CBCs throughout Florida
3
work with
those families to address the problems endangering children, if possible. If the problems are not
addressed, the child welfare system finds safe out-of-home placements for these children.
DCF’s practice model is based on the safety of the child within the home by using in-home services,
such as parenting coaching and counseling, to maintain and strengthen that child’s natural supports in
his or her environment.
DCF contracts with CBCs for case management, out-of-home services, and related services. The
outsourced provision of child welfare services is intended to increase local community ownership of
service delivery and design. CBCs contract with a number of subcontractors for case management and
direct care services to children and their families.
DCF remains responsible for a number of child welfare functions, including operating the central abuse
hotline, performing child protective investigations, and providing children’s legal services.
4
Ultimately,
DCF is responsible for program oversight and the overall performance of the child welfare system.
5
Rights of and Goals for Delivery of Services to Children in Foster Care
1
S. 20.19(1), F.S.
2
Id.
3
These 19 CBCs together serve the state’s 20 judicial circuits.
4
Ch. 39, F.S.
5
Id. STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS PAGE: 3
DATE: 4/11/2023
The U.S. and Florida Constitutions provide rights to individuals, including children in foster care, as do
certain federal and state laws. Examples include basic rights and a right to privacy under Article I, §2
and Article I, §23 of the Florida Constitution, the right to high quality education under Article IX of the
Florida Constitution, and due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.
When a state takes a child into custody, it accepts responsibility for the child’s safety.
6
Courts have
found that foster children have a constitutional right to be free from unnecessary pain and a
fundamental right to physical safety.
7
When a state fails to meet that obligation, it deprives the child of a
liberty interest under the Fourteenth Amendment.
8
Section 39.4085, F.S., sets forth goals
9
for the delivery of services to children in shelter or foster care,
including that services should be directed by the principle that the health and safety of children should
be of paramount concern and children in shelter or foster care should:
Receive a copy of these goals and have the goals fully explained to them when they are placed
in the custody of DCF.
Enjoy individual dignity, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and the protection of their civil and legal
rights as a person while in the custody of the state.
Have their privacy protected, have their personal belongings secure and transported with them,
and unless otherwise ordered by the court, have uncensored communication, including
receiving and sending unopened communications and having access to a telephone.
Have personnel providing services who are sufficiently qualified and experienced to assess risk
children face prior to removal from their home and to meet the needs of the children once they
are in DCF’s custody.
Remain in the custody of their parents or legal custodians unless and until there has been a
determination by a qualified person exercising competent professional judgment that removal is
necessary to protect their physical, mental, or emotional health or safety.
Have a full risk, health, educational, medical, and psychological screening, and, if needed,
assessment and testing upon adjudication into foster care; and to have their photograph and
fingerprints included in their case management file.
Be referred to and receive services, including necessary medical, emotional, psychological,
psychiatric, and educational evaluations and treatment, as soon as practicable after
identification of the need for such services by the screening and assessment process.
Be placed in a home with no more than one other child, unless part of a sibling group.
Be placed away from other children known to pose a threat of harm to them, either because of
their own risk factors or those of the other child.
Be placed in a home where the shelter or foster caregiver is aware of and understands the
child’s history, needs, and risk factors.
Be the subject of a plan developed by the counselor and the shelter or foster caregiver to deal
with identified behaviors that may present a risk to the child or others.
Be involved and incorporated, where appropriate, in the development of the case plan, to have
a case plan that will address their specific needs, and to object to any of the provisions in the
case plan.
Receive meaningful case management and planning that will quickly return the child to the
family or move the child on to other forms of permanency.
Receive regular communication with a case manager, at least once a month, which includes
meetings with the child alone and conferring with the caregiver.
Enjoy regular visitation, at least once a week, with their siblings unless the court orders
otherwise.
Enjoy regular visitation with parents, at least once a month, unless the court orders otherwise.
6
Ray v. Foltz, 370 F.3d 1079, 1082 (11
th
Cir. 2004)(citing Taylor v. Ledbetter, 818 F.2d 791-95 (11
th
Cir. 1987).
7
Id.
8
Id.
9
The provisions in S. 39.4085, F.S., establish goals, not rights. The section does not require the delivery of any particular service or
level of service in excess of existing appropriations. A person does not have a cause of action against the state or any of its
subdivisions, agencies, contractors, subcontractors, or agents, based upon the adoption of or failure to provide adequate funding for the
achievement of these goals by the Legislature. The section does not require the expenditure of funds to meet the goals except funds
specifically appropriated for such purpose. STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS PAGE: 4
DATE: 4/11/2023
Receive a free and appropriate education, minimal disruption to their education, and retention in
their home school, if appropriate; referral to the child study team; all special educational
services, including, where appropriate, the appointment of a parent surrogate; the sharing of all
necessary information between the school board and DCF, including information on attendance
and educational progress.
Be able to raise grievances with DCF over the care they are receiving from their caregivers,
case managers, or other service providers.
Be heard by the court, if appropriate, at all review hearings.
Have a guardian ad litem appointed to represent, within reason, their best interests and, where
appropriate, an attorney ad litem appointed to represent their legal interests. Their guardian ad
litem and attorney ad litem must have immediate and unlimited access to the children they
represent.
Have all their records available for review by their guardian ad litem and attorney ad litem if they
deem such review is necessary.
Organize as a group for purposes of ensuring they receive the services and living conditions to
which they are entitled and to provide support for one another while in DCF’s custody.
Be afforded prompt access to all available state and federal programs.
In accordance with s. 39.4091, F.S., caregivers for children in out-of-home care must use the
“reasonable and prudent parent standard”. This means that the caregiver must use sensible parental
decision-making that maintains the child’s health, safety, and best interests while at the same time
encourages the child’s emotional and developmental growth when determining whether to allow a child
in out-of-home care to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, and social activities.
10
The federal Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act requires that, as part of case
planning beginning at age 14, children in foster care must be given a document describing their rights
with respect to safety, exploitation, education, health, visitation, and court participation. They must also
be informed of their rights to be provided certain specific documents such as copies of consumer credit
reports. Children are to sign an acknowledgement that they received these documents.
11
DCF created a 5-page brochure that outlines these expectations and describes the services of the
Children’s Ombudsman.
12
Education and Information about Key Topics for Children in the Child Welfare System
Section 39.4085, F.S., requires that the design and delivery of child welfare services must be directed
by the principle that the health and safety of children, including the freedom from abuse, abandonment,
or neglect, is of paramount concern. DCF is to operate with the understanding that the rights of children
in shelter or foster care are critical to their safety, permanency, and well-being and to work with all
stakeholders to help such children become knowledgeable about their rights.
Case managers or other staff must provide verbal and written instructions to a child entering shelter or
foster care in an understandable manner on how to identify and report child abuse, abandonment, or
neglect. The case manager or other staff must review this information with a child every six months and
upon every placement change until the child leaves shelter or foster care. The case manager must
document in court reports and case notes the date the child received the information.
Florida Children’s Ombudsman
In September 2016, DCF created an Ombudsman position within the Office of Child and Family
Wellbeing (formerly the Office of Child Welfare). The position was intended to listen to and be a voice
10
Florida Department of Children and Families, CFOP 170-11, Ch. 6 (Sept. 2020),
https://www.myflfamilies.com/resources/policies-procedures/cfop-170-11-placement
11
Title 42 U.S.C. 675a.
12
Florida Department of Children and Families, Youth in Foster Care,
https://www.myflfamilies.com/sites/default/files/2022-12/10-28-Foster-Expectations.pdf (accessed March 22, 2023). STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS PAGE: 5
DATE: 4/11/2023
for children and youth involved in the child welfare system. The Ombudsman receives complaints about
placement, care, and services and then assists in mediating those concerns. The Ombudsman is a
resource to identify and explain relevant polices or procedures to children, young adults, and their
caregivers. The current Ombudsman responds to 450 cases on average each year. The office consists
of the one Ombudsman who serves mostly as a resource for information to the population served.
DCF currently has a webpage that explains the Ombudsman’s role and displays a toll-free number and
email address for children and young adults in out-of-home care to communicate about questions,
concerns, or complaints.
Rule 65C-46.003(5)(d), F.A.C., requires all licensed residential group homes (child-caring agencies) to
have written and posted grievance procedures which allow children in care or others to make
complaints without fear of retaliation. This includes the requirement for group homes to post the phone
number of the Department’s Ombudsman (1-844-KIDS-FLA) in areas frequented by children and where
they can read it without scrutiny.
13
Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill amends s. 39.4085, F.S., to establish requirements for DCF to work with children in out-of-
home-care to ensure they receive information related to their situation. It requires case managers or
other staff to provide verbal and written information to children about:
Nurturing care, personal safety, and protection from abuse, abandonment, and neglect.
Education.
Placement, visitation, and contact with siblings, family, and other important persons.
Court participation.
Participation in permanency planning, transition planning, and other case planning.
Access to food, clothing, shelter, and health care.
The topic of normalcy and what that means for children and young adults in out-of-home care.
The case manager or other staff shall document in court reports and case notes the date this
discussion occurred. This must be done every six months, or after every placement change, until the
children exit out-of-home care.
The bill also establishes the Office of the Children’s Ombudsmen (Office) within DCF. The duties of the
Office include, at a minimum, to the extent allowed by available resources:
Receive complaints from children and young adults about placement, care, and services and
assist in mediating such concerns.
Be a resource to identify and explain relevant polices or procedures to children, young adults,
and their caregivers.
Provide recommendations to the department to address systemic problems that are leading to
complaints from children and young adults.
DCF must consult with children and young adults who are currently, or have formerly been in, out-of-
home care when creating or revising any print or digital written information used in informing children
regarding the topics specified in the bill. DCF must use any responses or feedback to ensure that such
print or digital written information is understandable by and appropriate and useful for the children and
young adults of the ages for whom the print or digital written information is intended.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1: amending s. 39.4085, F.S., relating to goals for dependent children; responsibilities;
education.
Section 2: providing an effective date of July 1, 2023.
13
Department of Children and Families, Agency Analysis for 2023 HB 1101, p. 3 (March 1, 2023) STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS PAGE: 6
DATE: 4/11/2023
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not Applicable. This bill does not appear to affect county or municipal governments.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
DCF has sufficient rulemaking authority to implement the provisions of the bill.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
On March 27, 2023, the Children, Families, and Seniors Subcommittee adopted an amendment and
reported the bill favorably as a committee substitute. The amendment:
Revises existing statute s. 39.4085, F.S., which includes a process for informing youth about
key issues, rather than creating a second statute to establish similar processes. STORAGE NAME: h1101c.HHS PAGE: 7
DATE: 4/11/2023
Renames the Office of the Ombudsperson as the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman.
Reduces the number of responsibilities assigned to the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman
and removes the required report.
On April 10, 2023, the Health and Human Services Committee adopted an amendment and reported the
bill favorably as a committee substitute. The amendment added topics related to care and safety to those
required for information for children provided by case managers or other staff.
This analysis is drafted to the committee substitute as passed by the Health and Human Services
Committee.