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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 Step into Success Workforce 2
Education and Internship Pilot Program; creating s. 3
409.1455, F.S.; providing a short title; establishing 4
the Step into Success Workforce Education and 5
Internship Pilot Program within the Department of 6
Children and Families for eligible foster youth; 7
specifying the purpose and structure of the program; 8
requiring the program to include qualified designated 9
personnel who are responsible for specified services; 10
providing definitions; requiring the department to 11
establish and the Office of Continuing Care to develop 12
and administer the program for eligible foster youth 13
and former foster youth; providing requirements for 14
the program; requiring the department to include in 15
the annual independent living report a section 16
regarding the program; providing requirements for such 17
report; requiring the department to adopt rules; 18
amending s. 414.56, F.S.; revising the duties of the 19
Office of Continuing Care to include establishing and 20
operating the pilot program; providing an effective 21
date. 22
23
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
25
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Section 1. Section 409.1455, Florida Statutes, is created 26
to read: 27
409.1455 Step into Success Workforce Education and 28
Internship Pilot Program for foster youth and former foster 29
youth.— 30
(1) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the "Step 31
into Success Act." 32
(2) CREATION.—The department shall establish the 3 -year 33
Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot 34
Program to give eligible foster youth and former foster youth an 35
opportunity to learn and develop essential workforce and 36
professional skills, to transition from the custody of the 37
department to indepe ndent living, and to become better prepared 38
for an independent and successful future. The pilot program must 39
consist of an independent living, professionalism, and workforce 40
education component and, for former foster youth who complete 41
such component, an o nsite workforce training internship 42
component. In consultation with subject -matter experts and the 43
community-based care lead agencies, the Office of Continuing 44
Care shall develop and administer the pilot program for 45
interested foster youth and former foste r youth; however, the 46
department may contract with entities that have demonstrable 47
subject-matter expertise in the transition to adulthood for 48
foster youth and former foster youth, workforce training and 49
preparedness, professional skills, and related subje cts to 50
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collaborate with the office in the development and 51
administration of the pilot program. The independent living, 52
professionalism, and workforce education component of the 53
program must result in a certificate that allows former foster 54
youth to participate in the onsite workforce training 55
internship. 56
(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term: 57
(a) "Community-based care lead agency" has the same 58
meaning as in s. 409.986(3). 59
(b) "Former foster youth" means an individual 18 years of 60
age or older but younger than 26 years of age who is currently 61
or was previously placed in licensed care, excluding Level I 62
licensed placements under s. 409.175(5)(a)1., for at least 60 63
days within the state. 64
(c) "Foster youth" means an individual at least 1 6 years 65
of age but younger than 18 years of age who is currently in 66
licensed care, excluding Level I licensed placements under s. 67
409.175(5)(a)1. 68
(d) "Office" means the Office of Continuing Care. 69
(e) "Participating organization" means a state agency, a 70
corporation under chapter 607 or chapter 617, or another 71
relevant entity that has agreed to collaborate with the office 72
in the development and implementation of a trauma -informed 73
onsite workforce training internship program pursuant to 74
subsections (6) and (7). 75
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(4) REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT AND OFFICE. —The 76
department shall establish and the office shall develop and 77
administer the pilot program for eligible foster youth and 78
former foster youth. The pilot program must be administered as 79
part of an eligible foster youth's regular transition planning 80
under s. 39.6035 or as a post -transition service for eligible 81
former foster youth. The office must begin the professionalism 82
and workforce education component of the program on or before 83
January 1, 2024, and the onsite workforce training internship 84
component of the program on or before July 1, 2024. 85
(5) INDEPENDENT LIVING PROFESSIONALISM AND WORKFORCE 86
EDUCATION COMPONENT REQUIREMENTS. —For the independent living, 87
professionalism, and workforce education compo nent of the 88
program, the office shall: 89
(a) Designate and ensure that the number of qualified 90
staff is sufficient to implement and administer the component, 91
which may be part of a larger independent living or life skills 92
training program if such program m eets the requirements of this 93
subsection. 94
(b)1. Develop all workshops, presentations, and curricula 95
for the component, including, but not limited to, all written 96
educational and training materials for foster youth and former 97
foster youth. 98
2. Resources may include, but are not limited to, 99
workshops and materials to assist with preparing resumes, mock 100
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interviews, experiential training, and assistance with securing 101
an internship or employment. 102
3. The office must review and update these mate rials as 103
necessary. The training materials must address, but are not 104
limited to, all of the following: 105
a. Interview skills. 106
b. Professionalism. 107
c. Teamwork. 108
d. Leadership. 109
e. Problem solving. 110
f. Conflict resolution in the workplace. 111
(c) Require that the training provided in the component be 112
in addition to any other life skills or employment training 113
required by general law. The training may be developed or 114
administered by the department, community -based care lead 115
agencies or subcontracted prov iders of the community -based care 116
lead agencies, or in collaboration with colleges or universities 117
or other nonprofit organizations in the community with workforce 118
education and training resources. 119
(d) Provide relevant written materials and any relevant 120
tools developed for the component to ensure a successful 121
transition from the program into internships in all 122
participating organizations that offer workforce training 123
internship opportunities. 124
(e) Provide materials to inform eligible foster youth and 125
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former foster youth of the program, the requirements for 126
participation, and contact information for enrollment. The 127
community-based care lead agencies shall ensure that any 128
subcontracted providers that directly serve foster youth and 129
former foster youth recei ve this information. 130
(f) Advertise and promote the availability of the program 131
to engage as many eligible foster youth and former foster youth 132
as possible. 133
(g) Assess the career interests of each eligible foster 134
youth and former foster youth who expres ses an interest in 135
participating in the program and determine the most appropriate 136
internship and postinternship opportunities for each youth based 137
on his or her expressed interests. 138
(6) ONSITE WORKFORCE TRAINING INTERNSHIP COMPONENT 139
REQUIREMENTS.—For the onsite workforce training internship 140
program for eligible former foster youth, the office shall: 141
(a) Develop processes and procedures to implement a 142
trauma-informed onsite workforce training internship component. 143
The processes and procedures of the int ernship component must be 144
designed to be replicated and scaled to meet various 145
organizational structures and sizes. The component must include 146
all of the following: 147
1. Recruitment of agencies, corporations, and other 148
entities to host interns as participa ting organizations. 149
2. Assisting participating organizations with mentor 150
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recruitment, training, and matching. 151
3. Mentor-led performance reviews, including a review of 152
the intern's work product, professionalism, time management, 153
communication style, and stress management strategies. 154
4. Daily mentorship and coaching on topics including: 155
a. Professionalism. 156
b. Teamwork. 157
c. Leadership. 158
d. Problem solving. 159
e. Conflict resolution in the workplace. 160
5. Development of opportunities for participatin g former 161
foster youth to become employees of the participating 162
organization. 163
6. Reporting requirements specified in subsection (11). 164
(b) Develop at least 1 hour of required trauma -informed 165
training for mentors to teach the skills necessary to engage 166
with participating former foster youth. 167
(c) Provide assistance to eligible former foster youth 168
interested in participating in the internship component, 169
including, but not limited to, identifying and monitoring 170
internship opportunities, being knowledgeable of the training 171
and skills needed to match eligible former foster youth with 172
appropriate internships, and assisting eligible former foster 173
youth with applying for postinternship employment opportunities. 174
(d) Publicize specific internship positions in an easily 175
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accessible manner and inform eligible former foster youth of how 176
to locate such information. 177
(e) Provide a participating former foster youth with 178
financial assistance in the amount of $1,517 month ly and develop 179
a process and schedule for the distribution of payments to 180
former foster youth participating in the component, subject to 181
the availability of funds. 182
(f) Distribute funds appropriated for the compensation of 183
mentors who are participating in the component as provided in 184
paragraph (7)(b). 185
(g) By May 1, 2024, provide to the Board of Governors and 186
the State Board of Education all relevant internship information 187
necessary to support the award of postsecondary credit or career 188
education clock hours for internship positions held by 189
participating former foster youth. 190
(h) Develop and conduct followup surveys with: 191
1. Former foster youth within 3 months after his or her 192
internship start date to ensure successful transition into the 193
work environment and to gather feedback on how to improve the 194
experience for future participants. 195
2. Mentors assigned to participating former foster youth. 196
Such data must be collected by October 1, 2024, and by October 1 197
annually thereafter, for inclusion in the indep endent living 198
services annual report. 199
3. Any other persons the office deems relevant for 200
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purposes of continued improvement of the component. 201
(7) REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS. —Each 202
participating organization shall: 203
(a) Collaborate with the office to implement a trauma -204
informed approach to mentoring and training former foster youth. 205
(b)1. Recruit employees to serve as mentors for 206
participating interns within such organizations. To serve as a 207
mentor, an employee must: 208
a. Have worked for the participating organization for at 209
least 1 year. 210
b. Have experience relevant to the job and task 211
responsibilities of the intern. 212
c. Sign a monthly statement documenting hours worked for 213
the intern. 214
d. Allocate at least 1 hour per month to condu ct mentor-215
led performance reviews, including a review of the intern's work 216
product, professionalism, time management, communication style, 217
and stress-management strategies. 218
e. Complete at least 1 hour of trauma -informed training to 219
gain skills critical f or successfully engaging with former 220
foster youth. 221
2. Subject to available funding, an employee who serves as 222
a mentor and receives the required trauma -informed training is 223
eligible for a maximum payment of $1,200 per intern per fiscal 224
year, to be issued as a $100 monthly payment for every month of 225
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service as a mentor. 226
3. An employee may serve as a mentor for a maximum of 227
three interns at one time and may not receive more than $3,600 228
in compensation per fiscal year for serving as a mentor. Any 229
time spent serving as a mentor to an intern under this section 230
counts toward the minimum service required for eligibility for 231
payments under subparagraph 2. and this subparagraph. 232
(c) When necessary, have a discussion with an intern's 233
assigned mentor, the partici pating organization's internship 234
program liaison, and the office about the creation of a 235
corrective action plan to address issues related to the intern's 236
professionalism, work product, or performance and, if 237
applicable, after giving the intern a reasonable opportunity to 238
comply with the corrective action plan, document the intern's 239
failure to do so before discharging such intern. 240
(d) Provide relevant feedback to the office at least 241
annually for the office to comply with paragraph (6)(h). 242
(e) Collaborate with the department to provide any 243
requested information necessary to prepare the annual report 244
required under subsection (11). 245
(8) TIME LIMITATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION. —A former foster 246
youth who obtains an internship with a participating 247
organization may participate in the internship component for no 248
more than 1 year, calculated as 12 monthly payment periods. The 249
year begins on his or her start date as an intern with a 250
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participating organization. A former foster youth may only 251
intern at one participating organization at one time. A 252
participating organization may hire a participating intern as an 253
employee, but a former foster youth may not be hired as an 254
employee for an internship under this section. 255
(9) AWARD OF POSTSECONDARY CREDIT OR CAREER EDUCATION 256
CLOCK HOURS.—The Board of Governors and the State Board of 257
Education shall adopt rules and regulations, respectively, to 258
award postsecondary credit or career education clock hours for 259
eligible former foster youth participating in the internship 260
component. The rules and regulations must include procedures for 261
the award of postsecondary credit or career education clock 262
hours, including, but not limited to, equivalency and alignment 263
of the internship component with appropriate postsecondary 264
courses and course d escriptions. 265
(10) CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE INTERNSHIP 266
COMPONENT.— 267
(a) To become a participant in the internship component of 268
the program, the applicant must be a foster youth or a former 269
foster youth at the time such youth applies for an inte rnship 270
position with a participating organization. A foster youth or 271
former foster youth who has completed the training component 272
with the department may apply for a position with a 273
participating organization but only a former foster youth may be 274
offered and accept an internship. 275
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(b) If offered an internship, a former foster youth must 276
be classified as an intern and must work at least 80 hours per 277
month to be eligible for the monthly payment. 278
(c) A former foster youth must spend any payment funds 279
specified for clothing on clothing that is in compliance with 280
the dress code requirements of the participating organization 281
with which he or she is interning. Notwithstanding any 282
limitation on payment funds provided to purchase clothing, the 283
former foster youth must comply with any dress code requirements 284
of the participating organization with which he or she is 285
interning. 286
(d) Money earned pursuant to the internship component may 287
not be considered earned income for purposes of computing 288
eligibility for federal or state benefits, including, but not 289
limited to, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a 290
housing choice assistance voucher program, the Temporary Cash 291
Assistance Program, the Medicaid program, or the school 292
readiness program. Notwithstanding this paragraph, any reduction 293
in amount of benefits or loss of benefits due to receipt of the 294
Step into Success workforce education and internship pilot 295
program payments may be offset by an additional payment equal to 296
the value of the maximum benefit amount fo r a single person 297
allowed under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 298
(e) A former foster youth may, at the discretion of a 299
postsecondary institution in which such youth is enrolled, earn 300
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postsecondary credit or career education clock hours for work 301
performed as an intern under the onsite workforce training 302
internship component. Postsecondary credit and career education 303
clock hours earned for work performed under the onsite workforce 304
training internship component may be in addition to any 305
compensation earned for the same work performed under that 306
component and may be awarded for completion of all or any part 307
of the such component. Participating organizations shall 308
cooperate with postsecondary educational institutions to provide 309
any information about internship positions which is necessary to 310
enable the institutions to determine whether to grant the 311
participating former foster youth postsecondary credit or career 312
education clock hours toward his or her degree. 313
(f) A former foster youth who accepts an internship with a 314
participating organization pursuant to this section may only be 315
discharged from the internship component after the participating 316
organization engages the intern's assigned mentor and the 317
participating organization's internship program staff to assist 318
the intern in performing the duties of the internship. Before 319
discharging the former foster youth, the participating 320
organization must also document the intern's failure to comply 321
with a corrective act ion plan after being given a reasonable 322
opportunity to do so. 323
(11) REPORT.—The department shall include a section on the 324
Step into Success workforce education and internship pilot 325
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program in the independent living annual report prepared 326
pursuant to s. 409.1451(6) which includes, but is not limited 327
to, all of the following: 328
(a) Whether the pilot program is in compliance with this 329
section and, if not, the barriers to compliance. 330
(b) A list of participating organizations and the number 331
of interns at each participating organization. 332
(c) A summary of recruitment efforts to increase the 333
number of participating organizations. 334
(d) A summary of the feedback and surveys received under 335
paragraph (6)(h) from participating former foster youth, 336
assigned mentors, and internship program staff. 337
(e) Recommendations, if any, for actions necessary to 338
improve the quality, effectiveness, and outcomes of the pilot 339
program. 340
(f) Employment outcomes of former foster youth who 341
participated in the pilot program, including employment status 342
after completion of the program, whether he or she is employed 343
by the participating organization in which he or she interned or 344
by another entity, and a job description and salary, if 345
available. 346
(12) RULEMAKING.—The department shall ado pt rules 347
necessary to implement this section. 348
Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 414.56, 349
Florida Statutes, to read: 350
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414.56 Office of Continuing Care. —The department shall 351
establish an Office of Continuing Care to ensure young adults 352
who age out of the foster care system between 18 and 21 years of 353
age, or 22 years of age with a documented disability, have a 354
point of contact until the young adult reaches the age of 26 in 355
order to receive ongoing support and care coordination needed to 356
achieve self-sufficiency. Duties of the office include, but are 357
not limited to: 358
(5) Developing and administering the Step into Success 359
Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program for foster 360
youth and former foster youth as provided under s. 409.1455. 361
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 362