HB 559 2024
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hb0559-00
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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 adoptions; amending s. 63.039, 2
F.S.; requiring adoption entities to submit an annual 3
report with certain information to the Department of 4
Children and Families; amending s. 63.097, F.S.; 5
requiring the department to retain an electronic c opy 6
of certain documentation for a certain time period; 7
revising the amount of fees, costs, and expenses 8
authorized to be assessed or paid by an adoption 9
entity; prohibiting fees that are not adoption entity 10
fees or supported by a receipt; amending s. 63.1 32, 11
F.S.; requiring a court to include a written 12
determination of reasonableness if the court approves 13
fees, costs, and expenses in excess of certain limits; 14
authorizing a court to reject fees, costs, and 15
expenditures that are not supported by a receipt; 16
amending s. 409.1662, F.S.; requiring certain 17
information to be included in the annual report the 18
department submits to the Governor and Legislature; 19
amending s. 409.167, F.S.; providing a purpose for a 20
statewide adoption exchange; requiring the photo 21
listing component of the exchange to be accessible 22
only to certain persons; requiring consent from 23
certain children before their photo is listed; 24
requiring the department or a community -based care 25
HB 559 2024
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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
lead agency, instead of the districts of the 26
department, to refer certain children to the adoption 27
exchange; removing provisions requiring a child to be 28
placed on the exchange after a certain time period; 29
providing an effective date. 30
31
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 32
33
Section 1. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (1) of 34
section 63.039, Florida Statutes, to read: 35
63.039 Duties Duty of an adoption entity to prospective 36
adoptive parents; sanctions.— 37
(1) An adoption entity placing a minor for adoption has an 38
affirmative duty to follow the requirements of this chapter and 39
specifically the following provisions, which protect and promote 40
the well-being of persons being adopted and their parents and 41
prospective adoptive parents by promoting certainty, finality, 42
and permanency for such perso ns. The adoption entity must: 43
(k) Annually report to the department the number of 44
adoptions that did not involve an adoption by a relative or 45
stepparent or an adoption of a child from the child welfare 46
system. 47
Section 2. Subsection (1), paragraph (f) of subsection 48
(2), subsection (3), and paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of 49
section 63.097, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 50
HB 559 2024
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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
63.097 Fees.— 51
(1)(a) When the adoption entity is an agency, fees may be 52
assessed if such fees they are approved by the dep artment within 53
the process of licensing the agency and if the fees they are 54
for: 55
1.(a) Foster care expenses; 56
2.(b) Preplacement and postplacement social services; or 57
and 58
3.(c) Agency facility and administrative costs. 59
(b) The department must retain an electronic copy of the 60
documentation submitted by the agency for the approval of such 61
fees. Such documentation must be retained by the department 62
until the child is 18 years of age. 63
(2) The following fees, costs, and expenses may be 64
assessed by the adoption entity or paid by the adoption entity 65
on behalf of the prospective adoptive parents: 66
(f) The following professional fees: 67
1. A reasonable hourly fee , not to exceed $100 per hour 68
without prior court approval, or flat fee, not to exceed $5,000 69
without prior court approval, necessary to provide legal 70
representation to the adoptive parents or adoption entity in a 71
proceeding filed under this chapter. 72
2. A reasonable hourly fee or flat fee , not to exceed 73
$1,500 without prior court approval, for contact with the parent 74
related to the adoption. In determining a reasonable hourly fee 75
HB 559 2024
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under this subparagraph, the court must consider if the tasks 76
done were clerical or of such a nature that the matter could 77
have been handled by support staff at a lesser rate than the 78
rate for legal representation charged under subparagraph 1. Such 79
tasks include, but need not be limited to, transportation, 80
transmitting funds, arranging appointments, and securing 81
accommodations. 82
3. A reasonable hourly fee for counseling s ervices 83
provided to a parent or a prospective adoptive parent by a 84
psychologist licensed under chapter 490 or a clinical social 85
worker, marriage and family therapist, or mental health 86
counselor licensed under chapter 491, or a counselor who is 87
employed by an adoption entity accredited by the Council on 88
Accreditation of Services for Children and Families to provide 89
pregnancy counseling and supportive services. 90
(3) Approval of the court is not required until the total 91
of the amounts permitted under subsecti on (2) exceeds: 92
(a) $7,500 $5,000 in professional legal or other fees; 93
(b) $1,000 $800 in court costs; or 94
(c) $5,000 in reasonable and necessary living and medical 95
expenses; or 96
(d) $1,500 in other fees necessary to comply with the 97
requirements of this chapter. 98
(5) The following fees, costs, and expenses are 99
prohibited: 100
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(c) Any fee on the affidavit which is not a fee of the 101
adoption entity, is not supported by a receipt, and does not 102
specify the service that was provided and for which the fee is 103
being charged, such as a fee for facilitation, acquisition, or 104
other similar service, or which does not identify the date the 105
service was provided, the time required to provide the service, 106
the person or entity providing the service, and the hourly fee 107
charged. 108
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 63.132, Florida 109
Statutes, is amended to read: 110
63.132 Affidavit of expenses and receipts. — 111
(3) The court must issue a separate order approving or 112
disapproving the fees, costs, and expenses itemized in the 113
affidavit. The court may approve only fees, costs, and 114
expenditures allowed under s. 63.097. An order approving fees, 115
costs, and expenses that exceed the limits set in s. 63.097 must 116
include a written determination of reasonableness. The court may 117
reject in whole or in part any fee, cost, or expenditure listed 118
if the court finds that the expense is any of the following: 119
(a) Contrary to this chapter. 120
(b) Not supported by a receipt , if requested, if the 121
expense is not a fee of the adoption entity. 122
(c) Not a reasonable fee or expense, considering the 123
requirements of this chapter and the totality of the 124
circumstances. 125
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Section 4. Subsection (4) of section 409.1662, Florida 126
Statutes, is amended to read: 127
409.1662 Children within the child welfare system; 128
adoption incentive program. — 129
(4) REPORT.—The department shall report annually by 130
November 15 to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and 131
the Speaker of the House of Representatives on all of the 132
following: 133
(a) The negotiated targets set for, out comes achieved by, 134
and incentive payments made to each lead agency during the 135
previous fiscal year. 136
(b) The report shall also discuss the program enhancements 137
made by each lead agency and its subcontracted providers to 138
achieve negotiated outcomes under this section. 139
(c) The number of adoptions that did not involve an 140
adoption by a relative or stepparent or an adoption of a child 141
from the child welfare system. 142
(d) The number of children who entered the child welfare 143
system because of an adoption dissolution after their adoptions, 144
which did not involve relatives or stepparents and the children 145
were not otherwise in the child welfare system , from an adoption 146
entity were finalized. 147
(e) The reasons why an adoption dissolution occurred for 148
each child under paragraph (d), if known. 149
(f) The average cost of fees assessed by an adoption 150
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entity which require department approval under s. 63.097. Such 151
information must be segmented by region and comparable to a 152
statewide average cost. 153
Section 5. Subsections (5) and (6) of section 409.167, 154
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsection (4) and (5), 155
respectively, and subsections (1), (2), and (4), and present 156
subsection (5) are amended, to read: 157
409.167 Statewide adoption exchange; establishment; 158
responsibilities; registration requirements; rules. — 159
(1) The Department of Children and Families shall 160
establish, either directly or through purchase, a statewide 161
adoption exchange, with a photo listing component, which shall 162
serve all authorized licensed child -placing agencies in the 163
state for the purpose of facilitating family -matching between 164
prospective adoptive parents and children as a means of 165
recruiting adoptive families for children who have been legally 166
freed for adoption and who have been permanently placed with the 167
department or a licensed child -placing agency. The exchange 168
shall provide, in accordance with rules established by the 169
department descriptions and photographs of such children , as 170
well as any other information deemed useful to licensed child-171
placing agencies in facilitating family -matching between 172
prospective adoptive parents and children in the recruitment of 173
adoptive families for each child. The photo listing component of 174
the adoption exchange must be in a format that is accessible 175
HB 559 2024
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only to persons who have completed or are in the process of 176
completing an adoption home study. A child who is 12 years of 177
age or older must be consulted before his or her photo is listed 178
updated monthly. 179
(2)(a) Each district of The department or a community-180
based care lead agency shall refer each child in its care who 181
has been legally freed for adoption to the adoption exchange no 182
later than 30 days after the date of acceptance by the 183
department for permanent placement. The referral must be 184
accompanied by a photograph and descript ion of the child. 185
(b) The department shall establish criteria by which the 186
department or the community -based care lead agency a district 187
may determine that a child need not be registered with the 188
adoption exchange. Within 30 days after the date of accept ance 189
by the department for permanent placement, the name of the child 190
accepted for permanent placement must be forwarded to the 191
statewide adoption exchange by the department or the community -192
based care lead agency district together with reference to the 193
specific reason why the child should not be placed on the 194
adoption exchange. If the child has not been placed for adoption 195
within 3 months after the date of acceptance by the department 196
for permanent placement, the district shall provide the adoption 197
exchange with the necessary photograph and information for 198
registration of the child with the adoption exchange and the 199
child shall be placed on the exchange. The department shall 200
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establish procedures for monitoring the status of children who 201
are not placed on th e adoption exchange within 30 days after the 202
date of acceptance by the department for permanent placement. 203
(4) The adoption exchange shall provide the photo listing 204
service to all licensed child -placing agencies and, in 205
accordance with rules established by the department, to all 206
appropriate citizen groups and other organizations and 207
associations interested in children's services. 208
(4)(5) Children who are registered with the statewide 209
adoption exchange and for whom there is no available family 210
resource must shall be registered with existing regional and 211
national adoption exchanges , consistent with the restrictions in 212
this section. 213
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 214