Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1061 Latest Draft

Bill / Comm Sub Version Filed 02/24/2024

                               
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to community -based child welfare 2 
agencies; amending s. 409.016, F.S.; defining the term 3 
"management functions"; amending s. 409.987, F.S.; 4 
authorizing the Department of Children and Families to 5 
extend contracts with community -based care lead 6 
agencies under certain circumstances; revising 7 
requirements for an entity to serve as a lead agency; 8 
providing duties for board members and board of 9 
directors of lead agencies; requiring that lead 10 
agencies ensure that board members participate in 11 
certain annual training; revising the definition of 12 
the term "conflict of interest"; defining the term 13 
"related party"; requiring the lead agency's board of 14 
directors to disclose any known or potential conflicts 15 
of interest; prohibiting a lead agency from enterin g 16 
into a contract or being a party to any transaction 17 
with related parties if a conflict of interest is not 18 
properly disclosed; prohibiting a lead agency from 19 
entering into a contract or being a party to any 20 
transaction with related parties for officer or 21 
director level staffing to perform management 22 
functions; removing obsolete language; authorizing a 23 
lead agency to enter into certain contracts or be a 24 
party to certain transactions under certain 25     
 
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circumstances; requiring department contracts with 26 
lead agencies to include certain contractual penalty 27 
provisions; specifying the contractual penalties; 28 
providing applicability; requiring certain contracts 29 
to be reprocured; requiring the department to recoup 30 
lead agency expenses for the execution of certain 31 
contracts; amending s. 409.988, F.S.; revising lead 32 
agency duties and authority; repealing s. 409.991, 33 
F.S., relating to allocation of funds for community -34 
based care lead agencies; creating s. 409.9913, F.S.; 35 
providing definitions; requiring the department, in 36 
collaboration with the lead agencies and providers of 37 
child welfare services, to develop a specific funding 38 
methodology for the allocation of core services which 39 
meets certain criteria; requiring the lead agencies 40 
and providers of child welfare services to s ubmit to 41 
the department certain financial information for the 42 
development of the funding methodology; requiring the 43 
department to submit to the Governor and the 44 
Legislature certain reports by the established 45 
deadlines; subjecting the allocation of core ser vices 46 
to the requirements of ch. 216, F.S.; authorizing the 47 
department to include certain rates and total 48 
allocations in certain reports; requiring the 49 
Legislature to allocate funding to the lead agencies 50     
 
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with due consideration of the funding methodology, 51 
beginning with the 2025 -2026 fiscal year; prohibiting 52 
the department from changing a lead agency's 53 
allocation of funds provided in the General 54 
Appropriations Act without legislative approval; 55 
authorizing the department to approve certain risk 56 
pool funding for a lead agency; requiring the 57 
department to submit to the Governor and the 58 
Legislature certain reports by the established 59 
deadlines; amending s. 409.992, F.S.; revising 60 
requirements for lead agency practices in the 61 
procurement of commodities and contrac tual services; 62 
requiring the department to impose certain penalties 63 
for a lead agency's noncompliance with applicable 64 
procurement law; requiring a contract between the 65 
department and a lead agency to specify the rights and 66 
obligations to real property held by the lead agency 67 
during the term of the contract; providing 68 
applicability; providing applicability of certain 69 
limitations on the salaries of community -based care 70 
lead agency administrative employees; amending s. 71 
409.994, F.S.; revising the conditions un der which the 72 
department may petition a court for the appointment of 73 
a receiver for a community -based care lead agency; 74 
amending s. 409.996, F.S.; revising requirements for 75     
 
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contracts between the department and lead agencies; 76 
making a technical change; prov iding duties of the 77 
department; providing reporting requirements; 78 
requiring the department to convene a working group to 79 
submit a certain report to the Governor and the 80 
Legislature by a certain date; providing membership 81 
and termination of the working grou p; providing an 82 
effective date. 83 
 84 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 85 
 86 
 Section 1.  Subsections (3) and (4) of section 409.016, 87 
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) and (5), 88 
respectively, and a new subsection (3) i s added to that section, 89 
to read: 90 
 409.016  Definitions. —As used in this chapter: 91 
 (3)  "Management functions" means: 92 
 (a)  Planning, directing, organizing, coordinating, and 93 
carrying out oversight duties of the lead agency; or 94 
 (b)  Contracting for office r or director level staffing in 95 
performance of the planning, directing, organizing, 96 
coordinating, and carrying out oversight duties of the lead 97 
agency. 98 
 Section 2.  Subsections (3) and (4) and paragraphs (a) and 99 
(b) of subsection (7) of section 409.987, Florida Statutes, are 100     
 
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amended, and paragraph (g) is added to subsection (7) of that 101 
section, to read: 102 
 409.987  Lead agency procurement; boards; conflicts of 103 
interest.— 104 
 (3)  Notwithstanding s. 287.057, the department shall use 105 
5-year contracts with lead a gencies. The department may extend a 106 
contract for 1 to 5 years, in accordance with s. 287.057, only 107 
if a lead agency has met performance expectations within the 108 
monitoring evaluation. 109 
 (4)  In order to serve as a lead agency, an entity must: 110 
 (a)  Be organized as a Florida corporation or a 111 
governmental entity. 112 
 (b)  Be governed by a board of directors or a board 113 
committee composed of board members. The board of directors or 114 
board committee shall provide oversight and ensure 115 
accountability and transparency f or the system of care. The 116 
board of directors or board committee shall provide fiduciary 117 
oversight to prevent conflicts of interest, promote 118 
accountability and transparency, and protect state and federal 119 
funding from misuse. The board of directors shall ac t in 120 
accordance with s. 617.0830. The membership of the board of 121 
directors or board committee must be described in the bylaws or 122 
articles of incorporation of each lead agency, which must 123 
provide that at least 75 percent of the membership of the board 124 
of directors or board committee must be composed consist of 125     
 
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persons residing in this state, and at least 51 percent of the 126 
state residents on the board of directors must reside within the 127 
service area of the lead agency. The lead agency shall ensure 128 
that its board members, directors, and officers participate in 129 
annual training related to their responsibilities. The 130 
department shall set forth minimum training criteria in the 131 
contracts with the lead agencies. However, for procurements of 132 
lead agency contracts init iated on or after July 1, 2014: 133 
 1.  At least 75 percent of the membership of the board of 134 
directors must be composed consist of persons residing in this 135 
state, and at least 51 percent of the membership of the board of 136 
directors must be composed consist of persons residing within 137 
the service area of the lead agency. If a board committee 138 
governs the lead agency, 100 percent of its membership must be 139 
composed consist of persons residing within the service area of 140 
the lead agency. 141 
 2.  The powers of the board of directors or board committee 142 
include, but are not limited to, approving the lead agency's 143 
budget and setting the lead agency's operational policy and 144 
procedures. A board of directors must additionally have the 145 
power to hire the lead agency's executive d irector, unless a 146 
board committee governs the lead agency, in which case the board 147 
committee must have the power to confirm the selection of the 148 
lead agency's executive director. 149 
 (c)  Demonstrate financial responsibility through an 150     
 
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organized plan for regular fiscal audits and the posting of a 151 
performance bond. 152 
 (7)(a)  As used in this subsection, the term: 153 
 1.  "Activity" includes, but is not limited to, a contract 154 
for goods and services, a contract for the purchase of any real 155 
or tangible property, or an agreement to engage with a lead 156 
agency for the benefit of a third party in exchange for an 157 
interest in real or tangible property, a monetary benefit, or an 158 
in-kind contribution. 159 
 2.  "Conflict of interest" means when a board member , 160 
director, or an officer, or a relative of a board member , 161 
director, or an officer, of a lead agency does any of the 162 
following: 163 
 a.  Enters into a contract or other transaction for goods 164 
or services with the lead agency. 165 
 b.  Holds a direct or indirect interest in a corporati on, 166 
limited liability corporation, partnership, limited liability 167 
partnership, or other business entity that conducts business 168 
with the lead agency or proposes to enter into a contract or 169 
other transaction with the lead agency. For purposes of this 170 
paragraph, the term "indirect interest" has the same meaning as 171 
in s. 112.312. 172 
 c.  Knowingly obtains a direct or indirect personal, 173 
financial, professional, or other benefit as a result of the 174 
relationship of such board member , director, or officer, or 175     
 
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relative of the board member, director, or officer, with the 176 
lead agency. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "benefit" 177 
does not include per diem and travel expenses paid or reimbursed 178 
to board members, directors, or officers of the lead agency in 179 
connection with their service on the board. 180 
 3.  "Related party" means any entity of which a director or 181 
an officer of the entity is also directly or indirectly related 182 
to, or has a direct or indirect financial or other material 183 
interest in, the lead agency. The term also includes any 184 
subsidiary firm or joint venture. 185 
 4.3. "Relative" means a relative within the third degree 186 
of consanguinity by blood or marriage. 187 
 (b)1.  For any activity that is presented to the board of a 188 
lead agency for its initial consideration and approval after 189 
July 1, 2021, or any activity that involves a contract that is 190 
being considered for renewal on or after July 1, 2021, but 191 
before January 1, 2022 , a board member, a director, or an 192 
officer of a lead agency shall disclose to the board any 193 
activity that may reasonably be construed to be a conflict of 194 
interest before such activity is initially considered and 195 
approved or a contract is renewed by the board. A rebuttable 196 
presumption of a conflict of interest exists if the activity was 197 
acted on by the board without prior notice as required under 198 
paragraph (c). The board shall disclose any known actual or 199 
potential conflicts to the department. 200     
 
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 2.  A lead agency may not enter into a contract or be a 201 
party to any transaction with related parties if a c onflict of 202 
interest is not properly disclosed. A lead agency may not enter 203 
into a contract with a related party for officer or director 204 
level staffing to perform management functions. The contract 205 
with the department and lead agency must specify the 206 
administrative functions and services that the lead agency will 207 
subcontract For contracts with a lead agency which are in 208 
existence on July 1, 2021, and are not subject to renewal before 209 
January 1, 2022, a board member or an officer of the lead agency 210 
shall disclose to the board any activity that may reasonably be 211 
construed to be a conflict of interest under this section by 212 
December 31, 2021. 213 
 3.  Subject to the requirements of subparagraph 2., a lead 214 
agency may enter into a contract or be a party to any 215 
transaction with related parties as long as the fee, rate, or 216 
price paid by the lead agency for the commodities or services 217 
being procured does not exceed the fair market value for such 218 
commodities or services. The lead agency shall disclose any 219 
known actual or potential conflicts to the department. 220 
 (g)  All department contracts with lead agencies must 221 
contain the following contractual penalty provisions: 222 
 1.  Penalties in the amount of $5,000 per occurrence shall 223 
be imposed for each known and potential conflict o f interest, as 224 
described in paragraph (b), which is not disclosed to the 225     
 
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department. 226 
 2.  If a contract is executed for which a conflict of 227 
interest was not disclosed to the department before execution of 228 
the contract, the following penalties apply: 229 
 a.  A penalty in the amount of $10,000 for a first offense. 230 
 b.  A penalty in the amount of $15,000 for a second or 231 
subsequent offense. 232 
 3.  The penalties for failure to disclose a conflict of 233 
interest under subparagraphs 1. and 2. apply to any contract 234 
entered into, regardless of the method of procurement, 235 
including, but not limited to, formal procurement, single -source 236 
contracts, and contracts that do not meet the minimum threshold 237 
for formal procurement. 238 
 4.  A contract procured for which a conflict of intere st 239 
was not disclosed to the department before execution of the 240 
contract shall be reprocured. The department shall recoup from 241 
the lead agency expenses related to a contract that was executed 242 
without disclosure of a conflict of interest. 243 
 Section 3.  Paragraphs (c), (j), and (k) of subsection (1) 244 
of section 409.988, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 245 
 409.988  Community-based care lead agency duties; general 246 
provisions.— 247 
 (1)  DUTIES.—A lead agency: 248 
 (c)  Shall follow the financial guidelines developed by the 249 
department and shall comply with regular, independent auditing 250     
 
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of its financial activities, including any requests for records 251 
associated with such financial audits within the timeframe 252 
established by the department or its contracted vendors provide 253 
for a regular independent auditing of its financial activities . 254 
The results of the financial audit must Such financial 255 
information shall be provided to the community alliance 256 
established under s. 20.19(5). 257 
 (j)  May subcontract for the provision of services, 258 
excluding with a related party for officer or director level 259 
staffing to perform management functions, required by the 260 
contract with the lead agency and the department; however, the 261 
subcontracts must specify how the provider will contribute to 262 
the lead agency meeting the performance standards established 263 
pursuant to the child welfare results -oriented accountability 264 
system required by s. 409.997. The lead agency shall directly 265 
provide no more than 35 percent of all child welfare services 266 
provided unless it can demonstrate a need , within the lead 267 
agency's geographic service area in which there is a lack of 268 
qualified providers available to perform the necessary services. 269 
The approval period to exceed the threshold must be limited to 2 270 
years and must be renewed following the process outlined in this 271 
section, to exceed this threshold . The local community alliance 272 
in the geographic service area in which the lead agency is 273 
seeking to exceed the threshold shall review the lead agency's 274 
justification for ne ed and recommend to the department whether 275     
 
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the department should approve or deny the lead agency's request 276 
for an exemption from the services threshold. If there is not a 277 
community alliance operating in the geographic service area in 278 
which the lead agency is seeking to exceed the threshold, such 279 
review and recommendation shall be made by representatives of 280 
local stakeholders, including at least one representative from 281 
each of the following: 282 
 1.  The department. 283 
 2.  The county government. 284 
 3.  The school district. 285 
 4.  The county United Way. 286 
 5.  The county sheriff's office. 287 
 6.  The circuit court corresponding to the county. 288 
 7.  The county children's board, if one exists. 289 
 (k)  Shall publish on its website by the 15th day of each 290 
month at a minimum the data specified in subparagraphs 1.-10. 291 
1.-5., calculated using a standard methodology determined by the 292 
department, for the preceding calendar month regarding its case 293 
management services. The following information shall be reported 294 
by each individual subcontracted case management provider, by 295 
the lead agency, if the lead agency provides case management 296 
services, and in total for all case management services 297 
subcontracted or directly provided by the lead agency: 298 
 1.  The average caseload of case managers, including only 299 
filled positions; 300     
 
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 2.  The total number and percentage of case managers who 301 
have 25 or more cases on their caseloads; 302 
 3.  The turnover rate for case managers an d case management 303 
supervisors for the previous 12 months; 304 
 4.  The percentage of required home visits completed; and 305 
 5.  Performance on outcome measures required pursuant to s. 306 
409.997 for the previous 12 months ;. 307 
 6.  The number of unlicensed placements for the previous 308 
month; 309 
 7.  The percentages and trends for foster parent and group 310 
home recruitment and licensure for the previous month; 311 
 8.  The percentage of families being served through family 312 
support, in-home, and out-of-home services for the previo us 313 
month; 314 
 9.  The percentage of cases that converted from nonjudicial 315 
to judicial for the previous month; and 316 
 10.  Children's legal service staffing rates. 317 
 Section 4.  Section 409.991, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 318 
 Section 5.  Section 409.9913, Fl orida Statutes, is created 319 
to read: 320 
 409.9913  Funding methodology to allocate funding to lead 321 
agencies.— 322 
 (1)  As used in this section, the term: 323 
 (a)  "Core services funding" means all funds allocated to 324 
lead agencies. The term does not include any of th e following: 325     
 
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 1.  Funds appropriated for independent living services. 326 
 2.  Funds appropriated for maintenance adoption subsidies. 327 
 3.  Funds allocated by the department for child protective 328 
investigation service training. 329 
 4.  Nonrecurring funds. 330 
 5.  Designated mental health wrap -around service funds. 331 
 6.  Funds for special projects for a designated lead 332 
agency. 333 
 7.  Funds appropriated for the Guardianship Assistance 334 
Program established under s. 39.6225. 335 
 (b)  "Operational and fixed costs" means: 336 
 1.  Administrative expenditures, including, but not limited 337 
to, information technology and human resources functions. 338 
 2.  Lease payments. 339 
 3.  Asset depreciation. 340 
 4.  Utilities. 341 
 5.  Administrative components of case management. 342 
 6.  Mandated activities such as training, quality 343 
improvement, or contract management. 344 
 (2)  The department shall develop, in collaboration with 345 
lead agencies and providers of child welfare services, a funding 346 
methodology for allocating core services funding to lead 347 
agencies which, at a minimum: 348 
 (a)  Is actuarially sound. 349 
 (b)  Is reimbursement based. 350     
 
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 (c)  Is designed to incentivize efficient and effective 351 
lead agency operation, prevention, family preservation, and 352 
permanency. 353 
 (d)  Considers variable costs, including, but not limited 354 
to, direct costs for in -home and out-of-home care for children 355 
served by the lead agencies, prevention services, and 356 
operational and fixed costs. 357 
 (e)  Is scaled regionally for cost -of-living factors. 358 
 (3)  The lead agencies and providers of child welfare 359 
services shall submit any detailed cost and expenditure data 360 
that the department requests for the development of the funding 361 
methodology. 362 
 (4)  The department shall submit a report to the Governor, 363 
the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House o f 364 
Representatives by December 1, 2024, which, at a minimum: 365 
 (a)  Describes a proposed funding methodology and formula 366 
that will provide for the annual budget of each lead agency, 367 
including, but not limited to, how the proposed methodology will 368 
meet the criteria in subsection (2). 369 
 (b)  Describes the data used to develop the methodology, 370 
and the data that will be used to annually calculate the 371 
proposed lead agency budget. 372 
 (c)  Specifies proposed rates and total allocations for 373 
each lead agency. The allocations must ensure that the total of 374 
all amounts allocated to lead agencies under the funding 375     
 
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methodology does not exceed the total amount appropriated to 376 
lead agencies in the General Appropriations Act in the 2024 -2025 377 
fiscal year. 378 
 (d)  Provides risk mitigation recommendations that ensure 379 
that lead agencies do not experience a reduction in funding that 380 
would be detrimental to operations or result in a reduction in 381 
services to children. 382 
 (5)  By October 31 of each year, beginning in 2025, the 383 
department shall submit a report to the Governor, the President 384 
of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 385 
which includes recommendations for adjustments to the fundi ng 386 
methodology for the next fiscal year, using the criteria in 387 
subsection (2) and basing the recommendations on, at a minimum, 388 
updated expenditure data, cost -of-living adjustments, market 389 
dynamics, or other catchment area variations. The total of all 390 
amounts proposed for allocation to lead agencies under the 391 
funding methodology for the next fiscal year may not exceed the 392 
total amount appropriated for core services funding in the 393 
current fiscal year's General Appropriations Act. The funding 394 
methodology must include risk mitigation strategies that ensure 395 
that lead agencies do not experience a reduction in funding that 396 
would be detrimental to operations or result in a reduction in 397 
services to children. 398 
 (6)(a)  The requirements of this section do not replace, 399 
and must be in addition to, any requirements of chapter 216, 400     
 
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including, but not limited to, submission of final legislative 401 
budget requests by the department under s. 216.023. 402 
 (b)  The data and reports required under subsections (4) 403 
and (5) may also includ e proposed rates and total allocations 404 
for each lead agency which reflect any additional core services 405 
funding for lead agencies which is requested by the department 406 
under s. 216.023. 407 
 (7)(a)  Beginning with the 2025 -2026 fiscal year, the 408 
Legislature shall allocate funding to lead agencies through the 409 
General Appropriations Act with due consideration of the funding 410 
methodology developed under this section. 411 
 (b)  The department may not change the allocation of funds 412 
to a lead agency as provided in the Genera l Appropriations Act 413 
without legislative approval. The department may approve 414 
additional risk pool funding for a lead agency as provided under 415 
s. 409.990. 416 
 (8)  The department shall provide to the Governor, the 417 
President of the Senate, and the Speaker of t he House of 418 
Representatives monthly reports from July through October 2024, 419 
which provide updates on activities and progress in developing 420 
the funding methodology. 421 
 Section 6.  Subsections (1) and (3) of section 409.992, 422 
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 423 
 409.992  Lead agency expenditures. — 424 
 (1)  The procurement of commodities or contractual services 425     
 
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by lead agencies is shall be governed by the financial 426 
guidelines developed by the department and must comply with 427 
applicable state and federal law and follow good business 428 
practices. Pursuant to s. 11.45, the Auditor General may provide 429 
technical advice in the development of the financial guidelines. 430 
 (a)1. Lead agencies shall competitively procure all 431 
contracts, consistent with the federal simplified ac quisition 432 
threshold. 433 
 2.  Lead agencies shall competitively procure all contracts 434 
in excess of $35,000 with related parties. 435 
 3.  Financial penalties or sanctions, as established by the 436 
department and incorporated into the contract, shall be imposed 437 
by the department for noncompliance with applicable local, 438 
state, or federal law for the procurement of commodities or 439 
contractual services. 440 
 (b)  The contract between the department and the lead 441 
agency for the provision of child protection and child welfare 442 
services must delineate the rights and obligations of the 443 
parties concerning the acquisition, transfer, or other 444 
disposition of real property held by the lead agency during the 445 
term of the contract. This paragraph applies prospectively to 446 
new contracts entere d into between the department and a lead 447 
agency for the provision of child protection and child welfare 448 
services on or after July 1, 2024. 449 
 (3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 450     
 
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community-based care lead agency administrative employee may not 451 
receive a salary, whether base pay or base pay combined with any 452 
bonus or incentive payments, in excess of 150 percent of the 453 
annual salary paid to the secretary of the Department of 454 
Children and Families from state -appropriated funds, including 455 
state-appropriated federal funds. This limitation applies 456 
regardless of the number of community -based care contracts a 457 
community-based care lead agency may execute with the 458 
department. This subsection does not prohibit any party from 459 
providing cash that is not from appropriated state funds to a 460 
community-based care lead agency administrative employee. 461 
 Section 7.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 462 
409.994, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 463 
 409.994  Community-based care lead agencies; receivership. — 464 
 (1)  The Department of Children and Families may petition a 465 
court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a 466 
receiver for a community -based care lead agency established 467 
pursuant to s. 409.987 if any of the following conditions exist: 468 
 (d)  The lead agency cannot meet, or is unlikely to meet, 469 
its current financial obligations to its employees, contractors, 470 
or foster parents. Issuance of bad checks or the existence of 471 
delinquent obligations for payment of salaries, utilities, or 472 
invoices for essential services or commodities constitutes shall 473 
constitute prima facie evidence that the lead agency lacks the 474 
financial ability to meet its financial obligations. 475     
 
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 Section 8.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 476 
409.996, Florida Statutes, is amended t o read: 477 
 409.996  Duties of the Department of Children and 478 
Families.—The department shall contract for the delivery, 479 
administration, or management of care for children in the child 480 
protection and child welfare system. In doing so, the department 481 
retains responsibility for the quality of contracted services 482 
and programs and shall ensure that, at a minimum, services are 483 
delivered in accordance with applicable federal and state 484 
statutes and regulations and the performance standards and 485 
metrics specified in the strategic plan created under s. 486 
20.19(1). 487 
 (1)  The department shall enter into contracts with lead 488 
agencies for the performance of the duties by the lead agencies 489 
established in s. 409.988. At a minimum, the contracts must do 490 
all of the following: 491 
 (d)  Provide for contractual actions tiered interventions 492 
and graduated penalties for failure to comply with contract 493 
terms or in the event of performance deficiencies , as determined 494 
appropriate by the department . 495 
 1. Such contractual actions must interventions and 496 
penalties shall include, but are not limited to: 497 
 a.1. Enhanced monitoring and reporting. 498 
 b.2. Corrective action plans. 499 
 c.3. Requirements to accept technical assistance and 500     
 
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consultation from the department under subsection (6). 501 
 d.4. Financial penalties, as a matter of contract. The 502 
financial penalties assessed by the department on the lead 503 
agency revert to the state which shall require a lead agency to 504 
reallocate funds from administrative costs to direct care for 505 
children. 506 
 e.5. Early termination of contracts, as provided in s. 507 
402.7305(3)(f) s. 402.1705(3)(f). 508 
 2.  No later than January 1, 2025, the department shall 509 
ensure that each lead agency contract executed includes a list 510 
of financial penalties for failure to comply with contractual 511 
requirements. 512 
 Section 9.  The Department of Children and Families shall 513 
submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 514 
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on rules and 515 
policies adopted and other actions taken to implement the 516 
requirements of this act. The first such report must be due 517 
September 30, 2024, and the second such report must be due 518 
February 1, 2025. 519 
 Section 10.  There is established the Future of Child 520 
Protection Contracting and Funding Working Group. The Department 521 
of Children and Families shall convene the working group and 522 
shall be responsible for producing and submitting a report to 523 
the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 524 
the House of Representatives by October 15, 2025. 525     
 
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 (1)  The report must, at a minimum: 526 
 (a)  Examine the current contracting methods for the 527 
provision of all foster care and related services. 528 
 (b)  Identify any barriers or deficiencies in creating 529 
local ownership and governance of such services. 530 
 (c)  Assess the implications of a 10 percent cap on 531 
administrative costs. 532 
 (d)  Evaluate barriers to entry in the procurement of 533 
managed care networks. 534 
 (e)  Consider the unique regional needs of children and 535 
families at risk of abuse and neglect. 536 
 (f)  Recommend changes to existing law s, rules, and 537 
policies necessary to implement the working group's 538 
recommendations. 539 
 (2)  The secretary of the Department of Children and 540 
Families, or his or her designee, shall chair the working group 541 
and shall invite the following persons to participate a s a 542 
member of the working group: 543 
 (a)  The Secretary of the Agency for Health Care 544 
Administration, or his or her designee. 545 
 (b)  The secretary of the Department of Management 546 
Services, or his or her designee. 547 
 (c)  A member of the Florida Coalition for Chi ldren, Inc., 548 
or his or her designee. 549 
 (d)  A current contractor for lead agency child protection 550     
 
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services. 551 
 (e)  Two representatives of a direct provider of child 552 
protection or child welfare services. 553 
 (f)  A member of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar 554 
or a member of the court exercising jurisdiction over family law 555 
matters. 556 
 (g)  A representative of a for -profit managed care entity. 557 
 (h)  A representative from a State University System school 558 
of business. 559 
 (i)  A representative from the Florida Ins titute for Child 560 
Welfare. 561 
 (j)  Any additional members as the department deems 562 
appropriate. 563 
 (3)  The working group shall terminate immediately after 564 
the Secretary of the Department of Children and Families submits 565 
the report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the 566 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 567 
 Section 11.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 568