Bill Text: FL S0508 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public Assistance
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Commerce and Tourism [S0508 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S0508-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 508 By Senator Rouson 19-00402-18 2018508__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public assistance; amending s. 3 39.5085, F.S.; clarifying requirements related to the 4 Relative Caregiver Program; amending s. 402.82, F.S.; 5 requiring the Department of Children and Families to 6 impose a replacement fee for electronic benefits 7 transfer cards under certain circumstances; amending 8 s. 445.004, F.S.; requiring CareerSource Florida, 9 Inc., to submit in a detailed annual report certain 10 information on individuals subject to mandatory work 11 requirements who receive temporary cash or food 12 assistance; amending s. 445.024, F.S.; requiring the 13 Department of Economic Opportunity, in cooperation 14 with CareerSource Florida, Inc., and the Department of 15 Children and Families, to develop a work plan 16 agreement for each individual participant in the 17 temporary cash assistance program; requiring the plan 18 to identify expectations, sanctions, and penalties for 19 noncompliance with work requirements; requiring the 20 Department of Economic Opportunity to work with 21 program participants in developing strategies to 22 overcome obstacles to compliance with work activity 23 requirements; requiring the Office of Program Policy 24 Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) to 25 conduct a study; providing study requirements; 26 providing legislative intent; requiring OPPAGA to 27 submit a report by a certain date to the Governor and 28 the Legislature; providing legislative findings; 29 creating the TANF Reemployment Pilot Program in 30 Pinellas County; providing the administration of the 31 program; providing the purpose of the program; 32 providing an appropriation; providing an effective 33 date. 34 35 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 36 37 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph 38 (a) of subsection (2) of section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, are 39 amended to read: 40 39.5085 Relative Caregiver Program.— 41 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this 42 section to: 43 (a) Provide for the establishment of procedures and 44 protocols that serve to advance the continued safety of children 45 by acknowledging the valued resource uniquely available through 46 grandparents, relatives of children, and specified nonrelatives 47 of children pursuant to sub-subparagraph (2)(a)1.c.subparagraph48(2)(a)3.49 (2)(a) The Department of Children and Families shall 50 establish, operate, and implement the Relative Caregiver Program 51 by rule of the department. 52 1. The Relative Caregiver Program shall, within the limits 53 of available funding, provide financial assistance to: 54 a.1.Relatives who are within the fifth degree by blood or 55 marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child and who are 56 caring full-time for that dependent child in the role of 57 substitute parent as a result of a court’s determination of 58 child abuse, neglect, or abandonment and subsequent placement 59 with the relative under this chapter. 60 b.2.Relatives who are within the fifth degree by blood or 61 marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child and who are 62 caring full-time for that dependent child, and a dependent half 63 brother or half-sister of that dependent child, in the role of 64 substitute parent as a result of a court’s determination of 65 child abuse, neglect, or abandonment and subsequent placement 66 with the relative under this chapter. 67 c.3.Nonrelatives who are willing to assume custody and 68 care of a dependent child in the role of substitute parent as a 69 result of a court’s determination of child abuse, neglect, or 70 abandonment and subsequent placement with the nonrelative 71 caregiver under this chapter. The court must find that a 72 proposed placement under this subparagraph is in the best 73 interest of the child. 74 2.4.Arelative or nonrelative caregiver, buttherelative 75 or nonrelative caregiver may not receive a Relative Caregiver 76 Program payment if the parent or stepparent of the child resides 77 in the home. However, a relative or nonrelative may receive the 78 Relative Caregiver Program payment for a minor parent who is in 79 his or her care and, as well asfor the minor parent’s child,if 80 both the minor parent and the childchildrenhave been 81 adjudicated dependent and meet all other eligibility 82 requirements. If the caregiver is currently receiving the 83 payment, the Relative Caregiver Program payment must be 84 terminated no later than the first of the following month after 85 the parent or stepparent moves into the home. Before the 86 Relative Caregiver Program payment is terminated, the caregiver 87 must be given at least a, allowing for10-day notice of adverse 88 action. 89 90 The placement may be court-ordered temporary legal custody to 91 the relative or nonrelative under protective supervision of the 92 department pursuant to s. 39.521(1)(c)3., or court-ordered 93 placement in the home of a relative or nonrelative as a 94 permanency option under s. 39.6221 or s. 39.6231 or under former 95 s. 39.622 if the placement was made before July 1, 2006. The 96 Relative Caregiver Program shall offer financial assistance to 97 caregivers who would be unable to serve in that capacity without 98 the caregiver payment because of financial burden, thus exposing 99 the child to the trauma of placement in a shelter or in foster 100 care. 101 Section 2. Present subsection (4) of section 402.82, 102 Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (5), and a new 103 subsection (4) is added to that section, to read: 104 402.82 Electronic benefits transfer program.— 105 (4) The department shall impose a fee for the fifth and 106 each subsequent request for a replacement electronic benefits 107 transfer card made by a participant within a 12-month period. 108 The fee must be equal to the cost of replacing the electronic 109 benefits transfer card. The fee may be deducted from the 110 participant’s benefits. The department may waive the replacement 111 fee upon a showing of good cause, such as the malfunction of the 112 card or extreme financial hardship. 113 Section 3. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (7) of 114 section 445.004, Florida Statutes, to read: 115 445.004 CareerSource Florida, Inc.; creation; purpose; 116 membership; duties and powers.— 117 (7) By December 1 of each year, CareerSource Florida, Inc., 118 shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the 119 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate Minority 120 Leader, and the House Minority Leader a complete and detailed 121 annual report setting forth: 122 (c) For each local workforce development board, the past 3 123 years of participant statistics and employment outcomes, by 124 program, for individuals subject to mandatory work requirements 125 due to receipt of temporary cash assistance or food assistance 126 under chapter 414, including: 127 1. Individuals served. 128 2. Services received. 129 3. Activities in which individuals participated. 130 4. Types of employment secured. 131 5. Individuals securing employment but remaining in each 132 program. 133 6. Individuals exiting programs due to employment. 134 7. Employment status at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months 135 after exiting the program. 136 Section 4. Present subsections (3) through (7) of section 137 445.024, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4) 138 through (8), respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to 139 that section, to read: 140 445.024 Work requirements.— 141 (3) WORK PLAN AGREEMENT.—For each individual who is not 142 otherwise exempt from work activity requirements, before the 143 program participant may receive temporary cash assistance, the 144 department, in cooperation with CareerSource Florida, Inc., and 145 the Department of Children and Families, shall: 146 (a) Develop a work plan agreement that must inform the 147 participant, in plain language, of, and require the participant 148 to assent, in writing, to: 149 1. The program’s expectations of the participant in order 150 for the participant to continue to receive temporary cash 151 assistance benefits. 152 2. The circumstances under which the participant would be 153 sanctioned for noncompliance. 154 3. The potential penalties for noncompliance with the work 155 requirements in s. 414.065, including the length of time during 156 which benefits would not be available to the participant. 157 (b) Work with the participant to develop strategies to 158 assist the participant in overcoming obstacles to compliance 159 with the work activity requirements. 160 Section 5. (1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and 161 Government Accountability shall conduct a study of each local 162 workforce development board to determine what obstacles prevent 163 participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 164 and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program from 165 complying with the work requirements in the respective programs. 166 The study must include detailed data and analysis of the reasons 167 for which applicants and recipients do not comply with the work 168 requirements, the reasons noncompliant applicants and recipients 169 identify as obstacles to compliance, and the kind of assistance 170 offered to noncompliant participants to come into compliance. 171 The study must also include a listing of the specific reasons 172 for the sanctions applied, separated into categories with the 173 number of participants who received each sanction. The listing 174 may be in the following form: 175 (a) Failure to attend a scheduled meeting—10 people 176 sanctioned. 177 (b) Failure to complete required documents—5 people 178 sanctioned. 179 (c) Failure to comply with child support requirements, with 180 specifics on what the requirement was. 181 (2) The legislative intent for requesting this independent 182 study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the obstacles that 183 may exist for people trying to participate in the workforce, 184 through reviewing the specific reasons participants are 185 sanctioned on a region-by-region basis. 186 (3) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 187 Accountability shall submit a report with its findings and 188 recommendations to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 189 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the minority 190 leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives by 191 November 1, 2018. 192 Section 6. TANF Reemployment Pilot Program.— 193 (1) The Legislature finds that there is an important state 194 interest in assisting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 195 (TANF) recipients in finding and securing stable and productive 196 employment and that reemployment programs have the potential to 197 benefit such recipients and their families and to alleviate the 198 financial strain on the state economy. 199 (2) The TANF Reemployment Pilot Program is created in 200 Pinellas County and shall be administered by the Pinellas 201 Opportunity Council, Inc. 202 (3) The purpose of the pilot program is to assist TANF 203 recipients in developing return-to-work plans with the goal of 204 reemployment. 205 Section 7. For the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the sum of 206 $150,000 in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund and 207 $150,000 in nonrecurring funds from the Federal Grants Trust 208 Fund are appropriated for the TANF Reemployment Pilot Program. 209 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.