Bill Text: FL S0760 | 2015 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Child Protection
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-22 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 1055 (Ch. 2015-177) [S0760 Detail]
Download: Florida-2015-S0760-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2015 CS for CS for SB 760 By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; and Health Policy; and Senators Bradley and Sobel 594-03785-15 2015760c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to child protection; amending s. 3 39.2015, F.S.; providing requirements for the 4 representation of Children’s Medical Services on 5 multiagency teams investigating certain child deaths 6 or other critical incidents; amending s. 39.303, F.S.; 7 requiring the Statewide Medical Director for Child 8 Protection and the medical directors to hold certain 9 qualifications; requiring the Department of Health to 10 approve a third-party credentialing entity to develop 11 and administer a credentialing program for medical 12 directors; specifying minimum standards that the 13 third-party credentialing entity must meet; deleting a 14 provision requiring all medical personnel on a child 15 protection team to complete specified training 16 curriculum; requiring each child protection team 17 medical director employed on a certain date to meet 18 specified requirements; amending s. 458.3175, F.S.; 19 providing that a physician who holds an expert witness 20 certificate may provide expert testimony in criminal 21 child abuse and neglect cases; amending s. 459.0066, 22 F.S.; providing that an osteopathic physician who 23 holds an expert witness certificate may provide expert 24 testimony in criminal child abuse and neglect cases; 25 amending ss. 39.301 and 827.03, F.S.; conforming 26 cross-references; conforming provisions to changes 27 made by the act; reenacting ss. 39.3031 and 28 391.026(2), F.S., relating to child protection teams, 29 to incorporate the amendments made to s. 39.303, F.S., 30 in references thereto; providing an effective date. 31 32 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 33 34 Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 39.2015, Florida 35 Statutes, is amended to read: 36 39.2015 Critical incident rapid response team.— 37 (3) Each investigation shall be conducted by a multiagency 38 team of at least five professionals with expertise in child 39 protection, child welfare, and organizational management. The 40 team may consist of employees of the department, community-based 41 care lead agencies, Children’s Medical Services, and community 42 based care provider organizations; faculty from the institute 43 consisting of public and private universities offering degrees 44 in social work established pursuant to s. 1004.615; or any other 45 person with the required expertise. The team shall include, at a 46 minimum, a child protection team medical director. The majority 47 of the team must reside in judicial circuits outside the 48 location of the incident. The secretary shall appoint a team 49 leader for each group assigned to an investigation. 50 Section 2. Section 39.303, Florida Statutes, is amended to 51 read: 52 39.303 Child protection teams; services; eligible cases.— 53 (1) The Children’s Medical Services Program in the 54 Department of Health shall develop, maintain, and coordinate the 55 services of one or more multidisciplinary child protection teams 56 in each of the service districts of the Department of Children 57 and Families. Such teams may be composed of appropriate 58 representatives of school districts and appropriate health, 59 mental health, social service, legal service, and law 60 enforcement agencies. The Department of Health and the 61 Department of Children and Families shall maintain an 62 interagency agreement that establishes protocols for oversight 63 and operations of child protection teams and sexual abuse 64 treatment programs. The State Surgeon General and the Deputy 65 Secretary for Children’s Medical Services, in consultation with 66 the Secretary of Children and Families, shall maintain the 67 responsibility for the screening, employment, and, if necessary, 68 the termination of child protection team medical directors, at 69 headquarters and in the 15 districts. 70 (2)(a) The Statewide Medical Director for Child Protection 71 at all times must be a physician licensed under chapter 458 or 72 chapter 459 who is a board-certified pediatrician with a 73 subspecialty certification in child abuse from the American 74 Board of Pediatrics. 75 (b) Each medical director must be a physician licensed 76 under chapter 458 or chapter 459 who is a board-certified 77 pediatrician and, within 4 years after the date of his or her 78 employment as a medical director, either obtain a subspecialty 79 certification in child abuse from the American Board of 80 Pediatrics or meets the minimum requirements established by a 81 third-party credentialing entity recognizing a demonstrated 82 specialized competence in child abuse pediatrics pursuant to 83 paragraph (d). Child protection team medical directors shall be 84 responsible for oversight of the teams in the districts. 85 (c) All medical personnel participating on a child 86 protection team must successfully complete the required child 87 protection team training curriculum as set forth in protocols 88 determined by the Deputy Secretary for Children’s Medical 89 Services and the Statewide Medical Director for Child 90 Protection. 91 (d) Subject to specific appropriation, the Department of 92 Health shall approve one or more third-party credentialing 93 entities for the purpose of developing and administering a 94 professional credentialing program for medical directors. Within 95 90 days after receiving documentation from a third-party 96 credentialing entity, the department shall approve a third-party 97 credentialing entity that demonstrates compliance with the 98 following minimum standards: 99 1. Establishment of child abuse pediatrics core 100 competencies, certification standards, testing instruments, and 101 recertification standards according to national psychometric 102 standards. 103 2. Establishment of a process to administer the 104 certification application, award, and maintenance processes 105 according to national psychometric standards. 106 3. Demonstrated ability to administer a professional code 107 of ethics and disciplinary process that applies to all certified 108 persons. 109 4. Establishment of, and ability to maintain, a publicly 110 accessible Internet-based database that contains information on 111 each person who applies for and is awarded certification, such 112 as the person’s first and last name, certification status, and 113 ethical or disciplinary history. 114 5. Demonstrated ability to administer biennial continuing 115 education and certification renewal requirements. 116 6. Demonstrated ability to administer an education provider 117 program to approve qualified training entities and to provide 118 precertification training to applicants and continuing education 119 opportunities to certified professionals. 120 (3)(1)The Department of Health shall use and convene the 121 teams to supplement the assessment and protective supervision 122 activities of the family safety and preservation program of the 123 Department of Children and Families. This section does not 124 remove or reduce the duty and responsibility of any person to 125 report pursuant to this chapter all suspected or actual cases of 126 child abuse, abandonment, or neglect or sexual abuse of a child. 127 The role of the teams shall be to support activities of the 128 program and to provide services deemed by the teams to be 129 necessary and appropriate to abused, abandoned, and neglected 130 children upon referral. The specialized diagnostic assessment, 131 evaluation, coordination, consultation, and other supportive 132 services that a child protection team shall be capable of 133 providing include, but are not limited to, the following: 134 (a) Medical diagnosis and evaluation services, including 135 provision or interpretation of X rays and laboratory tests, and 136 related services, as needed, and documentation of related 137 findings. 138 (b) Telephone consultation services in emergencies and in 139 other situations. 140 (c) Medical evaluation related to abuse, abandonment, or 141 neglect, as defined by policy or rule of the Department of 142 Health. 143 (d) Such psychological and psychiatric diagnosis and 144 evaluation services for the child or the child’s parent or 145 parents, legal custodian or custodians, or other caregivers, or 146 any other individual involved in a child abuse, abandonment, or 147 neglect case, as the team may determine to be needed. 148 (e) Expert medical, psychological, and related professional 149 testimony in court cases. 150 (f) Case staffings to develop treatment plans for children 151 whose cases have been referred to the team. A child protection 152 team may provide consultation with respect to a child who is 153 alleged or is shown to be abused, abandoned, or neglected, which 154 consultation shall be provided at the request of a 155 representative of the family safety and preservation program or 156 at the request of any other professional involved with a child 157 or the child’s parent or parents, legal custodian or custodians, 158 or other caregivers. In every such child protection team case 159 staffing, consultation, or staff activity involving a child, a 160 family safety and preservation program representative shall 161 attend and participate. 162 (g) Case service coordination and assistance, including the 163 location of services available from other public and private 164 agencies in the community. 165 (h) Such training services for program and other employees 166 of the Department of Children and Families, employees of the 167 Department of Health, and other medical professionals as is 168 deemed appropriate to enable them to develop and maintain their 169 professional skills and abilities in handling child abuse, 170 abandonment, and neglect cases. 171 (i) Educational and community awareness campaigns on child 172 abuse, abandonment, and neglect in an effort to enable citizens 173 more successfully to prevent, identify, and treat child abuse, 174 abandonment, and neglect in the community. 175 (j) Child protection team assessments that include, as 176 appropriate, medical evaluations, medical consultations, family 177 psychosocial interviews, specialized clinical interviews, or 178 forensic interviews. 179 180All medical personnel participating on a child protection team181must successfully complete the required child protection team182training curriculum as set forth in protocols determined by the183Deputy Secretary for Children’s Medical Services and the184Statewide Medical Director for Child Protection.A child 185 protection team that is evaluating a report of medical neglect 186 and assessing the health care needs of a medically complex child 187 shall consult with a physician who has experience in treating 188 children with the same condition. 189 (4)(2)The child abuse, abandonment, and neglect reports 190 that must be referred by the department to child protection 191 teams of the Department of Health for an assessment and other 192 appropriate available support services as set forth in 193 subsection (3)(1)must include cases involving: 194 (a) Injuries to the head, bruises to the neck or head, 195 burns, or fractures in a child of any age. 196 (b) Bruises anywhere on a child 5 years of age or under. 197 (c) Any report alleging sexual abuse of a child. 198 (d) Any sexually transmitted disease in a prepubescent 199 child. 200 (e) Reported malnutrition of a child and failure of a child 201 to thrive. 202 (f) Reported medical neglect of a child. 203 (g) Any family in which one or more children have been 204 pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital or other health care 205 facility, or have been injured and later died, as a result of 206 suspected abuse, abandonment, or neglect, when any sibling or 207 other child remains in the home. 208 (h) Symptoms of serious emotional problems in a child when 209 emotional or other abuse, abandonment, or neglect is suspected. 210 (5)(3)All abuse and neglect cases transmitted for 211 investigation to a district by the hotline must be 212 simultaneously transmitted to the Department of Health child 213 protection team for review. For the purpose of determining 214 whether face-to-face medical evaluation by a child protection 215 team is necessary, all cases transmitted to the child protection 216 team which meet the criteria in subsection (4)(2)must be 217 timely reviewed by: 218 (a) A physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 219 who holds board certification in pediatrics and is a member of a 220 child protection team; 221 (b) A physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 222 who holds board certification in a specialty other than 223 pediatrics, who may complete the review only when working under 224 the direction of a physician licensed under chapter 458 or 225 chapter 459 who holds board certification in pediatrics and is a 226 member of a child protection team; 227 (c) An advanced registered nurse practitioner licensed 228 under chapter 464 who has a specialty in pediatrics or family 229 medicine and is a member of a child protection team; 230 (d) A physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or 231 chapter 459, who may complete the review only when working under 232 the supervision of a physician licensed under chapter 458 or 233 chapter 459 who holds board certification in pediatrics and is a 234 member of a child protection team; or 235 (e) A registered nurse licensed under chapter 464, who may 236 complete the review only when working under the direct 237 supervision of a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 238 459 who holds certification in pediatrics and is a member of a 239 child protection team. 240 (6)(4)A face-to-face medical evaluation by a child 241 protection team is not necessary when: 242 (a) The child was examined for the alleged abuse or neglect 243 by a physician who is not a member of the child protection team, 244 and a consultation between the child protection team board 245 certified pediatrician, advanced registered nurse practitioner, 246 physician assistant working under the supervision of a child 247 protection team board-certified pediatrician, or registered 248 nurse working under the direct supervision of a child protection 249 team board-certified pediatrician, and the examining physician 250 concludes that a further medical evaluation is unnecessary; 251 (b) The child protective investigator, with supervisory 252 approval, has determined, after conducting a child safety 253 assessment, that there are no indications of injuries as 254 described in paragraphs (4)(a)-(h)(2)(a)-(h)as reported; or 255 (c) The child protection team board-certified pediatrician, 256 as authorized in subsection (5)(3), determines that a medical 257 evaluation is not required. 258 259 Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), a child protection 260 team pediatrician, as authorized in subsection (5)(3), may 261 determine that a face-to-face medical evaluation is necessary. 262 (7)(5)In all instances in which a child protection team is 263 providing certain services to abused, abandoned, or neglected 264 children, other offices and units of the Department of Health, 265 and offices and units of the Department of Children and 266 Families, shall avoid duplicating the provision of those 267 services. 268 (8)(6)The Department of Health child protection team 269 quality assurance program and the Family Safety Program Office 270 of the Department of Children and Families shall collaborate to 271 ensure referrals and responses to child abuse, abandonment, and 272 neglect reports are appropriate. Each quality assurance program 273 shall include a review of records in which there are no findings 274 of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and the findings of these 275 reviews shall be included in each department’s quality assurance 276 reports. 277 Section 3. Each child protection team medical director 278 employed on July 1, 2015, must, within 4 years, either obtain a 279 subspecialty certification in child abuse from the American 280 Board of Pediatrics or meet the minimum requirements established 281 by a third-party credentialing entity recognizing a demonstrated 282 specialized competence in child abuse pediatrics pursuant to s. 283 39.2015(2)(d). 284 Section 4. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (2) of 285 section 458.3175, Florida Statutes, to read: 286 458.3175 Expert witness certificate.— 287 (2) An expert witness certificate authorizes the physician 288 to whom the certificate is issued to do only the following: 289 (c) Provide expert testimony in criminal child abuse and 290 neglect cases in this state. 291 Section 5. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (2) of 292 section 459.0066, Florida Statutes, to read: 293 459.0066 Expert witness certificate.— 294 (2) An expert witness certificate authorizes the physician 295 to whom the certificate is issued to do only the following: 296 (c) Provide expert testimony in criminal child abuse and 297 neglect cases in this state. 298 Section 6. Paragraph (c) of subsection (14) of section 299 39.301, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 300 39.301 Initiation of protective investigations.— 301 (14) 302 (c) The department, in consultation with the judiciary, 303 shall adopt by rule: 304 1. Criteria that are factors requiring that the department 305 take the child into custody, petition the court as provided in 306 this chapter, or, if the child is not taken into custody or a 307 petition is not filed with the court, conduct an administrative 308 review. Such factors must include, but are not limited to, 309 noncompliance with a safety plan or the case plan developed by 310 the department, and the family under this chapter, and prior 311 abuse reports with findings that involve the child, the child’s 312 sibling, or the child’s caregiver. 313 2. Requirements that if after an administrative review the 314 department determines not to take the child into custody or 315 petition the court, the department shall document the reason for 316 its decision in writing and include it in the investigative 317 file. For all cases that were accepted by the local law 318 enforcement agency for criminal investigation pursuant to 319 subsection (2), the department must include in the file written 320 documentation that the administrative review included input from 321 law enforcement. In addition, for all cases that must be 322 referred to child protection teams pursuant to s. 39.303(4) and 323 (5)s.39.303(2) and (3), the file must include written 324 documentation that the administrative review included the 325 results of the team’s evaluation. 326 Section 7. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of 327 section 827.03, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 328 827.03 Abuse, aggravated abuse, and neglect of a child; 329 penalties.— 330 (3) EXPERT TESTIMONY.— 331 (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a physician may 332 not provide expert testimony in a criminal child abuse case 333 unless the physician is a physician licensed under chapter 458 334 or chapter 459 or has obtained certification as an expert 335 witness pursuant to s. 458.3175 or s. 459.0066. 336 (b) A physician may not provide expert testimony in a 337 criminal child abuse case regarding mental injury unless the 338 physician is a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 339 459 who has completed an accredited residency in psychiatry or 340 has obtained certification as an expert witness pursuant to s. 341 458.3175 or s. 459.0066. 342 Section 8. For the purpose of incorporating the amendments 343 made by this act to section 39.303, Florida Statutes, in a 344 reference thereto, section 39.3031, Florida Statutes, is 345 reenacted to read: 346 39.3031 Rules for implementation of s. 39.303.—The 347 Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of 348 Children and Families, shall adopt rules governing the child 349 protection teams pursuant to s. 39.303, including definitions, 350 organization, roles and responsibilities, eligibility, services 351 and their availability, qualifications of staff, and a waiver 352 request process. 353 Section 9. For the purpose of incorporating the amendments 354 made by this act to section 39.303, Florida Statutes, in a 355 reference thereto, subsection (2) of section 391.026, Florida 356 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 357 391.026 Powers and duties of the department.—The department 358 shall have the following powers, duties, and responsibilities: 359 (2) To provide services to abused and neglected children 360 through child protection teams pursuant to s. 39.303. 361 Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.