Bill Text: FL S0770 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Nonrelative Caregivers

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Children, Families, and Elder Affairs, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/SB 1666 (Ch. 2014-224) [S0770 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S0770-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2014                                     SB 770
       
       
        
       By Senator Detert
       
       
       
       
       
       28-01329A-14                                           2014770__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to nonrelative caregivers; amending s.
    3         39.5085, F.S.; revising legislative intent;
    4         authorizing placement of a child with a nonrelative
    5         caregiver and financial assistance for such
    6         nonrelative caregiver through the Relative Caregiver
    7         Program under certain circumstances; requiring that a
    8         nonrelative caregiver be given temporary legal custody
    9         of a child; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   14  read:
   15         39.5085 Relative Caregiver Program.—
   16         (1) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
   17  section to:
   18         (a) Provide for the establishment of procedures and
   19  protocols that serve to advance the continued safety of children
   20  by acknowledging the valued resource uniquely available through
   21  grandparents, and relatives of children, and specified
   22  nonrelatives of children pursuant to subparagraph (2)(a)3.
   23         (b) Recognize family relationships in which a grandparent
   24  or other relative is the head of a household that includes a
   25  child otherwise at risk of foster care placement.
   26         (c) Enhance family preservation and stability by
   27  recognizing that most children in such placements with
   28  grandparents and other relatives do not need intensive
   29  supervision of the placement by the courts or by the department.
   30         (d) Recognize that permanency in the best interests of the
   31  child can be achieved through a variety of permanency options,
   32  including permanent guardianship under s. 39.6221 if the
   33  guardian is a relative, by permanent placement with a fit and
   34  willing relative under s. 39.6231, by a relative, guardianship
   35  under chapter 744, or adoption, by providing additional
   36  placement options and incentives that will achieve permanency
   37  and stability for many children who are otherwise at risk of
   38  foster care placement because of abuse, abandonment, or neglect,
   39  but who may successfully be able to be placed by the dependency
   40  court in the care of such relatives.
   41         (e) Reserve the limited casework and supervisory resources
   42  of the courts and the department for those cases in which
   43  children do not have the option for safe, stable care within the
   44  family.
   45         (f) Recognize that a child may have a close relationship
   46  with a person who is not a blood relative or a relative by
   47  marriage and that such person should be eligible for financial
   48  assistance under this section if he or she is able and willing
   49  to care for the child and provide a safe, stable home
   50  environment.
   51         (2)(a) The Department of Children and Families Family
   52  Services shall establish and operate the Relative Caregiver
   53  Program pursuant to eligibility guidelines established in this
   54  section as further implemented by rule of the department. The
   55  Relative Caregiver Program shall, within the limits of available
   56  funding, provide financial assistance to:
   57         1. Relatives who are within the fifth degree by blood or
   58  marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child and who are
   59  caring full-time for that dependent child in the role of
   60  substitute parent as a result of a court’s determination of
   61  child abuse, neglect, or abandonment and subsequent placement
   62  with the relative under this chapter.
   63         2. Relatives who are within the fifth degree by blood or
   64  marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child and who are
   65  caring full-time for that dependent child, and a dependent half
   66  brother or half-sister of that dependent child, in the role of
   67  substitute parent as a result of a court’s determination of
   68  child abuse, neglect, or abandonment and subsequent placement
   69  with the relative under this chapter.
   70         3. Nonrelatives who are willing to assume custody and care
   71  of a dependent child and a dependent half-brother or half-sister
   72  of that dependent child in the role of substitute parent as a
   73  result of a court’s determination of child abuse, neglect, or
   74  abandonment and subsequent placement with the nonrelative
   75  caregiver under this chapter. The court must find that a
   76  proposed placement under this subparagraph is in the best
   77  interest of the child.
   78  
   79  The placement may be court-ordered temporary legal custody to
   80  the relative under protective supervision of the department
   81  pursuant to s. 39.521(1)(b)3., or court-ordered placement in the
   82  home of a relative as a permanency option under s. 39.6221 or s.
   83  39.6231 or under former s. 39.622 if the placement was made
   84  before July 1, 2006. If a child is placed with a nonrelative
   85  under subparagraph 3., the placement shall be court-ordered
   86  temporary legal custody to the nonrelative under protective
   87  supervision of the department pursuant to s. 39.521(1)(b)3. The
   88  Relative Caregiver Program shall offer financial assistance to
   89  caregivers who are relatives and who would be unable to serve in
   90  that capacity without the relative caregiver payment because of
   91  financial burden, thus exposing the child to the trauma of
   92  placement in a shelter or in foster care.
   93         (b) Caregivers who are relatives and who receive assistance
   94  under this section must be capable, as determined by a home
   95  study, of providing a physically safe environment and a stable,
   96  supportive home for the children under their care, and must
   97  assure that the children’s well-being is met, including, but not
   98  limited to, the provision of immunizations, education, and
   99  mental health services as needed.
  100         (c) Relatives or nonrelatives who qualify for and
  101  participate in the Relative Caregiver Program are not required
  102  to meet foster care licensing requirements under s. 409.175.
  103         (d) Relatives or nonrelatives who are caring for children
  104  placed with them by the court pursuant to this chapter shall
  105  receive a special monthly relative caregiver benefit established
  106  by rule of the department. The amount of the special benefit
  107  payment shall be based on the child’s age within a payment
  108  schedule established by rule of the department and subject to
  109  availability of funding. The statewide average monthly rate for
  110  children judicially placed with relatives or nonrelatives who
  111  are not licensed as foster homes may not exceed 82 percent of
  112  the statewide average foster care rate, and nor may the cost of
  113  providing the assistance described in this section to any
  114  relative caregiver may not exceed the cost of providing out-of
  115  home care in emergency shelter or foster care.
  116         (e) Children receiving cash benefits under this section are
  117  not eligible to simultaneously receive WAGES cash benefits under
  118  chapter 414.
  119         (f) Within available funding, the Relative Caregiver
  120  Program shall provide relative caregivers with family support
  121  and preservation services, flexible funds in accordance with s.
  122  409.165, school readiness, and other available services in order
  123  to support the child’s safety, growth, and healthy development.
  124  Children living with relative caregivers who are receiving
  125  assistance under this section shall be eligible for Medicaid
  126  coverage.
  127         (g) The department may use appropriate available state,
  128  federal, and private funds to operate the Relative Caregiver
  129  Program. The department may develop liaison functions to be
  130  available to relatives or nonrelatives who care for children
  131  pursuant to this chapter to ensure placement stability in
  132  extended family settings.
  133         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.

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