Bill Text: FL S2118 | 2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Individuals with Developmental Disabilities [SPSC]
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-28 - Placed on Special Order Calendar; Read 2nd time -SJ 00934; Substituted CS/CS/HB 1073 -SJ 00934; Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 1073 (Ch. 2010-224) -SJ 00934 [S2118 Detail]
Download: Florida-2010-S2118-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2010 CS for CS for SB 2118 By the Committees on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and Education Pre-K - 12; and Senators Gardiner, Fasano, Dean, Storms, and Sobel 586-05239-10 20102118c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to individuals with developmental 3 disabilities; amending s. 393.067, F.S.; revising the 4 application procedures for the licensing of certain 5 facilities that serve individuals with developmental 6 disabilities; amending s. 393.13, F.S.; providing that 7 persons with developmental disabilities have the right 8 to be free from abuse, including sexual abuse, 9 neglect, and exploitation; amending s. 402.305, F.S.; 10 requiring minimum training for child care personnel to 11 include the identification and care of children with 12 developmental disabilities; creating s. 1003.573, 13 F.S.; requiring that each school prepare an incident 14 report within a specified period after each occasion 15 of student restraint or seclusion; specifying the 16 contents of such report; requiring that each school 17 notify a student’s parent or guardian if manual 18 physical restraint or seclusion is used; requiring 19 certain reporting and monitoring; requiring that each 20 school district develop and revise policies and 21 procedures governing the incident reports, data 22 collection, and the monitoring and reporting of such 23 data; prohibiting certain restraints and seclusion; 24 amending s. 1004.55, F.S.; requiring regional autism 25 centers to provide certain support for serving 26 children with developmental disabilities; creating s. 27 1012.582, F.S.; requiring the Department of Education 28 to incorporate course curricula relating to 29 developmental disabilities into existing requirements 30 for the continuing education or inservice training of 31 instructional personnel; requiring the Commissioner of 32 Education to make recommendations to the department 33 relating to developmental disabilities awareness 34 instruction and methods for teaching students with 35 developmental disabilities; authorizing the State 36 Board of Education to adopt rules; providing an 37 effective date. 38 39 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40 41 Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subsection (4) and subsections 42 (7) and (9) of section 393.067, Florida Statutes, are amended to 43 read: 44 393.067 Facility licensure.— 45 (4) The application shall be under oath and shall contain 46 the following: 47 (h) Certification that the staff of the facility or program 48 will receive training to detect, report, and prevent sexual 49 abuse, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and abandonment, as defined 50 in ss. 39.01 and 415.102, of residents and clients. 51 (7) The agency shall adopt rules establishing minimum 52 standards for facilities and programs licensed under this 53 section, including rules requiring facilities and programs to 54 train staff to detect, report, and prevent sexual abuse, abuse, 55 neglect, exploitation, and abandonment, as defined in ss. 39.01 56 and 415.102, of residents and clients, minimum standards of 57 quality and adequacy of client care, incident reporting 58 requirements, and uniform firesafety standards established by 59 the State Fire Marshal which are appropriate to the size of the 60 facility or of the component centers or units of the program. 61 (9) The agency may conduct unannounced inspections to 62 determine compliance by foster care facilities, group home 63 facilities, residential habilitation centers, and comprehensive 64 transitional education programs with the applicable provisions 65 of this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant hereto, including 66 the rules adopted for training staff of a facility or a program 67 to detect, report, and prevent sexual abuse, abuse, neglect, 68 exploitation, and abandonment, as defined in ss. 39.01 and 69 415.102, of residents and clients. The facility or program shall 70 make copies of inspection reports available to the public upon 71 request. 72 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 73 393.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 74 393.13 Treatment of persons with developmental 75 disabilities.— 76 (3) RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES. 77 The rights described in this subsection shall apply to all 78 persons with developmental disabilities, whether or not such 79 persons are clients of the agency. 80 (a) Persons with developmental disabilities shall have a 81 right to dignity, privacy, and humane care, including the right 82 to be free from abuse, including sexual abuse, neglect, and 83 exploitationin residential facilities. 84 Section 3. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 85 402.305, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 86 402.305 Licensing standards; child care facilities.— 87 (2) PERSONNEL.—Minimum standards for child care personnel 88 shall include minimum requirements as to: 89 (d) Minimum training requirements for child care personnel. 90 1. Such minimum standards for training shall ensure that 91 all child care personnel take an approved 40-clock-hour 92 introductory course in child care, which course covers at least 93 the following topic areas: 94 a. State and local rules and regulations which govern child 95 care. 96 b. Health, safety, and nutrition. 97 c. Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect. 98 d. Child development, including typical and atypical 99 language, cognitive, motor, social, and self-help skills 100 development. 101 e. Observation of developmental behaviors, including using 102 a checklist or other similar observation tools and techniques to 103 determine the child’s developmental age level. 104 f. Specialized areas, including computer technology for 105 professional and classroom use and early literacy and language 106 development of children from birth to 5 years of age, as 107 determined by the department, for owner-operators and child care 108 personnel of a child care facility. 109 g. Developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum 110 disorder and Down syndrome, and the early identification, use of 111 available state and local resources, classroom integration, and 112 positive behavioral supports for children with developmental 113 disabilities. 114 115 Within 90 days after employment, child care personnel shall 116 begin training to meet the training requirements. Child care 117 personnel shall successfully complete such training within 1 118 year after the date on which the training began, as evidenced by 119 passage of a competency examination. Successful completion of 120 the 40-clock-hour introductory course shall articulate into 121 community college credit in early childhood education, pursuant 122 to ss. 1007.24 and 1007.25. Exemption from all or a portion of 123 the required training shall be granted to child care personnel 124 based upon educational credentials or passage of competency 125 examinations. Child care personnel possessing a 2-year degree or 126 higher that includes 6 college credit hours in early childhood 127 development or child growth and development, or a child 128 development associate credential or an equivalent state-approved 129 child development associate credential, or a child development 130 associate waiver certificate shall be automatically exempted 131 from the training requirements in sub-subparagraphs b., d., and 132 e. 133 2. The introductory course in child care shall stress, to 134 the extent possible, an interdisciplinary approach to the study 135 of children. 136 3. The introductory course shall cover recognition and 137 prevention of shaken baby syndrome, prevention of sudden infant 138 death syndrome, recognition and care of infants and toddlers 139 with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum 140 disorder and Down syndrome, and early childhood brain 141 development within the topic areas identified in this paragraph. 142 4. On an annual basis in order to further their child care 143 skills and, if appropriate, administrative skills, child care 144 personnel who have fulfilled the requirements for the child care 145 training shall be required to take an additional 1 continuing 146 education unit of approved inservice training, or 10 clock hours 147 of equivalent training, as determined by the department. 148 5. Child care personnel shall be required to complete 0.5 149 continuing education unit of approved training or 5 clock hours 150 of equivalent training, as determined by the department, in 151 early literacy and language development of children from birth 152 to 5 years of age one time. The year that this training is 153 completed, it shall fulfill the 0.5 continuing education unit or 154 5 clock hours of the annual training required in subparagraph 4. 155 6. Procedures for ensuring the training of qualified child 156 care professionals to provide training of child care personnel, 157 including onsite training, shall be included in the minimum 158 standards. It is recommended that the state community child care 159 coordination agencies (central agencies) be contracted by the 160 department to coordinate such training when possible. Other 161 district educational resources, such as community colleges and 162 career programs, can be designated in such areas where central 163 agencies may not exist or are determined not to have the 164 capability to meet the coordination requirements set forth by 165 the department. 166 7. Training requirements shall not apply to certain 167 occasional or part-time support staff, including, but not 168 limited to, swimming instructors, piano teachers, dance 169 instructors, and gymnastics instructors. 170 8. The department shall evaluate or contract for an 171 evaluation for the general purpose of determining the status of 172 and means to improve staff training requirements and testing 173 procedures. The evaluation shall be conducted every 2 years. The 174 evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, determining the 175 availability, quality, scope, and sources of current staff 176 training; determining the need for specialty training; and 177 determining ways to increase inservice training and ways to 178 increase the accessibility, quality, and cost-effectiveness of 179 current and proposed staff training. The evaluation methodology 180 shall include a reliable and valid survey of child care 181 personnel. 182 9. The child care operator shall be required to take basic 183 training in serving children with disabilities within 5 years 184 after employment, either as a part of the introductory training 185 or the annual 8 hours of inservice training. 186 Section 4. Section 1003.573, Florida Statutes, is created 187 to read: 188 1003.573 Use of seclusion and restraint on students with 189 disabilities.— 190 (1) DOCUMENTATION AND REPORTING.— 191 (a) A school shall prepare an incident report within 24 192 hours after a student is released from restraint or seclusion. 193 If the student’s release occurs on a day before the school 194 closes for the weekend, a holiday, or another reason, the 195 incident report must be completed by the end of the school day 196 on the day the school reopens. 197 (b) The following must be included in the incident report: 198 1. The name of the student restrained or secluded. 199 2. The date and time of the event and the duration of the 200 restraint or seclusion. 201 3. The location at which the restraint or seclusion 202 occurred. 203 4. The type of restraint used. 204 5. The name of the person using or assisting in the 205 restraint or seclusion of the student. 206 6. The name of any nonstudent who was present to witness 207 the restraint or seclusion. 208 7. A description of the incident, including: 209 a. The context in which the restraint or seclusion 210 occurred. 211 b. The student’s behavior leading up to and precipitating 212 the decision to use manual physical restraint or seclusion, 213 including an indication as to why there was an imminent risk of 214 serious injury or death to the student or others. 215 c. The specific positive behavioral strategies used to 216 prevent and deescalate the behavior. 217 d. What occurred with the student immediately after the 218 termination of the restraint or seclusion. 219 e. Any injuries, visible marks, or possible medical 220 emergencies that may have occurred during the restraint or 221 seclusion, documented according to district policies. 222 f. Evidence of steps taken to notify the student’s parent 223 or guardian. 224 (c) A school shall notify the parent or guardian of a 225 student each time manual physical restraint or seclusion is 226 used. Such notification must be in writing and provided before 227 the end of the school day on which the restraint or seclusion 228 occurs. Reasonable efforts must also be taken to notify the 229 parent or guardian by telephone or computer e-mail, or both, and 230 these efforts must be documented. The school shall obtain, and 231 keep in its records, the parent’s or guardian’s signed 232 acknowledgement that he or she was notified of his or her 233 child’s restraint or seclusion. 234 (d) A school shall also provide the parent or guardian with 235 the completed incident report in writing by mail within 3 school 236 days after a student was manually physically restrained or 237 secluded. The school shall obtain, and keep in its records, the 238 parent’s or guardian’s signed acknowledgement that he or she 239 received a copy of the incident report. 240 (2) MONITORING.— 241 (a) Monitoring of the use of manual physical restraint or 242 seclusion on students shall occur at the classroom, building, 243 district, and state levels. 244 (b) Documentation prepared as required in subsection (1) 245 shall be provided to the school principal, the district director 246 of Exceptional Student Education, and the bureau chief of the 247 Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services 248 electronically each month that the school is in session. 249 (c) The department shall maintain aggregate data of 250 incidents of manual physical restraint and seclusion and 251 disaggregate the data for analysis by county, school, student 252 exceptionality, and other variables. This information shall be 253 updated monthly. 254 (3) SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 255 (a) Each school district shall develop policies and 256 procedures that are consistent with this section and that govern 257 the following: 258 1. Incident-reporting procedures. 259 2. Data collection. 260 3. Monitoring and reporting of data collected. 261 (b) Any revisions to such policies and procedures, which 262 must be prepared as part of the school district’s special 263 policies and procedures, must be filed with the bureau chief of 264 the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services no 265 later than January 31, 2011. 266 (4) PROHIBITED RESTRAINTS AND SECLUSION.— 267 (a) School personnel may not use a mechanical restraint or 268 a manual physical restraint that restricts a student’s 269 breathing. 270 (b) School personnel may not close, lock, or physically 271 block a student in a room that is unlit and does not meet rules 272 of the State Fire Marshal for seclusion time-out rooms. 273 Section 5. Paragraphs (f) and (g) are added to subsection 274 (4) of section 1004.55, Florida Statutes, to read: 275 1004.55 Regional autism centers.— 276 (4) Each center shall provide: 277 (f) Coordination and dissemination of local and regional 278 information regarding available resources for services for 279 children with the developmental disabilities described in 280 subsection (1). 281 (g) Support to state agencies in the development of 282 training for early child care providers and educators with 283 respect to the developmental disabilities described in 284 subsection (1). 285 Section 6. Section 1012.582, Florida Statutes, is created 286 to read: 287 1012.582 Continuing education and inservice training for 288 teaching students with developmental disabilities.— 289 (1) The Commissioner of Education shall develop 290 recommendations to incorporate instruction regarding autism 291 spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and other developmental 292 disabilities into continuing education or inservice training 293 requirements for instructional personnel. These recommendations 294 shall address: 295 (a) Early identification of, and intervention for, students 296 who have autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, or other 297 developmental disabilities. 298 (b) Curriculum planning and curricular and instructional 299 modifications, adaptations, and specialized strategies and 300 techniques. 301 (c) The use of available state and local resources. 302 (d) The use of positive behavioral supports to deescalate 303 problem behaviors. 304 (e) Appropriate use of manual physical restraint and 305 seclusion techniques. 306 (2) In developing the recommendations, the commissioner 307 shall consult with the State Surgeon General, the director of 308 the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, representatives from 309 the education community in the state, and representatives from 310 entities that promote awareness about autism spectrum disorder, 311 Down syndrome, and other developmental disabilities, and provide 312 programs and services to persons with developmental 313 disabilities, including, but not limited to, regional autism 314 centers pursuant to s. 1004.55. 315 (3) Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, the 316 Department of Education shall incorporate the course curricula 317 recommended by the Commissioner of Education, pursuant to 318 subsection (1), into existing requirements for the continuing 319 education or inservice training of instructional personnel. The 320 requirements of this section may not add to the total hours 321 required for continuing education or inservice training as 322 currently established by the department. 323 (4) The State Board of Education may adopt rules pursuant 324 to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this section. 325 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.
