Senate Bill 236 (2020) — Early childhood courts
SB 236
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 236 By Senator Book 32-00048-20 2020236__ Page 1 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to early childhood courts; creating s. 2 39.01304, F.S.; providing legislative intent; 3 providing a purpose; authorizing circuit courts to 4 create early childhood court programs; requiring that 5 early childhood court programs have certain 6 components; defining the term “therapeutic 7 jurisprudence”; providing requirements and guidelines 8 for the Office of the State Courts Administrator when 9 hiring community coordinators and a statewide training 10 specialist; authorizing the Trial Court Budget 11 Commission to provide funding to circuit courts that 12 choose to establish a coordination system in lieu of 13 creating a community coordinator position; requiring 14 the Department of Children and Families to contract 15 with certain university-based centers; requiring the 16 university-based centers to hire a clinical director; 17 requiring the Florida Institute for Child Welfare to 18 submit certain status reports to the Governor and the 19 Legislature by specified dates; requiring the 20 institute, in consultation with the department, the 21 office, and the contracted university-based centers, 22 to conduct an evaluation of the court programs’ 23 impact; requiring the evaluation to include the 24 analysis of certain data and recommendations; 25 requiring the institute to submit the results of its 26 evaluation to the Governor and the Legislature by a 27 specified date; providing an effective date. 28 29
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 236 32-00048-20 2020236__ Page 2 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30 31
Section
Section 39.01304, Florida Statutes, is created 32 to read: 33 39.01304 Early childhood court programs.— 34
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage the 35 department, the Department of Health, the Association of Early 36 Learning Coalitions, and other such agencies, local governments, 37 interested public or private entities, and individuals to 38 support the creation and establishment of early childhood court 39 programs. The purpose of an early childhood court program is to 40 address the root cause of court involvement through specialized 41 dockets, multidisciplinary teams, evidence-based treatment, and 42 the use of a nonadversarial approach.
Such programs depend on 43 the leadership of a judge or magistrate who is educated about 44 the science of early childhood development and who requires 45 rigorous efforts to heal children physically and emotionally in 46 the context of a broad collaboration among professionals from 47 different systems working directly in the court as a team, 48 recognizing that the parent-child relationship is the foundation 49 of child well-being. 50
(2) A circuit court may create an early childhood court 51 program to serve the needs of infants and toddlers in dependency 52 court. An early childhood court program must have all of the 53 following components: 54 (
a) Therapeutic jurisprudence, which must drive every 55 aspect of judicial practice. The judge or magistrate must 56 support the therapeutic needs of the parent and child in a 57 nonadversarial manner. As used in this paragraph, the term 58
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 236 32-00048-20 2020236__ Page 3 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. “therapeutic jurisprudence” means the study of how the law may 59 be used as a therapeutic agent and focuses on how laws impact 60 emotional and psychological well-being. 61 (
b) A procedure for coordinating services and resources for 62 families who have a case on the court docket. To meet this 63 requirement, the court may create and fill at least one 64 community coordinator position pursuant to paragraph (3)(
a) or 65 the court may use a coordination system that implements a 66 progression of services. 67 (
c) A multidisciplinary team made up of key community 68 stakeholders who commit to work with the judge or magistrate to 69 restructure the way the community responds to the needs of 70 maltreated children. The team may include, but is not limited 71 to, early intervention specialists; mental health and infant 72 mental health professionals; attorneys representing children, 73 parents, and the child welfare system; children’s advocates; 74 early learning coalitions and child care providers; substance 75 abuse program providers; primary health care providers; domestic 76 violence advocates; and guardians ad litem.
The 77 multidisciplinary team must address the need for children in an 78 early childhood court program to receive medical care in a 79 medical home, a screening for developmental delays conducted by 80 the local agency responsible for complying with
part C of the 81 federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and quality 82 child care. 83 (
d) A continuum of mental health services that includes a 84 focus on the parent-child relationship and that must be 85 appropriate for each child and family served. 86
(3) Contingent upon an annual appropriation by the 87
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 236 32-00048-20 2020236__ Page 4 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Legislature, and subject to available resources: 88 (
a) The Office of the State Courts Administrator shall 89 coordinate with each participating circuit court to create and 90 fill at least one community coordinator position for the 91 circuit’s early childhood court program unless the court chooses 92 to establish a coordination system in lieu of creating a 93 community coordinator position.
Each community coordinator shall 94 provide direct support to the program by providing coordination 95 between the multidisciplinary team and the judiciary, 96 coordinating the responsibilities of the participating agencies 97 and service providers, and managing the collection of data for 98 program evaluation and accountability. If a circuit court 99 establishes a coordination system in lieu of creating a 100 community coordinator position, the Trial Court Budget 101 Commission may provide funding equivalent in value to a 102 community coordinator position to the court for case 103 coordination functions.
The Office of State Courts Administrator 104 may hire a statewide training specialist to provide training to 105 the participating court teams. 106 (
b) The department shall contract with one or more 107 university-based centers that have expertise in infant mental 108 health, and such university-based centers shall hire a clinical 109 director charged with ensuring the quality, accountability, and 110 fidelity of the program’s evidence-based treatment, including, 111 but not limited to, training and technical assistance related to 112 clinical services, clinical consultation and guidance for 113 difficult cases, and ongoing clinical training for court teams. 114 (
c) By December 1 of 2021 and 2022, the Florida Institute 115 for Child Welfare shall provide a status report on the level of 116
Florida Senate - 2020 SB 236 32-00048-20 2020236__ Page 5 of 5 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. implementation and site characteristics of each early childhood 117 court to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the 118 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 119 (
d) In consultation with the department, the Office of the 120 State Courts Administrator, and each center, the Florida 121 Institute for Child Welfare shall evaluate the impact of the 122 early childhood court programs on children and families in the 123 state’s child welfare system.
The evaluation must include the 124 analysis of data collected by the Office of the State Courts 125 Administrator and measurable outcomes, including, but not 126 limited to, the impact of the early childhood court program on 127 the future incidence of maltreatment of children, timely 128 permanency, reunification of families, and incidents of children 129 reentering the child welfare system.
The evaluation must provide 130 recommendations as to whether and how the programs should be 131 expanded, the projected costs of any such expansion, and the 132 projected savings to the state resulting from the programs. 133 After providing the status reports pursuant to paragraph (c), 134 and by October 1, 2023, the institute shall provide a report on 135 the results of the evaluation to the Governor, the President of 136 the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 137