Dependency Law Finder

(1)(a) The purpose of this section is to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all children in the state who are cared for by family foster homes, residential child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies by providing for the establishment of licensing requirements for such homes and agencies and providing procedures to determine adherence to these requirements.

(b) Nothing in this section gives any governmental agency jurisdiction or authority to regulate, control, or supervise the form, manner, or content of any religious curriculum or teachings of a family foster home or of a child-caring or child-placing agency, provided the health, safety, or well-being of the child is not adversely affected.

(a) “Agency” means a residential child-caring agency or a child-placing agency.

(b) “Boarding school” means a school that is registered with the Department of Education as a school that provides a residential service for students and that is either:

(c) “Child” means any unmarried person under the age of 18 years.

(d) “Child-placing agency” means any person, corporation, or agency, public or private, other than the parent or legal guardian of the child or an intermediary acting pursuant to chapter 63, that receives a child for placement and places or arranges for the placement of a child in a family foster home, residential child-caring agency, or adoptive home.

(e) “Family foster home” means a residence licensed by the department in which children who are unattended by a parent or legal guardian are provided 24-hour care. The term does not include an adoptive home that has been approved by the department or approved by a licensed child-placing agency for children placed for adoption.

(f) “License” means “license” as defined in s. 120.52(10). A license under this section is issued to a family foster home or other facility and is not a professional license of any individual. Receipt of a license under this section shall not create a property right in the recipient. A license under this act is a public trust and a privilege, and is not an entitlement. This privilege must guide the finder of fact or trier of law at any administrative proceeding or court action initiated by the department.

(g) “Licensing home study” means a documented assessment, as defined by department rule, to determine the safety and appropriateness of any 24-hour living arrangement for a child who is unattended by a parent or legal guardian. A primary caregiver issued a license for a specific child may apply for a waiver of the non-safety-related and non-health-related elements of a licensing home study under the Guardianship Assistance Program established in s. 39.6225.

(h) “Operator” means any onsite person ultimately responsible for the overall operation of a child-placing agency, family foster home, or residential child-caring agency, whether or not she or he is the owner or administrator of such an agency or home.

(i) “Owner” means the person who is licensed to operate the child-placing agency, family foster home, or residential child-caring agency.

(j) “Personnel” means all owners, operators, employees, and volunteers working in a child-placing agency or residential child-caring agency who may be employed by or do volunteer work for a person, corporation, or agency that holds a license as a child-placing agency or a residential child-caring agency, but the term does not include those who do not work on the premises where child care is furnished and have no direct contact with a child or have no contact with a child outside of the presence of the child’s parent or guardian. For purposes of screening, the term includes any member, over the age of 12 years, of the family of the owner or operator or any person other than a client, over the age of 12 years, residing with the owner or operator if the agency is located in or adjacent to the home of the owner or operator or if the family member of, or person residing with, the owner or operator has any direct contact with the children. Members of the family of the owner or operator, or persons residing with the owner or operator, who are between the ages of 12 years and 18 years are not required to be fingerprinted, but must be screened for delinquency records. For purposes of screening, the term also includes owners, operators, employees, and volunteers working in summer day camps, or summer 24-hour camps providing care for children. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less than 10 hours per month shall not be included in the term “personnel” for the purposes of screening if a person who meets the screening requirement of this section is always present and has the volunteer in his or her line of sight.

(k) “Placement screening” means the act of assessing the background of household members in the family foster home and includes, but is not limited to, criminal history records checks as provided in s. 39.0138 using the standards for screening set forth in that section. The term “household member” means a member of the family or a person, other than the child being placed, over the age of 12 years who resides with the owner who operates the family foster home if such family member or person has any direct contact with the child. Household members who are between the ages of 12 and 18 years are not required to be fingerprinted but must be screened for delinquency records.

(l) “Residential child-caring agency” means any person, corporation, or agency, public or private, other than the child’s parent or legal guardian, that provides staffed 24-hour care for children in facilities maintained for that purpose, regardless of whether operated for profit or whether a fee is charged. Such residential child-caring agencies include, but are not limited to, maternity homes, runaway shelters, group homes that are administered by an agency, emergency shelters that are not in private residences, and wilderness camps. Residential child-caring agencies do not include hospitals, boarding schools, summer or recreation camps, nursing homes, or facilities operated by a governmental agency for the training, treatment, or secure care of delinquent youth, or facilities licensed under s. 393.067 or s. 394.875 or chapter 397.

(m) “Screening” means the act of assessing the background of personnel or level II through level V family foster homes and includes, but is not limited to, employment history checks as provided in chapter 435, using the level 2 standards for screening set forth in that chapter.

(n) “Severe disability” means a physical, developmental, or cognitive limitation affecting an individual’s ability to safely submit fingerprints.

(o) “Summer day camp” means recreational, educational, and other enrichment programs operated during summer vacations for children who are 5 years of age on or before September 1 and older.

(p) “Summer 24-hour camp” means recreational, educational, and other enrichment programs operated on a 24-hour basis during summer vacation for children who are 5 years of age on or before September 1 and older, that are not exclusively educational.

(3)(a) The total number of children placed in a family foster home shall be based on the needs of each child in care; the ability of the foster family to meet the individual needs of each child, including any adoptive or biological children or young adults remaining in foster care living in the home; the amount of safe physical plant space; the ratio of active and appropriate adult supervision; and the background, experience, and skill of the family foster parents.

(b) The department must grant a capacity waiver before another child may be placed in the home if:

(c) Before granting a capacity waiver, the department must conduct an assessment of each child to be placed in the home. If the placement involves a child whose sibling is already in the home or a child who has been in placement in the home previously, the assessment must be completed within 72 hours after placement. The assessment must assess and document the mental, physical, and psychosocial needs of the child and whether those needs will be met by placement in the home.

(d) For any licensed family foster home, the appropriateness of the number of children in the home must be reassessed annually as part of the relicensure process. For a home with more than eight children, including the family’s own children, if it is determined by the licensure study at the time of relicensure that the total number of children in the home is appropriate and that there have been no substantive licensure violations and no indications of child maltreatment or child-on-child sexual abuse within the past 12 months, the relicensure of the home may not be denied based on the total number of children in the home.

(e) The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection.

(4)(a) A person, family foster home, or residential child-caring agency may not provide continuing full-time child care or custody unless such person, home, or agency has first procured a license from the department to provide such care. This requirement does not apply to a person who is a relative of the child by blood, marriage, or adoption, a permanent guardian established under s. 39.6221, a licensed child-placing agency, or an intermediary for the purposes of adoption pursuant to chapter 63.

(b) A person or agency, other than a parent or legal guardian of the child or an intermediary as defined in s. 63.032, shall not place or arrange for the placement of a child in a family foster home, residential child-caring agency, or adoptive home unless such person or agency has first procured a license from the department to do so.

(c) A state, county, city, or political subdivision shall not operate a residential group care agency, or receive children for placement in residential group care facilities, family foster homes, or adoptive homes without a license issued pursuant to this section.

(d) This license requirement does not apply to boarding schools, recreation and summer camps, nursing homes, hospitals, or to persons who care for children of friends or neighbors in their homes for periods not to exceed 90 days or to persons who have received a child for adoption from a licensed child-placing agency.

(e) The department or licensed child-placing agency may place a 16-year-old child or 17-year-old child in her or his own unlicensed residence, or in the unlicensed residence of an adult who has no supervisory responsibility for the child, provided the department or licensed child-placing agency retains supervisory responsibility for the child.

(a) Family foster homes shall be classified by levels of licensure, as follows:

(b) The requirements for licensure and operation of family foster homes, residential child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies shall include:

The department may grant limited exemptions to the requirements provided in this paragraph which authorize a person to work in a specified role or with a specified population.

(c) The requirements for the licensure and operation of a child-placing agency shall also include compliance with the requirements of ss. 63.0422 and 790.335.

(d) The department shall randomly drug test a licensed foster parent if there is a reasonable suspicion that he or she is using illegal drugs. The cost of testing shall be paid by the foster parent but shall be reimbursed by the department if the test is negative. The department may adopt rules necessary to administer this paragraph.

(e) In adopting licensing rules pursuant to this section, the department may make distinctions among types of care; numbers of children served; and the physical, mental, emotional, and educational needs of the children to be served by a home or agency.

(f) The department may not adopt rules which interfere with the free exercise of religion or which regulate religious instruction or teachings in any child-caring or child-placing home or agency. This section may not be construed to allow religious instruction or teachings that are inconsistent with the health, safety, or well-being of any child; with public morality; or with the religious freedom of children, parents, or legal guardians who place their children in such homes or agencies.

(g) The department’s rules shall include adoption of a form to be used by child-placing agencies during an adoption home study that requires all prospective adoptive applicants to acknowledge in writing the receipt of a document containing solely and exclusively the language provided for in s. 790.174 verbatim.

(6)(a) An application for a license shall be made on forms provided, and in the manner prescribed, by the department. The department shall make a determination as to the good moral character of the applicant based upon screening. The department may grant an exemption from fingerprinting requirements, pursuant to s. 39.0138, for an adult household member who has a severe disability.

(b) The department shall prescribe by rule the various roles of entities involved in the application process. Upon application for licensure, the department shall conduct a licensing study based on its licensing rules; shall inspect the home or the agency and the records, including financial records, of the applicant or agency; and shall interview the applicant. The department may authorize a licensed child-placing agency to conduct the licensing study of a family foster home to be used exclusively by that agency and to verify to the department that the home meets the licensing requirements established by the department. The department or authorized licensed child-placing agency must complete the licensing study of a family foster home within 30 days after initiation of the study. The department shall post on its website a list of the agencies authorized to conduct such studies. Upon certification that a family foster home meets the licensing requirements and upon receipt of a letter from a community-based care lead agency in the service area where the home will be licensed which indicates that the family foster home meets the criteria established by the lead agency, the department shall issue the license. A letter from the lead agency is not required if the lead agency where the proposed home is located is directly supervising foster homes in the same service area.

(c) A licensed family foster home, child-placing agency, or residential child-caring agency which applies for renewal of its license shall submit to the department a list of personnel or household members who have worked or resided on a continuous basis at the applicant family foster home or agency since submitting fingerprints to the department, identifying those for whom a written assurance of compliance was provided by the department and identifying those personnel or household members who have recently begun working or residing at the family foster home or agency and are awaiting the results of the required fingerprint check, along with the date of the submission of those fingerprints for processing. The department shall by rule determine the frequency of requests to the Department of Law Enforcement to run state criminal records checks for such personnel or household members except for those personnel or household members awaiting the results of initial fingerprint checks for employment at the applicant family foster home or agency.

(d) The department shall approve or deny an application for licensure within 10 business days after receipt of a completed family foster home application and other required documentation as prescribed by rule. The department shall approve or deny an application for licensure no later than 100 calendar days after the orientation required under subsection (14). The department may exceed 100 calendar days to approve or deny an application for licensure if additional certifications are required under paragraph (5)(a).

(f) At the request of the department, the local county health department shall inspect a home or agency according to the licensing rules promulgated by the department. Inspection reports shall be furnished to the department within 30 days of the request. Such an inspection shall only be required when called for by the licensing agency.

(g) All residential child-caring agencies must meet firesafety standards for such agencies adopted by the Division of State Fire Marshal of the Department of Financial Services and must be inspected annually. At the request of the department, firesafety inspections shall be conducted by the Division of State Fire Marshal or a local fire department official who has been certified by the division as having completed the training requirements for persons inspecting such agencies. Inspection reports shall be furnished to the department within 30 days of a request.

(h) In the licensing process, the licensing staff of the department shall provide consultation on request.

(j) The issuance of a license to operate a family foster home or agency does not require a lead agency to place a child with the home or agency. A license issued for the operation of a family foster home or agency, unless sooner suspended, revoked, or voluntarily returned, will expire automatically 1 year from the date of issuance except as provided in paragraph (k). Ninety days prior to the expiration date, an application for renewal shall be submitted to the department by a licensee who wishes to have the license renewed. A license shall be renewed upon the filing of an application on forms furnished by the department if the applicant has first met the requirements established under this section and the rules promulgated hereunder.

(k) Except for a family foster group home having a licensed capacity for more than five children, the department may issue a license that is valid for longer than 1 year but no longer than 3 years to a family foster home that:

A family foster home that has been issued a license valid for longer than 1 year must be monitored and visited as frequently as one that has been issued a 1-year license. The department reserves the right to reduce a licensure period to 1 year at any time.

(l) The department may not license summer day camps or summer 24-hour camps. However, the department shall have access to the personnel records of such facilities to ensure compliance with the screening requirements. The department may adopt rules relating to the screening requirements for summer day camps and summer 24-hour camps.

(8)(a) Authorized licensing staff of the department who are qualified by training may make scheduled or unannounced inspections of a licensed home or agency at any reasonable time to investigate and evaluate the compliance of the home or agency with the licensing requirements. All licensed homes and agencies shall be inspected at least annually.

(b) The department shall investigate complaints to determine whether a home or agency is meeting the licensure requirements. The department shall advise the home or agency of the complaint and shall provide a written report of the results of the investigation to the licensee.

(9)(a) The department may deny, suspend, or revoke a license.

(b) Any of the following actions by a family foster home or its household members or an agency or its personnel is a ground for denial, suspension, or revocation of a license:

(10)(a) The department may institute injunctive proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to:

(b) If the department finds, within 30 days after written notification by registered mail of the requirement for licensure, that a person or agency continues to care for or to place children without a license or, within 30 days after written notification by registered mail of the requirement for screening of personnel and compliance with paragraph (5)(b) for the hiring and continued employment of personnel, that a summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp continues to provide care for children without complying, the department shall notify the appropriate state attorney of the violation of law and, if necessary, shall institute a civil suit to enjoin the person or agency from continuing the placement or care of children or to enjoin the summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp from continuing the care of children.

(c) Such injunctive relief may be temporary or permanent.

(11)(a) The department is authorized to seek compliance with the licensing requirements of this section to the fullest extent possible by reliance on administrative sanctions and civil actions and may provide an exception of those standards for which a waiver has been granted pursuant to this section.

(b) If the department determines that a person or agency is caring for a child or is placing a child without a valid license issued by the department or has made a willful or intentional misstatement on any license application or other document required to be filed in connection with an application for a license, the department, as an alternative to or in conjunction with an administrative action against such person or agency, shall make a reasonable attempt to discuss each violation with, and recommend corrective action to, the person or the administrator of the agency, prior to written notification thereof. The department, instead of fixing a period within which the person or agency must enter into compliance with the licensing requirements, may request a plan of corrective action from the person or agency that demonstrates a good faith effort to remedy each violation by a specific date, subject to the approval of the department.

(c) Any action taken to correct a violation shall be documented in writing by the person or administrator of the agency and verified through followup visits by licensing personnel of the department.

(d) If the person or agency has failed to remedy each violation by the specific date agreed upon with the department, the department shall within 30 days notify the person or agency by certified mail of its intention to refer the violation or violations to the office of the state attorney.

(e) If the person or agency fails to come into compliance with the licensing requirements within 30 days of written notification, it is the intent of the Legislature that the department within 30 days refer the violation or violations to the office of the state attorney.

(12)(a) It is unlawful for any person or agency to:

(b) It is unlawful for any person, agency, family foster home, summer day camp, or summer 24-hour camp providing care for children to:

(c) It is unlawful for any person, agency, family foster home, summer day camp, or summer 24-hour camp providing care for children to use information from the juvenile records of any person obtained under this section for any purpose other than screening for employment as specified in this section or to release information from such records to any other person for any purpose other than screening for employment as specified in this section.

(14)(a) In order to provide improved services to children, the department shall provide or cause to be provided preservice training for prospective foster parents and inservice training for foster parents who are licensed and supervised by the department.

(b) As a condition of licensure, foster parents shall successfully complete preservice training. The preservice training shall be uniform statewide and shall include, but not be limited to, such areas as:

(c) In consultation with foster parents, each region or lead agency shall develop a plan for making the completion of the required training as convenient as possible for potential foster parents. The plan should include, without limitation, such strategies as providing training in nontraditional locations and at nontraditional times. The plan must be revised at least annually and must be included in the information provided to each person applying to become a foster parent.

(d) Before licensure renewal, each foster parent must successfully complete inservice training. Periodic time-limited training courses shall be made available for selective use by foster parents. Such inservice training shall include subjects affecting the daily living experiences of foster parenting as a foster parent. For a foster parent participating in the required inservice training, the department shall reimburse such parent for travel expenditures and, if both parents in a home are attending training or if the absence of the parent would leave the children without departmentally approved adult supervision, the department shall make provision for child care or shall reimburse the foster parents for child care purchased by the parents for children in their care.

(15)(a) The Division of Risk Management of the Department of Financial Services shall provide coverage through the Department of Children and Families to any person who owns or operates a family foster home solely for the Department of Children and Families and who is licensed to provide family foster home care in her or his place of residence. The coverage shall be provided from the general liability account of the State Risk Management Trust Fund, and the coverage shall be primary. The coverage is limited to general liability claims arising from the provision of family foster home care pursuant to an agreement with the department and pursuant to guidelines established through policy, rule, or statute. Coverage shall be limited as provided in ss. 284.38 and 284.385, and the exclusions set forth therein, together with other exclusions as may be set forth in the certificate of coverage issued by the trust fund, shall apply. A person covered under the general liability account pursuant to this subsection shall immediately notify the Division of Risk Management of the Department of Financial Services of any potential or actual claim.

(b) This subsection may not be construed as designating or not designating that a person who owns or operates a family foster home as described in this subsection or any other person is an employee or agent of the state. Nothing in this subsection amends, expands, or supersedes the provisions of s. 768.28.

(16) (16)

(c) The name, address, and telephone number of persons providing character or neighbor references regarding foster parent applicants or licensed foster parents held by the Department of Children and Families are exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

(a) A boarding school currently in existence or a boarding school opening and seeking accreditation has 3 years after the date of registration with the Department of Education to complete the accreditation requirements of paragraph (2)(b).

(b) Effective July 1, 2013, the Department of Education shall remove from registration and its website any boarding school that has not completed the accreditation requirements of paragraph (2)(b) or has not provided to the department letters verifying that boarding school’s application for accreditation within 270 days after registration. Those verification letters must be provided by an accrediting agency pursuant to paragraph (2)(b).

(c) A boarding school must provide proof of accreditation or documentation of the accreditation process upon request by the department. The boarding school must provide an annual report to the department regarding its accreditation status pursuant to paragraph (2)(b). The first report is due 1 year after the date the boarding school registered with the Department of Education. A boarding school that has been accredited pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) is not subject to the reporting requirements required under this subsection.

(d) A boarding school that cannot produce the required documentation in accordance with this subsection, is not registered with the Department of Education, or has not obtained the accreditation required under paragraph (2)(b) shall be considered to be providing residential group care without a license. The department may impose administrative sanctions or seek civil remedies as provided under paragraph (11)(a).

(e) A boarding school shall require employees and contracted personnel with direct student contact upon employment to undergo level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435. The term “direct student contact” means unsupervised access to a student for whom the boarding school is responsible. The department may grant exemptions from disqualification from working with children as provided in s. 435.07.

(f) A boarding school shall follow established school schedules and provide holiday breaks and summer recesses provided by other public and private school programs. The students in residence must customarily return to their family homes or legal guardians during school breaks and, except for students who are citizens of foreign countries, must not be in residence year-round. The parents of a child attending a boarding school shall retain custody of and planning and financial responsibility for their child.

(18)(a) A licensed child-placing agency conducting intercountry adoptions must meet United States Department of State requirements for accreditation or supervision.

(b) A licensed child-placing agency providing adoption services for intercountry adoption in countries that are parties to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, in incoming or outgoing cases, must meet the federal regulations pertaining to intercountry adoptions with convention countries.

(c) An adoption agency in this state which provides intercountry adoption services for families residing in this state must maintain a record that contains, at a minimum, the following: