Bill Text: FL S0906 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Regional Counsel Representation for Child Welfare Matters
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2023-05-05 - Died in Children, Families, and Elder Affairs [S0906 Detail]
Download: Florida-2023-S0906-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2023 SB 906
By Senator Powell
24-01951A-23 2023906__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to regional counsel representation for
3 child welfare matters; amending s. 27.511, F.S.;
4 providing circumstances under which the regional
5 counsel may represent indigent parents; amending s.
6 39.301, F.S.; requiring the child protective
7 investigator to provide to subjects of an
8 investigation specified information relating to the
9 rights of a parent or legal custodian; providing an
10 effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (6) of section
15 27.511, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (e) is added
16 to that subsection, to read:
17 27.511 Offices of criminal conflict and civil regional
18 counsel; legislative intent; qualifications; appointment;
19 duties.—
20 (6)
21 (d) Except as provided in paragraph (e), the regional
22 counsel may not represent any plaintiff in a civil action
23 brought under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal
24 Rules of Civil Procedure, or federal statutes, and may not
25 represent a petitioner in a rule challenge under chapter 120,
26 unless specifically authorized by law.
27 (e) In child welfare matters, the regional counsel may
28 provide preventative, prepetition legal representation to
29 indigent parents who are the subject of child protective
30 investigations conducted pursuant to s. 39.301. If such matters
31 are related to the circumstances of the investigation and to the
32 efforts by the parents to safely maintain the care and custody
33 of their children, the regional counsel may appear in or
34 initiate civil actions for such injunctions for protection
35 against domestic violence, residential tenancies and housing,
36 and determination of parentage. In prepetition matters, the
37 regional counsel will determine, within 5 days of initial
38 contact by a parent subject to investigation, whether the parent
39 is indigent using the best available evidence. In determining
40 indigency, the regional counsel will use the application form
41 and indigency criteria used by the clerk of court pursuant to s.
42 27.52 and the regional counsel will maintain documentation of
43 the indigency determination in its files. If at any time after
44 an initial determination of indigency is made, the regional
45 counsel later determines that a person is not indigent, the
46 regional counsel will cease to provide representation to the
47 nonindigent person and will withdraw from any legal action in
48 which the regional counsel has appeared.
49 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) and paragraph
50 (a) of subsection (10) of section 39.301, Florida Statutes, are
51 amended to read:
52 39.301 Initiation of protective investigations.—
53 (5)(a) Upon commencing an investigation under this part,
54 the child protective investigator shall inform any subject of
55 the investigation of the following:
56 1. The names of the investigators and identifying
57 credentials from the department.
58 2. The purpose of the investigation and how the information
59 provided by the subject may be used.
60 3. The right of the parent or legal custodian to obtain his
61 or her own attorney and, if he or she cannot afford an attorney,
62 the investigator shall inform the parent or legal custodian that
63 he or she may choose to be represented by the office of criminal
64 conflict and civil regional counsel during the investigation and
65 the investigator shall provide the contact information for the
66 local regional counsel office which offers representation before
67 a petition is filed, if locally available, and ways that the
68 information provided by the subject may be used.
69 4. The possible outcomes and services of the department’s
70 response.
71 5. The right of the parent or legal custodian to be engaged
72 to the fullest extent possible in determining the nature of the
73 allegation and the nature of any identified problem and the
74 remedy.
75 6. The duty of the parent or legal custodian to report any
76 change in the residence or location of the child to the
77 investigator and that the duty to report continues until the
78 investigation is closed.
79 (10)(a) The department’s training program for staff
80 responsible for responding to reports accepted by the central
81 abuse hotline must also ensure that child protective responders:
82 1. Know how to fully inform parents or legal custodians of
83 their rights and options, including their right to legal counsel
84 and the availability to indigent parents or legal custodians of
85 the opportunity to be represented by the office of criminal
86 conflict and civil regional counsel, if locally available, and
87 the opportunities for audio or video recording of child
88 protective responder interviews with parents or legal custodians
89 or children.
90 2. Know how and when to use the injunction process under s.
91 39.504 or s. 741.30 to remove a perpetrator of domestic violence
92 from the home as an intervention to protect the child.
93 3. Know how to explain to the parent, legal custodian, or
94 person who is alleged to have caused the abuse, neglect, or
95 abandonment the results of the investigation and to provide
96 information about his or her right to access confidential
97 reports in accordance with s. 39.202, prior to closing the case.
98 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
