(1) Within funds appropriated, the department shall establish and supervise a program of emergency shelters, runaway shelters, foster homes, group homes, agency-operated group treatment homes, nonpsychiatric residential group care facilities, psychiatric residential treatment facilities, and other appropriate facilities to provide shelter and care for dependent children who must be placed away from their families. The department, in accordance with outcome goals established in s. 409.986, shall contract for the provision of such shelter and care by counties, municipalities, nonprofit corporations, and other entities capable of providing needed services if:
(a) The services provided comply with all department standards, policies, and procedures;
(b) The services can be provided at a reasonable cost; and
(c) Unless otherwise provided by law, such providers of shelter and care are licensed by the department.
(2) Funds appropriated for the alternate care of children as described in this section may be used to meet the needs of children in their own homes or those of relatives if the children can be safely served in such settings and the expenditure of funds in such manner is equal to or less than the cost of out-of-home placement.
(3) The department shall cooperate with all child service institutions or agencies within the state which meet the department’s standards in order to maintain a comprehensive, coordinated, and inclusive system for promoting and protecting the well-being of children, consistent with the goals established in s. 409.986.
(a) The department shall work with the Department of Health in the development, use, and monitoring of medical foster homes for medically complex children.
(b) The department shall collaborate with all relevant state and local agencies to provide such supports and services as may be necessary to maintain medically complex children in the least restrictive and most nurturing environment.
(4) With the written consent of parents, custodians, or guardians, or in accordance with those provisions in chapter 39 that relate to dependent children, the department, under rules properly adopted, may place a child:
(a) With a relative;
(b) With an adult nonrelative approved by the court for long-term custody;
(c) With a person who is considering the adoption of a child in the manner provided for by law;
(d) When limited, except as provided in paragraph (b), to temporary emergency situations, with a responsible adult approved by the court;
(e) With a person or family approved by the department to serve as a medical foster home;
(f) With a person or agency licensed by the department in accordance with s. 409.175; or
(g) In a subsidized independent living situation,
under such conditions as are determined to be for the best interests or the welfare of the child. Any child placed in an institution or in a family home by the department or its agency may be removed by the department or its agency, and such other disposition may be made as is for the best interest of the child, including transfer of the child to another institution, another home, or the home of the child. Expenditure of funds appropriated for out-of-home care can be used to meet the needs of a child in the child’s own home or the home of a relative if the child can be safely served in the child’s own home or that of a relative if placement can be avoided by the expenditure of such funds, and if the expenditure of such funds in this manner is equal to or less than the cost of out-of-home placement.
Cited 22 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...[4] We do not disagree with this proposition. Section 409.145(1), Florida Statutes (1989), [5] requires the Department to "conduct, supervise, and administer a program for dependent children and their families." Additionally, "[w]ithin funds appropriated," section 409.165(1) requires the Department to supervise a program of foster homes, group homes, agency-operated group treatment homes, non-psychiatric residential group care facilities, psychiatric residential treatment facilities, and other appropri...
...d. However, section 394.4781(3)(b) mandates that all therapeutic residential placements made by the Department be conditioned upon a monthly review of all applications therefore "in accordance with available funds." Additionally, as set forth above, section 409.165(1) clearly limits the Department's supervision to "funds appropriated." To implement the Department's review power under section 394.4781, and as authorized by section 394.4781(3)(c), the Department promulgated Rule 10E-10.020, Florid...
...Again, we have no reservations in agreeing with appellants' general proposition made under Point II that the Department's administration of mental health programs for psychotic and emotionally disturbed children is expressly conditioned upon the availability of appropriated funds. See sections 409.165(1), 394.4781(2), and 394.4781(3)(b), Fla....
Cited 11 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 10 Fla. L. Weekly 619
...[3] ARS apparently refers to the Adoption and Related Services Unit of HRS. [4] This means that the child's basic and special medical needs were being provided at public expense in the custody and care of persons approved, supervised and paid by HRS. See § 409.165 and 409.175, Fla....
Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...ved educational program. Once the Department begins to provide services, its obligation is not voluntary. Subsection 409.145(3)(b) mandates that the services continue so long as the individual complies with the statutory requirements. Pursuant to subsection 409.165(4)(a), state foster care funds "shall be used to establish a continuum of an array of independent living services to assist adolescent foster children to develop skills that will contribute to a successful transition to adulthood." As part of the continuum of independent living services, the Department is mandated to establish an independent living program for minors 16 years of age or older to live "independent of the daily care and supervision of a responsible adult." § 409.165(4)(b)....
...The Department is mandated by both federal and state law to provide a foster care child with the independent living skills training, preceded by an assessment to determine the training which is needed and the services to be provided through the case plan. See 42 U.S.C.A. § 675(1)(c); § 409.165(4)(c), Fla....
...n. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254, 262, 90 S.Ct. 1011, 1017-18, 25 L.Ed.2d 287 (1970). Plaintiff alleges that he has a property interest in securing legal immigration status through the assistance of DCF, and in continued foster care as provided by Section 409.165(4) of the Florida Statutes....
...er children in foster care to "make the transition to self-sufficiency as adults;" however, the services provided under this statute do not address the needs of children with developmental disabilities, like Amber. See § 409.1451(4). Further, while section 409.165(1) requires DCF to provide psychiatric residential treatment facilities "within funds appropriated," other than Amber's Baker Act commitments, which did not address Amber's developmental disabilities, the record reflects no evidence t...
Additionally, “[wjithin funds appropriated,” section 409.165(1) requires the Department to supervise a program
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