Sen. Darryl Rouson

FAMU Day; Designating February 21, 2024, as “FAMU Day” in Florida, etc.

Florida Seal of Fine Arts Program; Establishing the program within the Department of Education; providing the purpose of the program; specifying eligibility requirements for the awarding of the Seal of Fine Arts; defining the term “work of art”; requiring the Commissioner of Education and school districts to perform specified duties to administer the program, etc.

Black History Month; Recognizing February 2024 as “Black History Month” in Florida, etc.

Support for the State of Israel; Expressing support for the State of Israel and condemning the attacks and hateful actions by the Hamas terrorist group, etc.

Relief of Maria Garcia by the Pinellas County School Board; Providing for the relief of Maria Garcia by the Pinellas County School Board; providing an appropriation to compensate her for injuries sustained as a result of the negligence of an employee of the Pinellas County School Board; providing legislative intent regarding the waiver of certain liens; providing a limitation on compensation and the payment of attorney fees, etc. CLAIM: $2,800,000

Direct-support Organizations; Authorizing the Department of Children and Families to establish a direct-support organization for a specified purpose; requiring the Secretary of Children and Families to appoint a board of directors for the direct-support organization; authorizing the department to allow the direct-support organization to use, without charge, the department’s fixed property, facilities, and personnel services, subject to certain requirements; authorizing the direct-support organization to collect, expend, and provide funds for specified purposes, etc.

Sickle Cell Disease Medications, Treatment, and Screening; Requiring newborn and infant screening providers to notify primary care physicians of newborns and infants of certain screening results and to submit the results to the Department of Health for a specified purpose; requiring the department to contract with a certain center to establish and maintain a sickle cell registry; authorizing parents and guardians of children in the registry to request to have them removed from the registry; requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation with certain entities, to review sickle cell disease medications, treatments, and services for Medicaid recipients and develop a written report, post the report on its website, and submit a copy of the report to the Governor, the Legislature, and certain entities by a specified date and every 2 years thereafter, etc. APPROPRIATION: $1,332,159

Task Force on the Monitoring of Children in Out-of-Home Care; Creating the task force adjunct to the Department of Law Enforcement; providing requirements for member appointments, election of a chair, and meetings; requiring the Florida Institute for Child Welfare to conduct certain focus groups and individual interviews and submit its findings to the task force by a specified date; requiring the Department of Children and Families to submit certain monthly reports to the task force through a specified date, etc. APPROPRIATION: $140,076

Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program; Creating the "Step into Success Act"; requiring the Department of Children and Families to establish the pilot program; requiring the independent living professionalism and workforce education component of the pilot program to culminate in a specified certificate; providing that completion of that component allows former foster youth to participate in the onsite workforce and training internship component; specifying conditions for participation in the onsite workforce internship component, etc. APPROPRIATION: $500,000

Problem-solving Courts; Revising the responsibilities of coordinators of treatment-based drug court programs; requiring such programs to collect specified data and information for certain purposes; requiring such programs to annually report certain information and data to the Office of the State Courts Administrator; authorizing courts to determine how long a person may be admitted into certain programs; revising admission requirements for certain programs; revising eligibility requirements for voluntary admission into certain substance abuse programs, etc.