Sen. Lauren Book

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders; Providing that the use of peer specialists is an essential element of a coordinated system of care in recovery from a substance use disorder or mental illness; revising background screening requirements for certain peer specialists; requiring the Department of Children and Families to designate managing entities to conduct or contract for training for peer specialists; requiring peer specialists and certain persons to meet the requirements of a background screening as a condition of employment and continued employment, etc.

Grandparent Visitation Rights; Creating a presumption for maternal or paternal grandparent or stepgrandparent visitation of a child under certain circumstances; providing a burden for overcoming such presumption, etc.

Funding for Sheriffs Providing Child Protective Investigative Services; Authorizing sheriffs who provide child protective investigative services to carry forward a certain percentage of unexpended state funds each fiscal year; requiring certain funds to be returned to the Department of Children and Families; prohibiting funds carried forward from being used in certain ways; requiring that certain expenditures be reported to the department; authorizing unexpended funds to be retained through contract or grant agreement renewals under certain circumstances, etc.

Transportation Facility Designations/98 Points of Light Road; Providing an honorary designation of a certain transportation facility in a specified county; directing the Department of Transportation to erect suitable markers, etc.

Restraint of Students with Disabilities in Public Schools; Prohibiting school personnel from using mechanical restraint on students with disabilities; providing exceptions, etc.

Child Welfare; Requiring the Department of Health to waive fees for certified copies of birth certificates issued to certain unaccompanied homeless youth and young adults; revising requirements for required collaboration among the Board of Governors, the Florida College System, and the Department of Education in working with the Department of Children and Families to assist specified children and young adults; revising eligibility and requirements for a certain driver education, licensure, and insurance program to include certain unaccompanied homeless youth; specifying certification criteria for unaccompanied homeless youth; requiring district school boards to provide cards that contain specified information to certain unaccompanied homeless youth, etc.

Relief of Kareem Hawari by the Osceola County School Board; Providing for the relief of Kareem Hawari by the Osceola County School Board; providing an appropriation to Mr. Hawari to compensate him for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the negligence of employees of the Osceola County School Board; providing a limitation on compensation and the payment of attorney fees, etc. CLAIM: $3,500,000

Public Records/Lottery Winners; Creating a temporary exemption from public records for the names of lottery winners who win prizes of more than a specified value; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Recognizing Veteran Suicide; Urging Congress to recognize the epidemic of suicide among veterans and to fully fund suicide prevention efforts of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, etc.

Offenses Against Elderly Persons or Disabled Adults; Citing this act as the “Don Bryant Protection Act”; specifying that the reclassification of a specified crime occurs if the crime was based in whole or in part on a disability of any person; providing enhanced criminal penalties for second or subsequent offenses of exploitation of an elderly person or a disabled adult if the funds, assets, or property involved has a specified valuation; expanding the data the Governor is required to collect and disseminate to include incidents of criminal acts that evidence prejudice based on disability, etc.