Florida Florida Statutes

§ 39.4022 — Multidisciplinary teams; staffings; assessments; report

FS § 39.4022Ch. 39

Statute text

(1)LEGISLATIVE INTENT.—(a) The Legislature finds that services for children and families are most effective when delivered in the context of a single integrated multidisciplinary team staffing that includes the child, his or her family, natural and community supports, and professionals who join together to empower, motivate, and strengthen a family and collaboratively develop a plan of care and protection to achieve child safety, child permanency, and child and family well-being.

(b)The Legislature also finds that effective assessment through an integrated multidisciplinary team is particularly important for children who are vulnerable due to existing histories of trauma which led to the child's entrance into the child welfare system. This assessment is especially important for young children who are 3 years of age or younger, as a result of the enhanced need for such children to have healthy and stable attachments to assist with necessary brain development. Stable and nurturing relationships in the first years of life, as well as the quality of such relationships, are integral to healthy brain development, providing a foundation for lifelong mental health and determining well-being as an adult.

(2)DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term:(a) “Change in physical custody” means a change by the department or the community-based care lead agency to the child's physical residential address, regardless of whether such change requires a court order changing the legal custody of the child.

(b)“Emergency situation” means that there is an imminent risk to the health or safety of the child, other children, or others in the home or facility if the child remains in the placement.

(c)“Multidisciplinary team” means an integrated group of individuals which meets to collaboratively develop and attempt to reach a consensus decision on the most suitable out-of-home placement, educational placement, or other specified important life decision that is in the best interest of the child.

…

Legislative history

s. 7, ch. 2021-169.