Florida Statutes 39.3068 – Reports of medical neglect
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 39.3068
- Child Protection Team: means a team of professionals established by the Department of Health to receive referrals from the protective investigators and protective supervision staff of the department and to provide specialized and supportive services to the program in processing child abuse, abandonment, or neglect cases. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Family: means a collective body of persons, consisting of a child and a parent, legal custodian, or adult relative, in which:(a) The persons reside in the same house or living unit; or(b) The parent, legal custodian, or adult relative has a legal responsibility by blood, marriage, or court order to support or care for the child. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Medical neglect: means the failure to provide or the failure to allow needed care as recommended by a health care practitioner for a physical injury, illness, medical condition, or impairment, or the failure to seek timely and appropriate medical care for a serious health problem that a reasonable person would have recognized as requiring professional medical attention. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Protective investigator: means an authorized agent of the department who receives and investigates reports of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect; who, as a result of the investigation, may recommend that a dependency petition be filed for the child; and who performs other duties necessary to carry out the required actions of the protective investigation function. See Florida Statutes 39.01
(1) Upon receiving a report alleging medical neglect, the department shall assign the case to a child protective investigator who has specialized training in addressing medical neglect or working with medically complex children if such investigator is available. If a child protective investigator with specialized training is not available, the child protective investigator shall consult with department staff with such expertise.(2) The child protective investigator who has interacted with the child and the child’s family shall promptly contact and provide information to the Child Protection Team. The Child Protection Team shall assist the child protective investigator in identifying immediate responses to address the medical needs of the child with the priority of maintaining the child in the home if the parents will be able to meet the needs of the child with additional services. The child protective investigator and the Child Protection Team must use a family-centered approach to assess the capacity of the family to meet those needs. A family-centered approach is intended to increase independence on the part of the family, accessibility to programs and services within the community, and collaboration between families and their service providers. The ethnic, cultural, economic, racial, social, and religious diversity of families must be respected and considered in the development and provision of services.(3) The child shall be evaluated by the Child Protection Team as soon as practicable. If the Child Protection Team reports that medical neglect is substantiated, the department shall convene a case staffing which shall be attended, at a minimum, by the child protective investigator; department legal staff; and representatives from the Child Protection Team that evaluated the child, Children’s Medical Services, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the community-based care lead agency, and any providers of services to the child. However, the Agency for Health Care Administration is not required to attend the staffing if the child is not Medicaid eligible. The staffing shall consider, at a minimum, available services, given the family’s eligibility for services; services that are effective in addressing conditions leading to medical neglect allegations; and services that would enable the child to safely remain at home. Any services that are available and effective shall be provided.