Florida HB 1331: The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program

Bill Text

HB 1331 2026

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1331-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to child welfare; amending s. 39.01, 2
F.S.; defining the terms "accredited child safety 3
organization" and "child-serving organization"; 4
revising the definition of the term "institutional 5
child abuse or neglect"; creating s. 39.0151, F.S.; 6
requiring certain organizations and agencies to 7
provide employees with annual training approved by the 8
Department of Children and Families relating to the 9
protection of children from abuse and neglect; 10
providing requirements for such training; requiring 11
the department to create a process to recognize and 12
approve qualified accrediting organizations for a 13
specified purpose; providing requirements for 14
qualified accrediting organizations to be approved by 15
the department; requiring approved qualified 16
accrediting organizations to maintain certain records 17
and submit such records annually to the department; 18
requiring the department to review the status of each 19
qualified accrediting organization at certain 20
intervals; authorizing the department to revoke its 21
recognition and approval of a qualified accrediting 22
organization for good cause; requiring the department 23
to review the status of accredited child safety 24
organizations at certain intervals; authorizing the 25

HB 1331 2026

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hb1331-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

department to renew or revoke the accreditation or 26
certification of an accredited child safety 27
organization; amending s. 39.101, F.S.; requiring the 28
department to collect and analyze certain reports of 29
abuse which are reported from or occurred at a child-30
serving organization; creating s. 627.0656, F.S.; 31
requiring the Office of Insurance Regulation to 32
approve rating plans for employer's liability 33
insurance which provide a premium discount to certain 34
child-serving organizations; providing requirements 35
for such plans; providing legislative findings; 36
requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 37
Government Accountability to conduct a study on the 38
affordability and availability of liability coverage 39
for child-serving organizations; requiring the office 40
to provide a certain report to the Legislature by a 41
certain date; amending ss. 39.302, 39.521, 39.6012, 42
394.495, 934.255, 960.065, and 984.03, F.S.; 43
conforming cross-references; reenacting s. 44
39.301(2)(b), F.S., relating to initiation of 45
protective investigations, to incorporate the 46
amendment made to s. 39.01, F.S., in a reference 47
thereto; providing an effective date. 48
49
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50

HB 1331 2026

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Section 1. Subsections (3) through (13) and subsections 52
(14) through (91) of section 39.01, Florida Statutes, are 53
renumbered as subsections (4) through (14) and subsections (16) 54
through (93), respectively, present subsections (10) and (39) of 55
that section are amended, and new subsections (3) and (15) are 56
added to that section, to read: 57
39.01 Definitions.—When used in this chapter, unless the 58
context otherwise requires: 59
(3) "Accredited child safety organization" means an 60
organization that has been certified or accredited by a 61
qualified accrediting organization that is recognized and 62
approved by the department. For purposes of this subsection, the 63
term "certified or accredited" means an evidence-based and 64
independent validation process managed through a professional 65
association or accrediting organization. 66
(11)(10) "Caregiver" means the parent, legal custodian, 67
permanent guardian, adult household member, or other person 68
responsible for a child's welfare as defined in subsection (59) 69
(57). 70
(15) "Child-serving organization" means any public or 71
private agency, organization, facility, or institution that 72
provides organized programming for children, including, but not 73
limited to, public or private schools, public or private child 74
care facilities and day care centers, residential homes, day 75

HB 1331 2026

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camps, youth sports organizations, and other organizations whose 76
employees or volunteers are adults entrusted with a child's 77
care. 78
(41)(39) "Institutional child abuse or neglect" means 79
situations of known or suspected child abuse or neglect in which 80
the person allegedly perpetrating the child abuse or neglect is 81
an employee of or volunteer at a child-serving