Florida SB 7018: State-administered Retirement Systems

Bill Text

7018 
Child Welfare 
2026-01-13T05:47:53Z 
Renaming the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program as the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Program; requiring the department’s Office of Continuing Care to develop certain cohorts within specified regions, collaborate with certain organizations and recruit mentors and organizations, and provide eligible former foster youth with internship placement opportunities; requiring the Office of Continuing Care to develop trauma-informed training for mentors of certain former foster youth which meets certain requirements, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 7018 

 By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs 

 586-01896-26 20267018__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to child welfare; amending s. 39.01, 
 3 F.S.; revising the definition of the term “visitor”; 
 4 amending s. 409.1455, F.S.; renaming the Step into 
 5 Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot 
 6 Program as the Step into Success Workforce Education 
 7 and Internship Program; deleting a provision limiting 
 8 the duration of the program; requiring the 
 9 department’s Office of Continuing Care to develop 
 10 certain cohorts within specified regions, collaborate 
 11 with certain organizations and recruit mentors and 
 12 organizations, and provide eligible former foster 
 13 youth with internship placement opportunities; 
 14 deleting a provision requiring that the program be 
 15 administered in a certain manner; deleting obsolete 
 16 language; requiring the Office of Continuing Care to 
 17 develop trauma-informed training for mentors of 
 18 certain former foster youth which meets certain 
 19 requirements; authorizing the office to provide 
 20 certain additional trainings on mentorship of special 
 21 populations; revising the amount of monthly financial 
 22 assistance that the office shall provide to 
 23 participating former foster youth; requiring the 
 24 office to assign experienced staff to serve as program 
 25 liaisons for a specified purpose; revising 
 26 qualifications to serve as a mentor; authorizing the 
 27 department to offer certain training to mentors in 
 28 subsequent years; authorizing an employee who serves 
 29 as a mentor to participate in certain additional 
 30 trainings; deleting a provision authorizing the offset 
 31 of a reduction in or loss of certain benefits due to 
 32 receipt of a Step into Success stipend by an 
 33 additional stipend payment; amending s. 1004.615, 
 34 F.S.; requiring the Florida Institute for Child 
 35 Welfare, in collaboration with the department’s Office 
 36 of Quality and Office of Child and Family Well-being, 
 37 to establish a certain best practices program; 
 38 providing an effective date. 
 39 
 40 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 41 
 42 Section 1. Subsection (91) of section 39.01, Florida 
 43 Statutes, is amended to read: 
 44 39.01 Definitions.—When used in this chapter, unless the 
 45 context otherwise requires: 
 46 (91) “Visitor” means a person who: 
 47 (a) Provides care or supervision to a child in the home, 
 48 other than a contracted service provider screened pursuant to 
 49 chapter 435; or 
 50 (b) Is 12 years of age or older, other than a child in 
 51 care, and who will be in the child’s home at least: 
 52 1. Ten Five consecutive days; or 
 53 2. Fourteen Seven days or more in 1 month. 
 54 Section 2. Subsections (2) and (4), paragraphs (b) and (e) 
 55 of subsection (6), paragraph (b) of subsection (7), paragraph 
 56 (d) of subsection (10), and subsection (11) of section 409.1455, 
 57 Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (i) is added to 
 58 subsection (6) of that section, to read: 
 59 409.1455 Step into Success Workforce Education and 
 60 Internship Pilot Program for foster youth and former foster 
 61 youth.— 
 62 (2) CREATION.—The department shall establish the 3-year 
 63 Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot 
 64 Program to give eligible foster youth and former foster youth an 
 65 opportunity to learn and develop essential workforce and 
 66 professional skills, to transition from the custody of the 
 67 department to independent living, and to become better prepared 
 68 for an independent and successful future. The pilot program must 
 69 consist of an independent living professionalism and workforce 
 70 education component and, for youth who complete that component, 
 71 an onsite workforce training internship component. In 
 72 consultation with subject-matter experts and the community-based 
 73 care lead agencies, the office shall develop and administer the 
 74 pilot program for interested foster youth and former foster 
 75 youth; however, the department may contract with entities that 
 76 have demonstrable subject-matter expertise in the transition to 
 77 adulthood for foster youth, wor