Florida Statutes 39.8297 – County funding for guardian ad litem employees
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(1) A county and the executive director of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office may enter into an agreement by which the county agrees to provide funds to the local guardian ad litem office in order to employ persons who will assist in the operation of the guardian ad litem office in the county.
(2) The agreement, at a minimum, must provide that:
(a) Funding for the persons who are employed will be provided on at least a fiscal-year basis.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 39.8297
- Circuit: means any of the 20 judicial circuits as set forth in…. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Guardian: means a relative, nonrelative, next of kin, or fictive kin who is awarded physical custody of a child in a proceeding brought pursuant to this chapter. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Guardian ad litem: means a person or an entity that is a fiduciary appointed by the court to represent a child in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding to which the child is a party, including, but not limited to, under this chapter, which uses a best interest standard for decisionmaking and advocacy. See Florida Statutes 39.01
- Office: means the Office of Adoption and Child Protection within the Executive Office of the Governor. See Florida Statutes 39.01
(b) The persons who are employed will be hired, supervised, managed, and terminated by the executive director of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office. The statewide office is responsible for compliance with all requirements of federal and state employment laws, and shall fully indemnify the county from any liability under such laws, as authorized by s. 768.28(19), to the extent such liability is the result of the acts or omissions of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office or its agents or employees.
(c) The county is the employer for purposes of s. 440.10 and chapter 443.
(d) Employees funded by the county under this section and other county employees may be aggregated for purposes of a flexible benefits plan pursuant to s. 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(e) Persons employed under this section may be terminated after a substantial breach of the agreement or because funding to the guardian ad litem office has expired.
(3) Persons employed under this section may not be counted in a formula or similar process used by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office to measure personnel needs of a judicial circuit‘s guardian ad litem office.
(4) Agreements created pursuant to this section do not obligate the state to allocate funds to a county to employ persons in the guardian ad litem office.