Department of Juvenile Justice.

There is created a Department of Juvenile Justice.

(1) SECRETARY OF JUVENILE JUSTICE.—

(a) The head of the Department of Juvenile Justice is the Secretary of Juvenile Justice. The secretary of the department shall be appointed by the Governor and shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

(b) The Secretary of Juvenile Justice is responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the delivery of all programs and services within the juvenile justice continuum. For purposes of this section, the term “juvenile justice continuum” means all children-in-need-of-services programs; families-in-need-of-services programs; other prevention, early intervention, and diversion programs; detention centers and related programs and facilities; community-based residential commitment and nonresidential programs; and delinquency institutions provided or funded by the department.

(c) The Secretary of Juvenile Justice shall:

1. Ensure that juvenile justice continuum programs and services are implemented according to legislative intent; state and federal laws, rules, and regulations; statewide program standards; and performance objectives by reviewing and monitoring regional and circuit program operations and providing technical assistance to those programs.

2. Identify the need for and recommend the funding and implementation of an appropriate mix of programs and services within the juvenile justice continuum, including prevention, diversion, nonresidential and residential commitment programs, training schools, and conditional release programs and services, with an overlay of educational, career and technical education, alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services where appropriate.

3. Oversee the establishment of the Florida Scholars Academy created under s. 985.619.

4. Provide for program research, development, and planning.

5. Develop staffing and workload standards and coordinate staff development and training.

6. Develop budget and resource allocation methodologies and strategies.

7. Establish program policies and rules and ensure that those policies and rules encourage cooperation, collaboration, and information sharing with community partners in the juvenile justice system to the extent authorized by law.

8. Develop funding sources external to state government.

9. Obtain, approve, monitor, and coordinate research and program development grants.

10. Enter into contracts.

11. Monitor all state-funded programs, grants, appropriations, or activities that are designed to prevent juvenile crime, delinquency, gang membership, or status offense behaviors and all state-funded programs, grants, appropriations, or activities that are designed to prevent a child from becoming a “child in need of services,” as defined in chapter 984, in order to effect the goals and policies of the State Comprehensive Plan regarding children and regarding governmental efficiency, and in order to determine:

a. The number of youth served by such state-funded programs, grants, appropriations, or activities.

b. The number of youth who complete such state-funded programs, grants, appropriations, or activities.

c. The number and percentage of youth who are referred for delinquency while participating in such state-funded programs, grants, appropriations, or activities.

d. The number and percentage of youth who are referred for delinquency within 6 months after completing such state-funded programs, grants, appropriations, or activities.

(2) DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS.—The following programs are established within the Department of Juvenile Justice:

(a) Accountability and Program Support.

(b) Administration.

(c) Intake and Detention.

(d) Prevention Services.

(e) Probation and Community Corrections.

(f) Residential and Correctional Facilities.

The secretary may establish assistant secretary positions and a chief of staff position as necessary to administer the requirements of this section.

(3) JUVENILE JUSTICE OPERATING CIRCUITS.—The department shall plan and administer its programs through a substate structure that conforms to the boundaries of the judicial circuits prescribed in s. 26.021. A county may seek placement in a juvenile justice operating circuit other than as prescribed in s. 26.021 for participation in the Prevention Services Program and the Probation and Community Corrections Program by making a request of the chief circuit judge in each judicial circuit affected by such request. Upon a showing that geographic proximity, community identity, or other legitimate concern for efficiency of operations merits alternative placement, each affected chief circuit judge may authorize the execution of an interagency agreement specifying the alternative juvenile justice operating circuit in which the county is to be placed and the basis for the alternative placement. Upon the execution of said interagency agreement by each affected chief circuit judge, the secretary may administratively place a county in an alternative juvenile justice operating circuit pursuant to the agreement.

(4) INFORMATION SYSTEMS.—

(a) The Department of Juvenile Justice shall develop, in consultation with the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Information Systems Council under s. 943.08, a juvenile justice information system which shall provide information concerning the department’s activities and programs.

(b) In establishing the computing and network infrastructure for the development of the information system, the department shall develop a system design to set the direction for the information system. That design shall include not only department system requirements but also data exchange requirements of other state and local juvenile justice system organizations.

(c) The department shall implement a distributed system architecture which shall be defined in its agency strategic plan.

(d) The management information system shall, at a minimum:

1. Facilitate case management of juveniles referred to or placed in the department’s custody.

2. Provide timely access to current data and computing capacity to support outcome evaluation, legislative oversight, and other research.

3. Provide automated support to the quality assurance and program review functions.

4. Provide automated support to the contract management process.

5. Provide automated support to the facility operations management process.

6. Provide automated administrative support to increase efficiency, provide the capability of tracking expenditures of funds by the department or contracted service providers that are eligible for federal reimbursement, and reduce forms and paperwork.

7. Facilitate connectivity, access, and utilization of information among various state agencies, and other state, federal, local, and private agencies, organizations, and institutions.

8. Provide electronic public access to juvenile justice information, which is not otherwise made confidential by law or exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1).

9. Provide a system for the training of information system users and user groups.