Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office; legislative findings and intent; creation; appointment of executive director; duties of office.

(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—

(a) The Legislature finds that for the past 20 years, the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office has been the only mechanism for best interest representation for children in Florida who are involved in dependency proceedings.

(b) The Legislature also finds that while the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office has been supervised by court administration within the circuit courts since the office’s inception, there is a perceived conflict of interest created by the supervision of program staff by the judges before whom they appear.

(c) The Legislature further finds that the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force concluded that “if there is any program that costs the least and benefits the most, this one is it,” and that the guardian ad litem volunteer is an “indispensable intermediary between the child and the court, between the child and DCF.”

(d) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to place the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office in an appropriate place and provide a statewide infrastructure to increase functioning and standardization among the local offices currently operating in the 20 judicial circuits.

(2) STATEWIDE GUARDIAN AD LITEM OFFICE.—There is created a Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office within the Justice Administrative Commission. The Justice Administrative Commission shall provide administrative support and service to the office to the extent requested by the executive director within the available resources of the commission. The Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office is not subject to control, supervision, or direction by the Justice Administrative Commission in the performance of its duties, but the employees of the office are governed by the classification plan and salary and benefits plan approved by the Justice Administrative Commission.

(a) The head of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office is the executive director, who shall be appointed by the Governor from a list of a minimum of three eligible applicants submitted by a Guardian ad Litem Qualifications Committee. The Guardian ad Litem Qualifications Committee shall be composed of five persons, two persons appointed by the Governor, two persons appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and one person appointed by the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office. The committee shall provide for statewide advertisement and the receiving of applications for the position of executive director. The Governor shall appoint an executive director from among the recommendations, or the Governor may reject the nominations and request the submission of new nominees. The executive director must have knowledge in dependency law and knowledge of social service delivery systems available to meet the needs of children who are abused, neglected, or abandoned. The executive director shall serve on a full-time basis and shall personally, or through representatives of the office, carry out the purposes and functions of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office in accordance with state and federal law and the state’s long-established policy of prioritizing children’s best interests. The executive director shall report to the Governor. The executive director shall serve a 3-year term, subject to removal for cause by the Governor. Any person appointed to serve as the executive director may be permitted to serve more than one term without the necessity of convening the Guardian ad Litem Qualifications Committee.