Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council.

(1)(a) The Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council shall be located in the Department of Health. The Surgeon General or his or her designee shall be a nonvoting, ex officio member of the advisory council and shall act as chairperson. The director of the Office of Planning and Budgeting or his or her designee shall be a nonvoting, ex officio member of the advisory council. The Department of Health or its successor agency shall provide staff support for the advisory council.

(b) The following state officials shall be appointed to serve on the advisory council:

1. The Attorney General, or his or her designee.

2. The executive director of the Department of Law Enforcement, or his or her designee.

3. The Secretary of Children and Families, or his or her designee.

4. The director of the Office of Planning and Budgeting in the Executive Office of the Governor, or his or her designee.

5. The Secretary of Corrections, or his or her designee.

6. The Secretary of Juvenile Justice, or his or her designee.

7. The Commissioner of Education, or his or her designee.

8. The executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, or his or her designee.

9. The Adjutant General of the state as the Chief of the Department of Military Affairs, or his or her designee.

(c) In addition, the Governor shall appoint 7 members of the public to serve on the advisory council. Of the 7 appointed members, one member must have professional or occupational expertise in drug enforcement, one member must have professional or occupational expertise in substance abuse prevention, one member must have professional or occupational expertise in substance abuse treatment, and two members must have professional or occupational expertise in faith-based substance abuse treatment services. The remainder of the members appointed should have professional or occupational expertise in, or be generally knowledgeable about, issues that relate to drug enforcement and substance abuse programs and services. The members appointed by the Governor must, to the extent possible, equitably represent all geographic areas of the state.

(d) The President of the Senate shall appoint a member of the Senate to the advisory council and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint a member of the House of Representatives to the advisory council.

(e) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall appoint a member of the judiciary to the advisory council.

(f) Members appointed by the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice shall be appointed to terms of 4 years each. However, for the purpose of providing staggered terms, of the Governor’s initial appointments, five members shall be appointed to 2-year terms and six members shall be appointed to 4-year terms.

(2)(a) Any vacancy on the advisory council shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment, and any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring because of death, resignation, or ineligibility for membership shall serve only for the unexpired term of the member’s predecessor. A member is eligible for reappointment.

(b) Members of the advisory council and members of workgroups appointed under subsection (4) shall serve without compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as provided in s. 112.061.

(c) The advisory council shall meet at least quarterly or upon the call of the chairperson.

(3) The advisory council shall:

(a) Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the problem of substance abuse in this state and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature for developing and implementing a state drug control strategy. The advisory council shall determine the most effective means of establishing clear and meaningful lines of communication between the advisory council and the public and private sectors in order to ensure that the process of developing and implementing the state drug control strategy has afforded a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors an opportunity to comment and make recommendations.

(b) Review and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature on funding substance abuse programs and services, consistent with the state drug control strategy, as developed. The council may recommend the creation of a separate appropriations category for funding services delivered or procured by state agencies and may recommend the use of performance-based contracting as provided in s. 414.065.

(c) Review various substance abuse programs and recommend, where needed, measures that are sufficient to determine program outcomes. The council shall review different methodologies for evaluating programs and determine whether programs within different agencies have common outcomes. The methodologies shall be consistent with those established under former s. 216.0166.

(d) Review the drug control strategies and programs of, and efforts by, other states and the Federal Government and compile the relevant research.

(e) Recommend to the Governor and Legislature applied research projects that would use research capabilities within the state, including, but not limited to, the resources of the State University System, for the purpose of achieving improved outcomes and making better-informed strategic budgetary decisions.

(f) Recommend to the Governor and Legislature changes in law which would remove barriers to or enhance the implementation of the state drug control strategy.

(g) Make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature on the need for public information campaigns to be conducted in the state to limit substance abuse.

(h) Ensure that there is a coordinated, integrated, and multidisciplinary response to the substance abuse problem in this state, with special attention given to creating partnerships within and between the public and private sectors, and to the coordinated, supported, and integrated delivery of multiple-system services for substance abusers, including a multiagency team approach to service delivery.

(i) Assist communities and families in pooling their knowledge and experiences with respect to the problem of substance abuse. Forums for exchanging ideas, experiences, and practical information, as well as instruction, should be considered. For communities, such instruction may involve issues of funding, staffing, training, and neighborhood and parental involvement, and instruction on other issues. For families, such instruction may involve practical strategies for addressing family substance abuse; improving cognitive, communication, and decisionmaking skills; providing parents with techniques for resolving conflicts, communicating, and cultivating meaningful relationships with their children and establishing guidelines for their children; educating families about drug-free programs and activities in which they may serve as participants and planners; and other programs of similar instruction. To maximize the effectiveness of such forums, multiple agencies should participate.

(j) Examine the extent to which all state programs that involve substance abuse treatment can include a meaningful work component, and identify any change in the law which would remove barriers to or enhance the work component for a substance abuse treatment program.

(k) Recommend to the Governor and the Legislature ways to expand and fund drug courts, which have proven effective in the state’s drug control strategy.

(4)(a) The chairperson of the advisory council shall appoint workgroups that include members of state agencies that are not represented on the advisory council and shall solicit input and recommendations from those state agencies. In addition, the chairperson may appoint workgroups as necessary from among the members of the advisory council in order to efficiently address specific issues. A representative of a state agency appointed to any workgroup shall be the head of the agency, or his or her designee. The chairperson may designate lead and contributing agencies within a workgroup.

(b) The advisory council shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 1 of each year which contains a summary of the work of the council during that year and the recommendations required under subsection (3). Interim reports may be submitted at the discretion of the chairperson of the advisory council.