Title: Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program

Summary: Establishes Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program within DCF for eligible foster youth; specifies purpose & structure of program; requires DCF to establish & administer workforce training program for eligible foster youth; revises duties of Office of Continuing Care to include establishing & operating such program.

Full Text:
An act relating to the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program; creating s. 409.1455, F.S.; providing a short title; establishing the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program within the Department of Children and Families for eligible foster youth; specifying the purpose and structure of the program; requiring the program to include qualified designated personnel who are responsible for specified services; providing definitions; requiring the department to establish and the Office of Continuing Care to develop and administer the program for eligible foster youth and former foster youth; providing requirements for the program; requiring the department to include in the annual independent living report a section regarding the program; providing requirements for such report; requiring the department to adopt rules; amending s. 414.56, F.S.; revising the duties of the Office of Continuing Care to include establishing and operating the pilot program; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: HB 1337 2023 Section 1. Section 409.1455, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 409.1455 Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program for foster youth and former foster youth.-(1) SHORT TITLE.-This section may be cited as the "Step into Success Act." (2) CREATION.-The department shall establish the-year Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program to give eligible foster youth and former foster youth an opportunity to learn and develop essential workforce and professional skills, to transition from the custody of the department to indepe ndent living, and to become better prepared for an independent and successful future. The pilot program must consist of an independent living, professionalism, and workforce education component and, for former foster youth who complete such component, an onsite workforce training internship component. In consultation with subject-matter experts and the community-based care lead agencies, the Office of Continuing Care shall develop and administer the pilot program for interested foster youth and former foste ryouth; however, the department may contract with entities that have demonstrable subject-matter expertise in the transition to adulthood for foster youth and former foster youth, workforce training and preparedness, professional skills, and related subje cts to HB 1337 2023 collaborate with the office in the development and administration of the pilot program. The independent living, professionalism, and workforce education component of the program must result in a certificate that allows former foster youth to partici pate in the onsite workforce training internship. (3) DEFINITIONS.-For purposes of this section, the term: (a) "Community-based care lead agency" has the same meaning as in s. 409.986(3). (b) "Former foster youth" means an individual years of age or older but younger than years of age who is currently or was previously placed in licensed care, excluding Level I licensed placements under s. 409.175(5)(a)1., for at least 63 days within the state. (c) "Foster youth" means an individual at least 6 years of age but younger than years of age who is currently in licensed care, excluding Level I licensed placements under s. 409.175(5)(a)1. (d) "Office" means the Office of Continuing Care. (e) "Participating organization" means a state agency, a corporation under chapter or chapter 617, or another relevant entity that has agreed to collaborate with the office in the development and implementation of a trauma-informed onsite workforce training internship program pursuant to subsections (6) and (7). HB 1337 2023 (4) REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEPARTMENT AND OFFICE.-The department shall establish and the office shall develop and administer the pilot program for eligible foster youth and former foster youth. The pilot program must be administered as part of an elig ible foster youth's regular transition planning under s. 39.6035 or as a post-transition service for eligible former foster youth. The office must begin the professionalism and workforce education component of the program on or before January 1, 2024, and the onsite workforce training internship component of the program on or before July 1, 2024. (5) INDEPENDENT LIVING PROFESSIONALISM AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION COMPONENT REQUIREMENTS.-For the independent living, professionalism, and workforce education compo nent of the program, the office shall: (a) Designate and ensure that the number of qualified staff is sufficient to implement and administer the component, which may be part of a larger independent living or life skills training program if such program meets the requirements of this subsection. (b)1. Develop all workshops, presentations, and curricula for the component, including, but not limited to, all written educational and training materials for foster youth and former foster youth. 2. Resources may include, but are not limited to, workshops and materials to assist with preparing resumes, mock HB 1337 2023 interviews, experiential training, and assistance with securing an internship or employment. 3. The office must review and update these mate rials as necessary. The training materials must address, but are not limited to, all of the following: a. Interview skills. b. Professionalism. c. Teamwork. d. Leadership. e. Problem solving. f. Conflict resolution in the workplace. (c) Requi re that the training provided in the component be in addition to any other life skills or employment training required by general law. The training may be developed or administered by the department, community-based care lead agencies or subcontracted prov iders of the community-based care lead agencies, or in collaboration with colleges or universities or other nonprofit organizations in the community with workforce education and training resources. (d) Provide relevant written materials and any relevant tools developed for the component to ensure a successful transition from the program into internships in all participating organizations that offer workforce training internship opportunities. (e) Provide materials to inform eligible foster youth and HB 1337 2023 former foster youth of the program, the requirements for participation, and contact information for enrollment. The community-based care lead agencies shall ensure that any subcontracted providers that directly serve foster youth and former foster youth recei ve this information. (f) Advertise and promote the availability of the program to engage as many eligible foster youth and former foster youth as possible. (g) Assess the career interests of each eligible foster youth and former foster youth who expres ses an interest in participating in the program and determine the most appropriate internship and postinternship opportunities for each youth based on his or her expressed interests. (6) ONSITE WORKFORCE TRAINING INTERNSHIP COMPONENT REQUIREMENTS.-For the onsite workforce training internship program for eligible former foster youth, the office shall: (a) Develop processes and procedures to implement a trauma-informed onsite workforce training internship component. The processes and procedures of the int ernship component must be designed to be replicated and scaled to meet various organizational structures and sizes. The component must include all of the following: 1. Recruitment of agencies, corporations, and other entities to host interns as participa ting organizations. 2. Assisting participating organizations with mentor HB 1337 2023 recruitment, training, and matching. 3. Mentor-led performance reviews, including a review of the intern's work product, professionalism, time management, communication style, and stress management strategies. 4. Daily mentorship and coaching on topics including: a. Professionalism. b. Teamwork. c. Leadership. d. Problem solving. e. Conflict resolution in the workplace. 5. Development of opportunities for participatin gformer foster youth to become employees of the participating organization. 6. Reporting requirements specified in subsection (11). (b) Develop at least hour of required trauma-informed training for mentors to teach the skills necessary to engage with participating former foster youth. (c) Provide assistance to eligible former foster youth interested in participating in the internship component, including, but not limited to, identifying and monitoring internship opportunities, being knowledgeable of the training and skills needed to match eligible former foster youth with appropriate internships, and assisting eligible former foster youth with applying for postinternship employment opportunities. (d) Publicize specific internship positions in an easily HB 1337 2023 accessible manner and inform eligible former foster youth of how to locate such information. (e) Provide a participating former foster youth with financial assistance in the amount of $1,517 month ly and develop a process and schedule for the distribution of payments to former foster youth participating in the component, subject to the availability of funds. (f) Distribute funds appropriated for the compensation of mentors who are participating in the component as provided in paragraph (7)(b). (g) By May 1, 2024, provide to the Board of Governors and the State Board of Education all relevant internship information necessary to support the award of postsecondary credit or career education clock ho urs for internship positions held by participating former foster youth. (h) Develop and conduct followup surveys with: 1. Former foster youth within months after his or her internship start date to ensure successful transition into the work environme nt and to gather feedback on how to improve the experience for future participants. 2. Mentors assigned to participating former foster youth. Such data must be collected by October 1, 2024, and by October 197 annually thereafter, for inclusion in the indep endent living services annual report. 3. Any other persons the office deems relevant for HB 1337 2023 purposes of continued improvement of the component. (7) REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS.-Each participating organization shall: (a) Collaborate with the office to implement a trauma informed approach to mentoring and training former foster youth. (b)1. Recruit employees to serve as mentors for participating interns within such organizations. To serve as a mentor, an employee must: a. Have worked for the participating organization for at least year. b. Have experience relevant to the job and task responsibilities of the intern. c. Sign a monthly statement documenting hours worked for the intern. d. Allocate at least hour per month to condu ct mentor led performance reviews, including a review of the intern's work product, professionalism, time management, communication style, and stress-management strategies. e. Complete at least hour of trauma-informed training to gain skills critical for successfully engaging with former foster youth. 2. Subject to available funding, an employee who serves as a mentor and receives the required trauma-informed training is eligible for a maximum payment of $1,200 per intern per fiscal year, to be issued as a $100 monthly payment for every month of HB 1337 2023 service as a mentor. 3. An employee may serve as a mentor for a maximum of three interns at one time and may not receive more than $3,600 in compensation per fiscal year for serving as a mentor. Any time spen tserving as a mentor to an intern under this section counts toward the minimum service required for eligibility for payments under subparagraph 2. and this subparagraph. (c) When necessary, have a discussion with an intern's assigned mentor, the partici pating organization's internship program liaison, and the office about the creation of a corrective action plan to address issues related to the intern's professionalism, work product, or performance and, if applicable, after giving the intern a reasonable opportunity to comply with the corrective action plan, document the intern's failure to do so before discharging such intern. (d) Provide relevant feedback to the office at least annually for the office to comply with paragraph (6)(h). (e) Collaborate with the department to provide any requested information necessary to prepare the annual report required under subsection (11). (8) TIME LIMITATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION.-A former foster youth who obtains an internship with a participating organization may participate in the internship component for no more than year, calculated as monthly payment periods. The year begins on his or her start date as an intern with a HB 1337 2023 participating organization. A former foster youth may only intern at one participating organization at one time. A participating organization may hire a participating intern as an employee, but a former foster youth may not be hired as an employee for an internship under this section. (9) AWARD OF POSTSECONDARY CREDIT OR CAREER EDUCATION CLOCK HOURS.-The Board of Governors and the State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations, respectively, to award postsecondary credit or career education clock hours for eligible former foster youth participating in the internship component. The rules and regulations must include procedures for the award of postsecondary credit or career education clock hours, including, but not limited to, equivalency and alignment of the internship component with appropriate postsecondary courses and course descriptions. (10) CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE INTERNSHIP COMPONENT.-(a) To become a participant in the internship component of the program, the applicant must be a foster youth or a former foster youth at the time such youth applies for an inte rnship position with a participating organization. A foster youth or former foster youth who has completed the training component with the department may apply for a position with a participating organization but only a former foster youth may be offered a nd accept an internship. HB 1337 2023 (b) If offered an internship, a former foster youth must be classified as an intern and must work at least hours per month to be eligible for the monthly payment. (c) A former foster youth must spend any payment funds specified for clothing on clothing that is in compliance with the dress code requirements of the participating organization with which he or she is interning. Notwithstanding any limitation on payment funds provided to purchase clothing, the former foster youth must comply with any dress code requirements of the participating organization with which he or she is interning. (d) Money earned pursuant to the internship component may not be considered earned income for purposes of computing eligibility for federal or state benefits, including, but not limited to, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a housing choice assistance voucher program, the Temporary Cash Assistance Program, the Medicaid program, or the school readiness program. Notwithstanding this paragraph, any reduction in amount of benefits or loss of benefits due to receipt of the Step into Success workforce education and internship pilot program payments may be offset by an additional payment equal to the value of the maximum benefit amount fo ra single person allowed under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (e) A former foster youth may, at the discretion of a postsecondary institution in which such youth is enrolled, earn HB 1337 2023 postsecondary credit or career education clock hours for work performed as an intern under the onsite workforce training internship component. Postsecondary credit and career education clock hours earned for work performed under the onsite workforce training internship component may be in addition to any compensation earned for the same work performed under that component and may be awarded for completion of all or any part of the such component. Participating organizations shall cooperate with postsecondary educational institutions to provide any information abo ut internship positions which is necessary to enable the institutions to determine whether to grant the participating former foster youth postsecondary credit or career education clock hours toward his or her degree. (f) A former foster youth who accepts an internship with a participating organization pursuant to this section may only be discharged from the internship component after the participating organization engages the intern's assigned mentor and the participa ting organization's internship program staff to assist the intern in performing the duties of the internship. Before discharging the former foster youth, the participating organization must also document the intern's failure to comply with a corrective act ion plan after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so. (11) REPORT.-The department shall include a section on the Step into Success workforce education and internship pilot HB 1337 2023 program in the independent living annual report prepared pursuant to s. 9.1451(6) which includes, but is not limited to, all of the following: (a) Whether the pilot program is in compliance with this section and, if not, the barriers to compliance. (b) A list of participating organizations and the number of interns at each participating organization. (c) A summary of recruitment efforts to increase the number of participating organizations. (d) A summary of the feedback and surveys received under paragraph (6)(h) from participating former foster youth, assigned mentors, and internship program staff. (e) Recommendations, if any, for actions necessary to improve the quality, effectiveness, and outcomes of the pilot program. (f) Employment outcomes of former foster youth who participated in the pilot program, including employment status after completion of the program, whether he or she is employed by the participating organization in which he or she interned or by another entity, and a job description and salary, if available. (12) RULEMAKING.-The department shall ado pt rules necessary to implement this section. Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 414.56, Florida Statutes, to read: HB 1337 2023 414.56 Office of Continuing Care.-The department shall establish an Office of Continuing Care to ensure young adults who age out of the foster care system between and years of age, or years of age with a documented disability, have a point of contact until the young adult reaches the age of in order to receive ongoing support and care coordination needed to achieve self-sufficiency. Duties of the office include, but are not limited to: (5) Developing and administering the Step into Success Workforce Education and Internship Pilot Program for foster youth and former foster youth as provided under s. 409.1455. Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.