(PDA Subcommittee Reps are Randy Berg and Chris Jones)
February 1, 2005

STATEWIDE TASK FORCES

Child Support Distribution:
(contact person is Bill Fraser)
This statewide task force focused on Florida's failure to distribute 31.7 million dollars in child support collected but sitting in state accounts awaiting allocation. They conducted training and created outreach procedures. This task force is now dormant, but will be reconstituted around the most active field programs to plan state court litigation. They want to develop a systemic reform case on the issue of the timeliness and accuracy of the State's distribution of collected support payments.

Surrogate Parents:
(contact person is Barbara Briggs)
The goal for this task force was to sue the Florida Department of Education for failure to adequately ensure that the school boards around the state were providing surrogate parents pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). This task force did an administrative action in Orange County and is focusing the next piece of advocacy around forcing a local school district to routinely appoint surrogate parents for kids with disabilities not living with biological parents. The task force is now developing litigation.

Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis & Treatment (EPSDT):
(contact person is Anne Swerlick)
The initial purpose of this task force was to bring together health law experts and juvenile court practitioners to develop and implement strategies for enforcing children's EPSDT rights through the juvenile courts. They developed a "boilerplate" memo of law on EPSDT for juvenile court practitioners to educate judges and advocate for individual children. They are looking for cases they can take up on appeal to develop some precedent for judges having the authority to enforce EPSDT rights. The task force has broadened the scope of their work to provide support to juvenile practitioners who want to enforce their client's rights to EPSDT services through the Medicaid fair hearing process. The task force is also interested in working on the health-related sections of the child welfare rules being developed by the Department of Children and Families and investigating legal issues relating to Medicaid-funded therapeutic foster care services. This Group has a list serve. There are currently 36 task force members.

Access to Unemployment Compensation for Limited English Proficient (LEP):       
(contact person is Valory Greenfield)                                                                                                                                                                This task force is investigating the following: 1) the extent to which the agency makes translated program materials available to LEP claimants; 2) the extent to which the agency provides equal access to information and benefits for LEP persons who must file claims via telephone, mail, or Internet; and 3) the existence of accommodations for LEP persons who must seek in-person assistance with their claims. This task force intends to develop a systemic strategy to address inadequacies uncovered through its investigation. This task force has 4 members.

Food Stamp Eligibility Privatization:
(contact person is Cindy Huddleston)
This task force is sharing information about Florida's demonstrative projects which test the privatization of food stamp eligibility determinations. Participants in this task force who work in areas of the state where demonstration projects are taking place will monitor adherence to clients' federal food stamp rights by the private providers. Task force members will also monitor the practical effects of privatization upon our clients (including the potential for better customer service). Members of this task force will bring their concerns to DCF's attention and endeavor to negotiate with DCF to include these areas of concern in DCF's evaluations of the demonstration project. This task force has 17 members.

"Compromise" of Food Stamp Overpayments:
(contact person is Valory Greenfield)
This task force is examining the extent to which DCF fairly informs clients charged with food stamp over-issuance of the existence of "compromise" as a means of reducing or eliminating repayment in hardship situations. This task force will seek to develop a strategy to ensure that DCF fairly evaluates the requests of clients who seek to avail themselves of the compromise option. This task force has 4 members.

Workforce Due Process (Welfare Benefits):
(contact person is Cindy Huddleston)
This task force examines the provision of due process notice and hearing rights to TANF participants whose requests for work-related support and training services are adversely denied, delayed, reduced, or changed. This task force, especially the South Florida sub-group, has been actively engaged in administrative litigation and appeals to establish that due process applies in this context in southern regions. This task force intends to participate in rule-making and/or related litigation in order to extend due process statewide. This task force has 15 members.

Relative Caregiver Program:
(contact person is Valory Greenfield)
This task force currently reviews cases ad hoc at the request of group members and offers consultation on litigation and advocacy strategies for the pursuit of these individual cases to a favorable conclusion. In the past, this task force engaged in administrative litigation to establish a meaningful application process for the Relative Caregiver Program. The group continues to focus on issues involving applicants' lack of a point of entry into the program and the availability of retroactive benefits as a result of the agency's delay in processing the case and/or converting the case from TANF benefits to the higher level RC benefits. This task force has 11 members.

Medicaid Waiver:
(contact person is Andrea Costello)
This task force was created from the Senior/Health Umbrella Group. It was established to make systemic changes to increase access to Medicaid services and to ensure that clients with disabilities, including the elderly, can obtain the services needed to remain living in their homes. This task force has conducted trainings and submitted several sample pleadings and form letters for posting on the statewide advocates' website. Task force members have engaged in administrative rule challenge proceedings, submitted comments on proposed administrative rule changes, and represented clients in a variety of forums, including Medicaid fair hearings, class action lawsuits, federal court actions and state court actions. The task force communicates by phone conferences, list serve and individual calls for case assistance. There are approximately 30 members.

Northeast Florida Consumer:
(contact person is Lynn Drysdale)
This task force maintains an email group and meets once a month to discuss consumer issues. Most months they have training. They discuss cases, litigation strategies and share pleadings. There are 14 members of this task force.

Local Health Access:
(contact person is Miriam Harmatz)
This task force was recently formed at the statewide Senior/Health Umbrella Group meeting in September 2003. It was developed to share strategies for expanding access to local healthcare services, including public hospitals, county health departments and local health care districts. Members are gathering information on local resources and procedures for obtaining free or reduced healthcare. They will share and discuss this information on their list serve. Most of their work will be done through the list serve and individual phone calls. Currently, task force members are discussing legal and strategy issues confronting advocates in Duval County who are challenging durational residency requirements for free care at the local public hospital, as well as, due process issues. There are 12 task force members.

Psychotropic Medication Task Force:
(contact person is Deborah Schroth)
This task force was formed by the Education/Juvenile Umbrella Group as a result of concern regarding the over medication of foster children. It is beginning to work on anticipated legislation this upcoming Session, as well as, drafting a rule of Juvenile Procedure similar to Rule 8.350. They have a list serve. There are 7 task force members.

Lawyers for Children Task Force:
(contact person is Gerry Glynn)
This task force promotes rights of children to have access to an attorney. They are currently surveying to access whether courts are complying with children's right to have an attorney when faced with a mental health commitment. They have monthly phone conferences and a list serve. There are 12 task force members.

Independent Living Task Force:
(contact person is Gerry Glynn)
This task force was formed to promote better services for older and former foster children as they adjust to independent living. The task force is working on proposed DCF rules, legislative issues and training. They have phone conferences every two weeks and a list serve. There are 10 task force members.

Zero Tolerance Task Force:
(contact person Deborah Schroth)
The goal of the task force is to engage in legislative activity and litigation concerning the mandatory nature of zero tolerance of so-called criminal activity in Florida's public schools, which results in inappropriate arrests and delinquency referrals, combined with school discipline.

Unemployment compensation Task Force:
(contact person Arthur Rosenberg)
This task force is working through legislative advocacy and litigation to expand eligibility for and payment of unemployment compensation benefits.

DCF Family Safety Program Rules Task Force:
(contact person Deborah Schroth)
This task force is working to improve the some 350 pages of proposed new rules that will govern almost all aspects of children and families involved in the dependency system.

Indigent Court Costs and Fees Task Force:
(contact Bill Fraser)
This task force is through litigation and legislative advocacy seeking to reform the many different implementations of the new charging of fees and costs to indigents initiating legal actions in the court system. The implementation of the new requirements which were included in the revision to Article V legislation is severely impacting access to the courts for indigents.

Predatory Lending Task Force:
(contact person Lynn Drysdale)
This task force is combating the expanding predatory lending practices around Florida. The elderly are particularly vulnerable targets of the abusive lending practices that put low-income families’ homes at risk.

Hurricane Response Task Force:
(contact person Kent Spuhler)
This task force is working to coordinate the legal assistance available to victims of the four (4) hurricanes that hit Florida in 2004. Victim service information and benefits available are shared through a listserve. The listserve is also used to identify common problems and strategize effective responses.

Food Stamp Legal Representation Notification Task Force:
(contact person Valory Greenfield)
This task force has been organized to examine the Department of Children and Families failure to meaningfully notify food stamp applicants and participants of the availability of free legal representation pursuant to DCF's obligation to do so under the federal food stamp regulations [7 CFR 273.13(a)(2)] and to devise strategies to systemically improve this notification function.

REGIONAL TASK FORCES:
REGION VII
 

Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids (HOPWA):
This task force was developed to address the issue of due process for recipients of HOPWA.

Waiver of Oath for Naturalization of Incompetent Persons:
This task force was developed to force INS to implement the statutory requirement to provide naturalization to individuals, otherwise eligible for citizenship, who are unable to take the oath due to lack of competency.

Sanctions on SSI Benefits for Alleged Fleeing Felons:
(contact person is Valory Greenfield)
This task force was developed to address SSA's overly broad application of the fleeing felon sanction in cutting off or denying SSI benefits. There are 5 task force members. This task force has not met in a couple of months. They are working their individual cases.

Denials of SSI for Cuban-Haitian Entrants:
(contact person is Valory Greenfield)
This task force was developed to address issues which have arisen in local SSA offices in their refusal to properly apply the Cuban Haitian Entrant criteria. There are 6 task force members.

FCAT Initiative:
(contact person is Margaret Zehren)
This task force was designed to provide significant additional legal resources directed at families whose children are attending a failing elementary school to see if providing legal services could have a positive impact on the quality of education. The goal of the task force is to promote educational outcomes for the children of Holmes Elementary by providing legal services to their families in critical areas. This is a Region VII collaborative effort by Legal Services of Greater Miami, Legal Aid Society of the Dade County Bar Association, Put Something Back Pro Bono Project, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Florida Legal Services, the Florida Justice Institute, and the Guardianship Program of Dade County.

Hialeah Housing Authority Task Force:
(contact person Charles Elsesser)
This task force is seeking to improve the practices, policies and procedures of the Hialeah Housing Authority.