SB 1700 Summary

• Creates the "Florida Safe Harbor Act" to treat sexually exploited children as dependent children rather than delinquents, providing them with specialized services including counseling, health care, substance abuse treatment, and secure housing.

• Establishes short-term safe houses and safe houses for sexually exploited children operated by licensed agencies, requiring law enforcement to deliver such children to these facilities when available rather than traditional detention.

• Creates rebuttable presumptions that placement of sexually exploited children in safe houses is necessary for shelter hearings and disposition hearings, and requires assessment of dependent children age 6+ who are sexual abuse victims for safe-house placement.

• Removes the prostitution-related offense from adult criminal prosecution for minors and creates a presumption against filing delinquency petitions for children accused of prostitution-related offenses, unless the child has prior delinquency adjudications.

• Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to address sexually exploited children's needs in district master plans and to report annually to the Legislature on safe-house placements, capacity shortages, and expenditures.