CS/CS/HB 1229 - Department of Children and Families Reorganization

• Renames the Department of Children and Family Services to the Department of Children and Families, effective July 1, 2012.

• Authorizes the department to restructure organizational units into circuits (aligned with judicial circuits) and regions (comprising multiple circuits in geographic proximity) instead of the previous service district system.

• Establishes eight program offices: Adult Protection Services, Child Care Regulation Services, Child Welfare, Domestic Violence, Economic Self-Sufficiency Services, Homelessness, Mental Health, Refugees, and Substance Abuse.

• Requires appointment of a Program Director for Substance Abuse and a Program Director for Mental Health to head the state's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Program Office, with line authority over district program management staff.

• Aligns Department of Health service area boundaries with the Department of Children and Families service districts and removes the Governor's authority to appoint the executive director of the State Office on Homelessness.