SB 7000 Summary

• Establishes a new central abuse hotline (s. 39.101) operating 24/7 to receive reports of child abuse, abandonment, neglect, and child-on-child sexual abuse; requires investigations to commence immediately for emergency situations or within 24 hours for other cases.

• Replaces outdated terminology by deleting "juvenile sexual abuse" and defining "child-on-child sexual abuse" as inappropriate sexual activity between children without adult involvement that occurs without consent, equality, or as a result of coercion.

• Requires animal control officers and certain professionals (physicians, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, judges) to provide their names when reporting suspected child abuse; mandates reporting penalties as felonies of the third degree for failure to report.

• Establishes cross-reporting requirements between child protective investigators and animal control officers, recognizing that animal abuse often co-occurs with child abuse; requires mandatory 1-hour training for both professions on identifying and reporting the interconnection between child and animal abuse.

• Increases criminal penalties for sexual activities involving animals from first-degree misdemeanor to third-degree felony; requires courts to issue orders prohibiting convicted individuals from owning, possessing, or residing with animals for at least 5 years.