Florida state senator wants to change controversial Department of Juvenile Justice pay system

Florida state senator wants to change controversial Department of Juvenile Justice pay system

Just as the Florida Association of Counties had given up on changing what officials call a backward way of funding the Department of Juvenile Justice, state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, gave the group some hope.

For more than a decade, the Department of Juvenile Justice would have to fill a pot of required money every year from counties for its estimated costs, and would assess a future estimate for percentages owed by each county under state statute. Then, when actual costs for the fiscal year were finished, each county would receive an additional bill or a reimbursement from the department.

Cragin Mosteller, FAC spokeswoman, said the illogical system of billing never results in accurate amounts for counties and can tie up payments for years.

"It's set up to fail. So let's say Manatee pays $500,000 for the year, then DJJ would come back and say 'Oh, well you owe $600,000, or bonus, you only owe $400,000,' " Mosteller said. "And that number can swing by $1 million or more for any given county. It's not based on actual costs, it's based on filling the pot. So it resulted in lots and lots of lawsuits."

Latvala filed a bill Tuesday to stop the prepayment system, with every county simply paying its share of the prior year's cost starting in fiscal year 2016-17. It also would make counties pay 50 percent of juvenile detention costs while the state pays the other 50 percent. It does not have a matching House bill.

Manatee and several other Florida counties have filed lawsuits against the Department of Juvenile Justice alleging overpayments without appropriate reimbursements.

The DJJ had counties pay 75 percent of costs between 2009 and 2013, until a federal court ruled the payment system invalid. The department reassessed fiscal year 2013-14 by billing counties 32 percent of detention costs. The Legislature didn't pass any relevant bills in the 2014 session, and the department came out with a new rule interpretation: Counties owed 57 percent of costs.

"So the DJJ has changed its billing procedure no less than three times," Mosteller said. "So the counties want a refund, and depending on who you ask, it could be anywhere from $50 million to $200 million statewide."

The Legislature passed what is known as the clawback provision in 2015, which says the state does not have to reimburse counties for revenue sharing if the DJJ says the county has not met its financial obligations. Citing a prediction there would be a constitutional challenge to the clawback provision, the Manatee County Commission voted in September to continue paying the reduced 32 percent of costs rather than the 57 percent rate so it would have legal standing in the event of a challenge.

The Department of Juvenile Justice billed the county monthly payments of $66,272 under the 57 percent rate between July 2015 and June 2016, but the county has been paying $40,725.99 per month for the current fiscal year. The state reacted by withholding revenue sharing from the county, and the state could withhold a total of $311,952 for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

"Another frustrating piece of this is that every step along the way, counties have won in the courts on these disputes," said Nick Azzara, Manatee County spokesman. "And our legislators, in their infinite wisdom, change the rules so it fits their view."

Mosteller said FAC hopes Latvala's legislation can provide more stability to the county payment system to DJJ.

"Refunds are about fixing the past," Mosteller said. "But if you do not fix paying on actual expenses, you can't even fix the future. So you're just continuing to build on this problem."

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Florida state senator wants to change controversial Department of Juvenile Justice pay system ."