Fla. Admin. Code R. 63H-3.002 – Direct Care Pre-Service and Pre-Operational Training for State and Contracted Direct Care Staff

(1) Direct Care Pre-Service (DCPS) Training shall be a minimum of 120 hours and be conducted at the workplace. DCPS Training shall consist of all web-based and instructor-led topics, exams, and all on-the-job training. State direct care staff, state circuit administrators, state facility administrators and contracted direct care staff shall successfully complete the following topics within 180 calendar days of hire. State circuit administrators are exempt from Right Interactions certification. Probation direct care staff and state circuit administrators are exempt from the Defending Against Contraband training requirement.
1. (a) Direct care staff shall not be in the presence of youth until the first eight topics below are successfully completed:
  1. Child Abuse Recognition, Reporting, and Prevention,
  2. CPR/First Aid/Automatic Electronic Defibrillator (AED). All CPR/First Aid/AED training must be Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) accredited. AED training is only required at sites that have AEDs on property,
  3. Emergency Procedures,
  4. Facility or Program Operating Procedures,
  5. Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA),
  6. Professionalism, Interpersonal Communication, and Ethics to include Standards of Conduct,
  7. Right Interactions certified,
  8. Suicide Awareness and Prevention,
  9. Active Shooter Training,
  10. Adolescent Development and Behavior,
  11. Rehabilitative Justice,
  12. Central Communications Center Incident Reporting,
  13. Civil Rights,
  14. Communication,
  15. Confidentiality/Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
  16. Defending Against Contraband,
  17. DJJ Legacy,
  18. Equal Employment Opportunity,
  19. Gang Awareness,
  20. Human Trafficking Intervention,
  21. Infection Control/Bloodborne Pathogens,
  22. Information Security Awareness,
  23. Juvenile Justice Information Systems,
  24. Mental Health and Substance Abuse,
  25. Motivational Interviewing (MI),
  26. Report Writing,
  27. Safety, Security, and Supervision of Youth,
  28. Sexual Harassment Training,
  29. Trauma Responsive Practices,
  30. Quality Customer Service.
2. (b) Upon successful completion of the first eight topics, the newly hired direct care staff may be in the presence of youth while the remaining topics are completed, as long as they are under the direct supervision of a certified (state) or trained (provider) staff. The sole exception allowing a direct care staff to have unsupervised contact with youth applies only to employees in the Juvenile Probation Officer (JPO) class or contracted Probation and Community Intervention direct care staff.
  1. JPOs and Probation contracted direct care staff are authorized to be in the presence of youth under the direct supervision of a certified (state) or trained (provider) team member beginning on the first day of employment.
  2. Newly hired JPOs and Probation contracted direct care staff may begin to have unsupervised contact with youth to assist with conducting and documenting contacts, including face-to-face contacts, with youth in settings such as a detention center, adult jail, school, after-school program, or community worksite, or day treatment center or when a JPO is job-shadowing a certified JPO for the sole purpose of the observation of job duties. This exception is further limited as follows:
  a. The staff must have successfully completed the first eight topics,
  b. The staff must have been employed with the department a minimum of 30 days, and
  c. The staff is only authorized to relay information to and from the assigned JPO.
  d. Under no circumstances is a newly hired, uncertified JPO or untrained contracted team member authorized to accept the official assignment of a case or to oversee a caseload.
3. (c) In the event staffing issues identify a need for additional support at a state-operated secure detention facility, and upon a mutually agreed upon determination by the Assistant Secretaries for the Office of Detention Services and the Office of Probation and Community Intervention, certified JPOs may provide direct care support in a secure detention facility. In order for a JPO to be considered for this temporary support, the following conditions must be met:
  1. The JPO must be in good standing and receive the approval of their supervisor.
  2. The JPO must understand that the support must not supersede or impact their primary daily responsibilities as a JPO.
  3. The JPO must be assigned to work with a certified officer when in direct contact with youth and shall not be assigned the oversight of a detention trainee. The sole exception to this is when the JPO was previously certified as a Juvenile Detention Officer (JDO) and all required training is current.
  4. Unless the training has been successfully completed within the calendar year, the JPO must complete the following training before providing direct care to a youth in a secure detention facility:
  a. Right Interactions: Successful completion of the content delivered in the facility-based portion of the RI training that is not included in the community-based portion of the RI training. Successful completion shall include the delivery of content and the performance evaluation of the techniques on the facility-based RI training plan that are not included in the community-based RI training plan.
  b. Behavior Management,
  c. Safety, Security, and Supervision of Youth,
  d. Suicide Awareness and Prevention – Detention Specific,
  e. Unit Log,
  f. Facility Operating Procedures.
4. (d) All state and provider direct care staff shall adhere to all applicable training requirements set forth in Chapter 63M-2, F.A.C. Health Services and Chapter 63N-1, F.A.C. Service Delivery.
5. (e) The 180-day timeframe for completion of training requirements may be extended up to 90 days upon request sent by a Regional Director. The Regional Director shall forward the request to the Training Entity, who is authorized to grant the extension based on the following:
  1. Death of an immediate family member,
  2. Serious chronic condition, illness, or injury,
  3. Immediate family crisis,
  4. Court appearance,
  5. Military duty,
  6. Family Medical Leave; or
  7. Other emergency or unforeseen circumstances.
6. (f) In the event of a state or national emergency, the Secretary of the department, by issuance of a memorandum, may temporarily freeze all training. The timeframe of the freeze shall toll the mandated number of days required to satisfactorily complete training requirements identified within this rule.
7. (g) All training requirements for Prevention Services contracted employees and Probation and Community Intervention contracted employees shall be identified in contract. The Assistant Secretary for each area shall determine the required training based on the population for whom they are assigned responsibility in each individual contract to ensure the employees are well trained. The Assistant Secretary for Probation and Community Intervention shall determine the required training for state Juvenile Probation Officers who do not carry a caseload and whose sole duty is to conduct detention screenings.
(2) Supervisor Training:
1. (a) All newly hired direct care supervisors shall complete a minimum of 16 hours of supervisory training within 90 days of employment.
2. (b) The coursework shall include the following topics:
  1. Coaching,
  2. Leadership,
  3. Personal Accountability.
(3) Pre-Operational Training for Contracted Residential Direct Care Staff.
1. (a) In the event a new contract is executed and the provider has no previous experience with the department or does not have the capacity to maintain supervision ratios identified in contract by trained staff, all topics in paragraph 63H-3.002(1)(a), F.A.C., shall be successfully completed prior to providing any services to youth.
2. (b) Once sufficient staff have completed the training in (3)(a) above so that minimum staffing ratios are met, additional newly hired direct care staff, upon successful completion of the first eight topics, may be in the presence of youth while the remaining courses are competed, as long as they are under the direct supervision of a fully trained staff.
  1. Child Abuse Recognition, Reporting, and Prevention,
  2. CPR/First Aid certified,
  3. Emergency Procedures,
  4. Facility or Program Operating Procedures,
  5. RI certified,
  6. PREA,
  7. Professionalism, Interpersonal Communication, and Ethics to include Standards of Conduct,
  8. Suicide Awareness and Prevention.

Rulemaking Authority 985.601, 985.645 FS. Law Implemented 985.02(3), 985.601, 985.645 FS. History–New 3-6-22, Amended 8-3-23, 9-25-25, 6-23-26.