HB 949 Florida House · 2026 Regular Session

Child Welfare

Summary

Child Welfare; Revises definition of term "harm" to provide that exposure of child to controlled substance may be established by evidence of acute or chronic use of controlled substance by parent to specified extent; revises definition of term "neglect" to provide that neglect occurs when there is evidence of acute or chronic use of controlled substance by parent to specified extent.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 5, 2026 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 949 Filed → H 949 c1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly expanded from a narrow focus on temporary custody for relatives to a comprehensive child welfare reform. It now includes broad updates to definitions of 'harm' and 'neglect' regarding substance use, revisions to case planning and termination of parental rights, and changes to school board powers, effectively transforming the legislation into a major overhaul of the state's child protection system.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from specific temporary custody procedures to a wide-ranging amendment covering multiple chapters of the Florida Statutes, including definitions, case plans, termination of parental rights, and school board authority.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'harm' and 'neglect' was revised to explicitly establish exposure to controlled substances based on evidence of acute or chronic parental use that compromises a parent's ability to supervise a child.

REQUIREMENT

The bill was restructured to include extensive updates to case plan tasks, services, and grounds for terminating parental rights across multiple statutes.

ELIGIBILITY

While the original text focused on grandparent custody petitions, the final version broadens the scope to include various guardianship and disposition hearings for children in the dependency system.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and header were updated to reflect the expanded content, changing from 'temporary custody' to 'child welfare' and adjusting the page count from 5 to 22.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in Health & Human Services Committee

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Health & Human Services Committee

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

PCS added to Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee agenda

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Now in Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Human Services Subcommittee

lower

Jan 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors