Brooke Bass, assistant secretary for the Office of Child and Family Well-Being at the Florida Department of Children and Families, told the Senate Committee on Children, Families and Elder Affairs that child protection teams (CPTs) perform medical evaluations, forensic and specialized interviews and multidisciplinary staffings that inform safety and service-planning decisions.

"Collaboration is at the heart of child protection," Bass said, describing a statewide effort to replicate Jacksonville's co-located model and noting that during fiscal year 2024'25 the department conducted 131,484 child protective investigations, about 43% of which required CPT collaboration.

The Department of Health's Bureau Chief for Child Protection and Special Technologies, Patricia Armstrong, described the DOH role in contracting and oversight for CPTs and pointed lawmakers to the mandated-referral criteria in statute 39.303. "The mandated referral criteria are outlined in 39.303," she said, and listed examples such as head injuries, fractures at any age and bruises on children 5 and younger.

Local providers said CPTs and Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) reduce trauma and speed investigations. Roshanna Agarath, director of the Polk County CAC, described co-location with the CPT and said her center provided forensic interviews, family advocacy and immediate referrals to counseling and services; Polk served about 1,500 children last year and is on track to serve nearly 1,700 this year. "The CAC is where the worst moments of a child's life meets their first steps towards healing," Agarath said.

Luzette Cruz, executive director of the Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, said Florida's CACs serve roughly 25,000 new children annually and that the network counts about 26 member centers, 23 of which are nationally accredited by the National Children's Alliance. Cruz and other panelists said CACs are voluntary in Florida but often operate under contracts and memoranda of understanding with CPTs and local partners to provide a coordinated response.

Panelists described common strategies to expand access: telemedicine (15 DOH-funded sites were described as telemedicine-capable), co-location of CPT staff with CACs or law enforcement, and regional shared staffing for small or rural counties. Patricia Armstrong said DOH oversees 22 primary CPT offices and 36 satellite offices and that services provided vary by the child's needs.

Panelists and lawmakers agreed that workforce and funding stability are central constraints. Cruz said sustainable funding is essential to recruit and retain medical and mental-health providers and to expand services into underserved counties.

The committee requested follow-up materials, including a county-level list of CAC locations and additional provider and staffing counts from DCF and DOH.