Florida Administrative Code
65 - DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
65C - Family Safety and Preservation Program
Chapter 65C-33 - CHILD WELFARE TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION
Section 65C-33.010 - Waiver Process

(1) The waiver process is the procedure by which individuals who already meet criteria established by the Third Party Credentialing Agency are eligible to take a waiver test and enter into an individualized waiver plan in lieu of participating in the training requirements to achieve provisional certification.

(2) A waiver test shall never be given if the individual whose certification was previously revoked for cause by the Third Party Credentialing Entity.

(3) Any individual who does not pass the waiver test on his or her first attempt, shall participate in the entire pre-service curriculum, and shall successfully complete all pre-service training requirements.

(4) The employing agency shall require the participation in the entire pre-service training and post-test process of any individual for whom training needs or known job performance deficits have been identified, prior to the assignment of primary responsibility for any investigation, child, family or case.

(5) The Waiver Test.

(6) The minimum established passing score of the waiver test shall be determined by the Third Party Credentialing Entity offering the certification.

(7) The waiver test is administered and scored by the Third Party Credentialing Entity and, upon conclusion of the waiver test, the test proctor shall provide the individual with his or her preliminary waiver test score immediately upon completion of the test. Within five (5) business days of the completion of the test, the Third Party Credentialing Entity shall send the trainee his or her official score via U.S. mail or electronic mail. Each employing agency shall develop protocols with regard to the dissemination of an individual's waiver test score to personnel within the agency.

(8) The Waiver Plan.

(9) As part of any waiver plan, the employing agency may require that an individual participate in additional trainings and activities, regardless of certification status, education or experience. These additional requirements depend upon such factors as the type, length and degree of the individual's previous child welfare or other applicable experience; the individual's prior job performance history; duration of the individual's break in service (if applicable); and changes in Florida law, policy and practice which may have occurred since the individual last attended pre-service training.

(10) Regardless of certification status or any prior education or previous experience, until such time as the waiver plan has been reviewed, completed and signed by all parties, the Child Welfare Professional who has passed the waiver test shall not carry a caseload, assign or be assigned responsibility for any cases, conduct any unaccompanied or unsupervised home visits, perform any unsupervised home studies or interviews of children or adults, be ultimately responsible for any assessment of risk, be tasked with any oversight or approval of the work of others, or otherwise have primary responsibility for or provide oversight of any investigation, child, family or case.

(11) Each Child Protection Professional who passes the waiver test shall be given provisional certification.

(12) There is no waiver procedure for the full certification portion of the certification process, or for the 40 continuing education training hours required every two (2) years for certification renewal.