AI-assisted research summary: This section defines key terms used in the chapter, including affiliation, agency, employee, employer, employment, qualified entity, specified agency, and vulnerable person.
435.02 Definitions.—For the purposes of this chapter, the term:(1) “Affiliation” means the status of a person employed or serving as a volunteer or contractor, or seeking to be employed or to serve as a volunteer or contractor, with a qualified entity in a position for which screening is not required by law but is authorized under the National Child Protection Act. (2) “Agency” means any state, county, or municipal agency that grants licenses or registration permitting the operation of an employer or is itself an employer or that otherwise facilitates the screening of employees pursuant to this chapter. If there is no state agency or the municipal or county agency chooses not to conduct employment screening, “agency” means the Department of Children and Families. (3) “Employee” means any person required by law to be screened pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, persons who are contractors, licensees, or volunteers. (4) “Employer” means any person or entity required by law to conduct screening of employees pursuant to this chapter. (5) “Employment” means any activity or service sought to be performed by an employee or a person with an affiliation which requires the employee, or for which a person with an affiliation is authorized, to be screened pursuant to this chapter. (6) “Qualified entity” has the same meaning as in s. 943.0542(1). (7) “Specified agency” means the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Families, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Elderly Affairs, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, each district unit under s. 1001.30, special district units under s. 1011.24, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind under s. 1002.36, the Florida Virtual School under s. 1002.37, virtual instruction programs under s. 1002.45, charter schools under s. 1002.33, hope operators under s. 1002.333, private schools participating in an educational scholarship program established pursuant to chapter 1002, alternative schools under s. 1008.341, regional workforce boards providing services as defined in s. 445.002(3), and local licensing agencies approved pursuant to s. 402.307, when these agencies are conducting state and national criminal history background screening on persons who work with children or persons who are elderly or disabled. (8) “Vulnerable person” means a minor as defined in s. 1.01 or a vulnerable adult as defined in s. 415.102.