Florida Senate - 2011                                    SB 1992
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs
       
       
       
       
       586-02284-11                                          20111992__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to background screening; amending s.
    3         430.0402, F.S.; including volunteers within the
    4         definition of the term “direct service provider” for
    5         purposes of required background screening; exempting a
    6         volunteer who meets certain criteria and a client’s
    7         relative or spouse from the screening requirement;
    8         excepting certain licensed professionals and persons
    9         screened as a licensure requirement from further
   10         screening under certain circumstances; requiring
   11         direct service providers working as of a certain date
   12         to be screened within a specified period; providing a
   13         phase-in for screening direct service providers;
   14         requiring that employers of direct service providers
   15         and certain other individuals be rescreened every 5
   16         years unless fingerprints are retained electronically
   17         by the Department of Law Enforcement; removing an
   18         offense from the list of disqualifying offenses for
   19         purposes of background screening; providing an
   20         effective date.
   21  
   22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   23  
   24         Section 1. Section 430.0402, Florida Statutes, is amended
   25  to read:
   26         430.0402 Screening of direct service providers.—
   27         (1)(a) Level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435
   28  is required for direct service providers. Background screening
   29  includes employment history checks as provided in s. 435.03(1)
   30  and local criminal records checks through local law enforcement
   31  agencies.
   32         (b) For purposes of this section, the term “direct service
   33  provider” means a person 18 years of age or older, including a
   34  volunteer, who, pursuant to a program to provide services to the
   35  elderly, has direct, face-to-face contact with a client while
   36  providing services to the client and or has access to the
   37  client’s living areas or to the client’s funds or personal
   38  property. The term does not include includes coordinators,
   39  managers, and supervisors of residential facilities and
   40  volunteers who assist on an intermittent basis for less than 20
   41  hours of direct, face-to-face contact with a client per month,
   42  individuals who are related by blood to the client, or the
   43  client’s spouse.
   44         (2) Licensed physicians or, nurses, or other professionals
   45  licensed by the Department of Health, or attorneys in good
   46  standing with The Florida Bar are not subject to background
   47  screening if they are providing a service that is within the
   48  scope of their licensed practice.
   49         (3) Individuals qualified for employment by the Agency for
   50  Health Care Administration pursuant to the agency’s background
   51  screening standards for licensure or employment contained in s.
   52  408.809 are not subject to subsequent or additional Level 2
   53  screening pursuant to chapter 435, or to the unique screening
   54  requirements of this section, by virtue of their employment as a
   55  direct service provider if they are providing a service that is
   56  within the scope of their licensed practice.
   57         (4)(3) Refusal on the part of an employer to dismiss a
   58  manager, supervisor, or direct service provider who has been
   59  found to be in noncompliance with standards of this section
   60  shall result in the automatic denial, termination, or revocation
   61  of the license or certification, rate agreement, purchase order,
   62  or contract, in addition to any other remedies authorized by
   63  law.
   64         (5)Individuals serving as direct service providers on July
   65  31, 2010, must be screened by July 1, 2012. The department may
   66  adopt rules to establish a schedule to stagger the
   67  implementation of the required screening over a 1-year period,
   68  beginning July 1, 2011, through July 1, 2012.
   69         (6)An employer of a direct service provider who previously
   70  qualified for employment or volunteer work under Level 1
   71  screening standards or an individual who is required to be
   72  screened according to the Level 2 screening standards contained
   73  in chapter 435, pursuant to this section, shall be rescreened
   74  every 5 years following the date of his or her last background
   75  screening or exemption, unless such individual’s fingerprints
   76  are continuously retained and monitored by the Department of Law
   77  Enforcement in the federal fingerprint retention program
   78  according to the procedures specified in s. 943.05.
   79         (7)(4) The background screening conducted pursuant to this
   80  section must ensure that, in addition to the disqualifying
   81  offenses listed in s. 435.04, no person subject to the
   82  provisions of this section has an arrest awaiting final
   83  disposition for, has been found guilty of, regardless of
   84  adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to,
   85  or has been adjudicated delinquent and the record has not been
   86  sealed or expunged for, any offense prohibited under any of the
   87  following provisions of state law or similar law of another
   88  jurisdiction:
   89         (a) Any authorizing statutes, if the offense was a felony.
   90         (a)(b) Section 409.920, relating to Medicaid provider
   91  fraud.
   92         (b)(c) Section 409.9201, relating to Medicaid fraud.
   93         (c)(d) Section 817.034, relating to fraudulent acts through
   94  mail, wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or
   95  photooptical systems.
   96         (d)(e) Section 817.234, relating to false and fraudulent
   97  insurance claims.
   98         (e)(f) Section 817.505, relating to patient brokering.
   99         (f)(g) Section 817.568, relating to criminal use of
  100  personal identification information.
  101         (g)(h) Section 817.60, relating to obtaining a credit card
  102  through fraudulent means.
  103         (h)(i) Section 817.61, relating to fraudulent use of credit
  104  cards, if the offense was a felony.
  105         (i)(j) Section 831.01, relating to forgery.
  106         (j)(k) Section 831.02, relating to uttering forged
  107  instruments.
  108         (k)(l) Section 831.07, relating to forging bank bills,
  109  checks, drafts, or promissory notes.
  110         (l)(m) Section 831.09, relating to uttering forged bank
  111  bills, checks, drafts, or promissory notes.
  112         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.