The Florida Senate

393.065  Application and eligibility determination.--

(1)  Application for services shall be made in writing to the Department of Children and Family Services, in the district in which the applicant resides. Employees of the department's developmental services program shall review each applicant for eligibility within 45 days after the date the application is signed for children under 6 years of age and within 60 days after the date the application is signed for all other applicants. When necessary to definitively identify individual conditions or needs, the department shall provide a comprehensive assessment. Only individuals whose domicile is in Florida shall be eligible for services. Information accumulated by other agencies, including professional reports and collateral data, shall be considered in this process when available.

(2)  In order to provide immediate services or crisis intervention to applicants, the department shall arrange for emergency eligibility determination, with a full eligibility review to be accomplished within 45 days of the emergency eligibility determination.

(3)  The department shall notify each applicant, in writing, of its eligibility decision. Any applicant determined by the department to be ineligible for developmental services shall have the right to appeal this decision pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 120.57.

(4)  The department shall assess the level of need and medical necessity for prospective residents of intermediate-care facilities for the developmentally disabled after October 1, 1999. The department may enter into an agreement with the Department of Elderly Affairs for its Comprehensive Assessment and Review for Long-Term-Care Services (CARES) program to conduct assessments to determine the level of need and medical necessity for long-term-care services under this chapter. To the extent permissible under federal law, the assessments must be funded under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.

History.--s. 1, ch. 77-335; s. 42, ch. 83-218; s. 7, ch. 88-398; s. 5, ch. 94-154; s. 120, ch. 96-410; s. 82, ch. 99-8; s. 2, ch. 99-144.