The Florida Senate

393.065  Application and eligibility determination.--

(1)  Application for services shall be made in writing to the agency, in the service area in which the applicant resides. The agency 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 agency shall provide a comprehensive assessment. Only applicants whose domicile is in Florida are 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 agency shall arrange for emergency eligibility determination, with a full eligibility review to be accomplished within 45 days of the emergency eligibility determination.

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

(4)  The agency shall assess the level of need and medical necessity for prospective residents of intermediate-care facilities for the developmentally disabled. The agency 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 shall be funded under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.

(5)  With the exception of clients deemed to be in crisis whom the agency shall serve as described in rule, the agency shall place at the top of its wait list for waiver services those children on the wait list who are from the child welfare system with an open case in the Department of Children and Family Services' statewide automated child welfare information system.

(6)  The agency may adopt rules specifying application procedures and eligibility criteria as needed to administer this section.

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; s. 100, ch. 2004-267; s. 13, ch. 2006-227.