The Florida Senate

413.402  Personal care attendant program.--The Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living, in conjunction with the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of Health, shall develop a program to provide personal care attendants to persons who are eligible pursuant to subsection (1). The association and the Department of Health shall jointly develop memoranda of understanding with the Department of Revenue, the Florida Medicaid program in the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education.

(1)  Persons eligible to participate in the program must:

(a)  Be at least 18 years of age and be significantly disabled due to a traumatic spinal cord injury;

(b)  Require a personal care attendant for bathing, dressing, bowel and bladder management, and transportation;

(c)  Require a personal care attendant to maintain substantial gainful employment;

(d)  Be able to hire and supervise a personal care attendant; and

(e)  Meet one of the following requirements:

1.  Live in a nursing home;

2.  Have moved out of a nursing home within the preceding 180 days due to participation in a Medicaid home and community-based waiver program targeted to persons with brain or spinal cord injuries; or

3.  Presently be employed but, because of a loss of a caregiver, will lose employment and potentially return to a nursing home.

(2)(a)  The association, in cooperation with the Department of Health and the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, shall develop a program to recruit, screen, and select candidates to be trained as personal care attendants.

(b)  The services of a nurse registry licensed pursuant to s. 400.506 may be utilized to recruit and screen candidates and to operate as a fiscal intermediary through which payments are made to individuals performing services as personal care attendants under the program. The Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration shall seek any federal waivers necessary to implement this provision.

(3)  The association and the Department of Health, in cooperation with the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, shall develop a training program for personal care attendants.

(4)  The association, in cooperation with the Department of Health and the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, shall establish procedures for selecting persons eligible under subsection (1) to participate in the program.

(5)  The association, in cooperation with the Department of Revenue, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of Health, the Florida Medicaid program in the Agency for Health Care Administration, a representative from the state attorney's office in each of the judicial circuits participating in the program, the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, shall develop a plan for implementation of the program.

(6)  The Department of Health shall establish an oversight workgroup for the personal care attendant program to oversee the implementation and administration of the program. The workgroup shall be composed of one representative from the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of Health, one representative from the Department of Revenue, one representative from the Florida Medicaid Program in the Agency for Health Care Administration, one representative from the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, one representative from the Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living, one representative from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, and two members who are persons with traumatic spinal cord injuries or are family members of persons with traumatic spinal cord injuries.

History.--s. 1, ch. 2002-286; s. 2, ch. 2005-172.