Senate Bill 1246
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1246
By Senator Burt
16-626A-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Department of Elderly
3 Affairs; amending s. 20.41, F.S.; providing
4 findings; providing powers and duties; revising
5 the responsibility of the area agencies'
6 boards; providing for board membership;
7 providing for the appointment of board
8 executive directors; providing for audits and
9 exemption from chapter 120, F.S.; establishing
10 service areas for the department; providing for
11 reviews and requiring a report to the
12 Legislature; providing for the conversion of
13 existing agencies; providing for the
14 continuation of certain contracts; providing an
15 effective date.
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17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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19 Section 1. Legislative findings.--Based on demographic
20 studies and documents, public comment and hearing testimony
21 from elderly citizens, providers of services to the elderly,
22 local units of government, and currently designated area
23 agencies on aging, the Legislature finds that systemic
24 restructuring, administrative streamlining, and financial
25 management improvements are necessary to meet the ever-growing
26 needs of older citizens. The Legislature also acknowledges the
27 recommendations of the Long Term Care Commission that Florida
28 should plan for long-term care in a unified, cooperative
29 process to ensure that the state's long-term-care dollars are
30 spent in the most appropriate and cost-effective mix of
31 institutional, residential, and community services and that
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1 integration of the acute and long-term-care systems is
2 critical to its success. Further, the Legislature acknowledges
3 that, during the past two decades, area agencies on aging have
4 successfully performed a vital role in developing and
5 coordinating home- and community-based services for older
6 citizens and are well-positioned to assume a more central role
7 in the management and coordination of long-term-care services
8 and benefits. Therefore, a comprehensive, coordinated, and
9 broader-based enhancement of the aging system's governance
10 shall be established to include all aspects of planning,
11 benefits, and services, both federal and state.
12 Section 2. Section 20.41, Florida Statutes, is amended
13 to read:
14 20.41 Department of Elderly Affairs.--There is created
15 a Department of Elderly Affairs.
16 (1) The head of the department is the Secretary of
17 Elderly Affairs. The secretary must be appointed by the
18 Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The
19 requirement for Senate confirmation applies to any person so
20 appointed on or after July 1, 1994. The secretary serves at
21 the pleasure of the Governor. The secretary shall administer
22 the affairs of the department and may employ assistants,
23 professional staff, and other employees as necessary to
24 discharge the powers and duties of the department.
25 (2) In order to maximize funding for client services
26 and increase administrative efficiency, the department shall
27 plan and administer its programs and services primarily
28 through contracts with area agencies on aging and with other
29 public and private entities within planning and service areas
30 as designated by the department.
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1 (3) The department shall maintain its headquarters in
2 Tallahassee.
3 (4) The department shall administratively house the
4 State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Council, created by s.
5 400.0067, and the district long-term care ombudsman councils,
6 created by s. 400.0069 and shall, as required by s. 712 of the
7 federal Older Americans Act of 1965, ensure that both the
8 state and district long-term care ombudsman councils operate
9 in compliance with the Older Americans Act. The councils in
10 performance of their duties shall not be subject to control,
11 supervision, or direction by the department.
12 (5) The department shall be the state unit on aging as
13 defined in the federal Older Americans Act of 1965, as
14 amended, and shall exercise all responsibilities pursuant to
15 that act.
16 (6) In accordance with the federal Older Americans Act
17 of 1965, as amended, the department shall designate and
18 contract with area agencies on aging in each of the
19 department's planning and service areas. Area agencies on
20 aging, pursuant to contracts with the department, shall ensure
21 a coordinated and integrated provision of long-term care
22 services to the elderly and shall ensure the provision of
23 prevention and early intervention services. The contracted
24 services may include services funded by the Older Americans
25 Act or other federal or state aging and long-term-care
26 programs to secure a comprehensive continuum of services. The
27 department shall have overall responsibility for information
28 system planning and functions. The department shall ensure,
29 through the development of equipment, software, data, and
30 connectivity standards, the ability to share and integrate
31 information collected and reported by the area agencies or by
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1246
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1 providers in support of their contracted obligations to the
2 state.
3 (7) The department shall contract with the governing
4 body, hereafter referred to as the "board," of an area agency
5 on aging to fulfill programmatic and funding requirements.
6 The board shall:
7 (a) Be responsible for the overall direction of the
8 area agency's programs and services; and shall
9 (b) Ensure that the area agency is administered in
10 accordance with the terms of its contract with the department,
11 legal requirements, established agency policy, and effective
12 management principles;. The board shall also
13 (c) Ensure the accountability of the agency to the
14 local communities included in the planning and service area of
15 the agency;.
16 (d) Annually determine, within department parameters,
17 the local county allocations of service funds within the
18 planning and service area;
19 (e) Review and adjudicate service recipient and
20 provider grievances and appeals of adverse decisions by
21 providers;
22 (f) Review responsive bids and determine the
23 successful bidder in area agency on aging requests for
24 proposals;
25 (g) Conduct periodic evaluations of, and public
26 hearings on, activities carried out under the area plan,
27 including outreach activities; and
28 (h) Otherwise serve as an advisory body for the
29 department in local issues relating to the needs of the
30 elderly.
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1 (8)(a) Effective January 1, 2001, the board of the
2 area agencies shall consist of members from within the
3 planning and service area, as follows: one member appointed by
4 the Governor from a list of nominees submitted by the
5 secretary, one member appointed by the President of the
6 Senate, one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
7 Representatives, one member appointed by the area agency on
8 aging board for each county within the planning and service
9 area, and additional members provided for the more populous
10 counties pursuant to subsection (11), appointed by the
11 respective county commissions. The board of directors may
12 appoint up to six at-large members. Preference in the initial
13 board appointments should be given to individuals having past
14 experience as members of area agency on aging boards. Board
15 members appointed by the area agency on aging boards and
16 gubernatorial appointments shall serve 3-year terms, the
17 legislative appointees shall serve 2-year terms, and the board
18 of directors appointees shall serve 1-year terms. Board
19 members may be reappointed and serve multiple terms not to
20 exceed a total of 8 years.
21 (b) Nominations for appointment shall be solicited
22 from a broad cross-section of the public, private, and
23 volunteer sectors of each county in the respective planning
24 and service area to ensure balanced age, minority, and gender
25 representation. Each area agency on aging board shall elect a
26 nominating committee to solicit, evaluate, and present
27 nominations to fill board vacancies. The following standards
28 apply to the solicitation of individuals to fill vacant board
29 seats:
30 1. Announcements of vacancies must be published in the
31 legal section of the newspaper of greatest circulation in the
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1 county where the board seat is located, soliciting interested
2 individuals to apply;
3 2. The nominating committee must provide written
4 notification of the vacancy to the chairperson of the county
5 board of commissioners requesting the county board to
6 recommend an individual to fill the vacant seat; and
7 3. The nominating committee must notify units of local
8 general purpose government and other interested entities
9 regarding vacancies on the board, as it deems appropriate.
10 (9)(8) The area agency on aging board shall, in
11 consultation with and approval by the secretary, appoint a
12 chief executive officer, hereafter referred to as the
13 "executive director," to whom shall be delegated
14 responsibility for agency management and for implementation of
15 board policy, and who shall be accountable for the agency's
16 performance. The Secretary of Elderly Affairs shall
17 participate in the annual evaluations of the executive
18 director.
19 (10) Applications; enforcement; audits; exemption from
20 chapter 120.--The boards of the area agencies on aging are
21 subject to the public records and public meetings provisions
22 of chapters 119 and 286, respectively; to rules adopted by the
23 department which affect service delivery and grievance
24 procedures; and to all terms specified by contract with the
25 department. The department shall continue by contract to
26 require area agencies on aging to submit to independent audits
27 and to file such audits with the department. To the extent,
28 provided by contract with the department, area agencies on
29 aging, their subcontractors, and other provider vendors of the
30 department are exempt from the provisions of chapters 112,
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1 120, and 287 to assure quality and to promote economies and
2 efficiencies in the privatization of services to the elderly.
3 (11) The department shall plan and administer its
4 programs through planning and service areas composed of the
5 following counties. Each board shall include at least one
6 member per county except as provided below:
7 (a) Area 1: Escambia County (2 board members); Santa
8 Rosa County; Okaloosa County; Walton County; Holmes County;
9 Washington County; Bay County; Jackson County; Calhoun County;
10 Gulf County; Gadsden County; Liberty County; Wakulla County;
11 and Franklin County.
12 (b) Area 2: Leon County; Jefferson County; Madison
13 County; Taylor County; Hamilton County; Suwannee County;
14 Lafayette County; Dixie County; Columbia County; Gilchrist
15 County; Levy County; Sumpter County; Citrus County (2 board
16 members); Lake County (2 board members); Marion County (2
17 board members); and Alachua County.
18 (c) Area 3: Baker County; Nassau County; Duval County
19 (3 board members); Clay County; Putnam County; St. Johns
20 County; Flagler County; Union County; Bradford County; and
21 Volusia County (3 board members).
22 (d) Area 4: Hernando County; Pasco County (3 board
23 members); Pinellas County (5 board members); and Hillsborough
24 County (4 board members).
25 (e) Area 5: Okeechobee County; St. Lucie County;
26 Seminole County (2 board members); Orange County (3 board
27 members); Polk County (3 board members); Osceola County;
28 Brevard County (3 board members); and Indian River County.
29 (f) Area 6: Manatee County (2 board members); Hardee
30 County; Highlands County; Sarasota County (3 board members);
31 DeSoto County; Charlotte County (2 board members); Lee County
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1246
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1 (3 board members); Collier County (2 board members); Glades
2 County; and Hendry County.
3 (g) Area 7: Martin County (2 board members); Palm
4 Beach County (5 board members); and Broward County (6 board
5 members).
6 (h) Area 8: Monroe County; and Dade County (7 board
7 members).
8 Section 3. Savings achieved from the reduction in the
9 number of planning and service areas shall be used for client
10 services. Until July 1, 2000, the program funding level may
11 not be reduced below the 1997-1998 level for any county unless
12 there is a statewide funding reduction or the department
13 concludes that, because of a significant change in
14 circumstances, fairness requires county funding adjustments.
15 Section 4. (1) Where the department deems feasible,
16 the current area agencies on aging may convert or revise their
17 present organizations in order to meet the requirements of
18 this act. Where planning and service area realignments create
19 conflicts, the department shall assist in resolving such
20 conflicts.
21 (2) All departmental and provider contracts with
22 currently designated area agencies on aging may be extended
23 through December 31, 1998.
24 (3) All current area agency on aging board members
25 shall continue as members according to their county of
26 residence within the planning and service areas through
27 December 31, 2000, unless such members request appointment
28 pursuant to section 20.41(8), Florida Statutes.
29 Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 1998.
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1246
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2 SENATE SUMMARY
3 Revises provisions relating to the organization and
duties of area agencies within the Department of Elderly
4 Affairs. Establishes area agencies on aging; establishes
the composition, powers, and duties of the governing
5 boards of such agencies. Exempts such boards from the
provisions of ch. 120, F.S., and divides the state into 8
6 service areas. Provides for review by the department and
requires a report to the Legislature.
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