CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.


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Senator Brown-Waite moved the following amendment:



                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    

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11  Senator Brown-Waite moved the following amendment:

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13         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 

14         Delete everything after the enacting clause

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16  and insert:

17         Section 1.  Subsection (5) is added to section 400.121,

18  Florida Statutes, to read:

19         400.121  Denial, suspension, revocation of license;

20  moratorium on admissions; administrative fines; procedure.--

21         (5)  An action taken by the agency to deny, suspend, or

22  revoke a facility's license under this part, in which the

23  agency claims that the facility owner or an employee of the

24  facility has threatened the health, safety, or welfare of a

25  resident of the facility, shall be heard by the Division of

26  Administrative Hearings of the Department of Management

27  Services within 120 days after receipt of the facility's

28  request for a hearing, unless the time limitation is waived by

29  both parties.  The administrative law judge must render a

30  decision within 30 days after receipt of a proposed

31  recommended order.  This subsection does not modify the

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    





 1  requirement that an administrative hearing be held within 90

 2  days after a license is suspended under paragraph (4)(b).

 3         Section 2.  Section 400.215, Florida Statutes, is

 4  created to read:

 5         400.215  Personnel screening requirement.--

 6         (1)  The agency shall require background screening as

 7  provided in chapter 435 for all employees or prospective

 8  employees of facilities licensed under part II who are

 9  expected to, or whose responsibilities may require them to:

10         (a)  Provide personal care or services to residents;

11         (b)  Have access to resident living areas; or

12         (c)  Have access to resident funds or other personal

13  property.

14         (2)  Employers and employees shall comply with the

15  requirements of s. 435.05.

16         (a)  Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 435.05(1),

17  facilities must have in their possession evidence that level 1

18  screening has been completed before allowing an employee to

19  begin working with patients as provided in subsection (1). All

20  information necessary for conducting background screening

21  using level 1 standards as specified in s. 435.03(1) and for

22  conducting a search of the central abuse registry and tracking

23  system as specified in s. 435.03(3)(a) shall be submitted by

24  the nursing facility to the agency. Results of the background

25  screening and the abuse registry check shall be provided by

26  the agency to the requesting nursing facility.

27         (b)  Employees qualified under the provisions of

28  paragraph (a) who have not maintained continuous residency

29  within the state for the 5 years immediately preceding the

30  date of request for background screening must complete level 2

31  screening, as provided in chapter 435. Such employees may work

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    





 1  in a conditional status up to 180 days pending the receipt of

 2  written findings evidencing the completion of level 2

 3  screening. Level 2 screening shall not be required of

 4  employees or prospective employees who attest in writing under

 5  penalty of perjury that they meet the residency requirement.

 6  Completion of level 2 screening shall require the employee or

 7  prospective employee to furnish to the nursing facility a full

 8  set of fingerprints to enable a criminal background

 9  investigation to be conducted. The nursing facility shall

10  submit the completed fingerprint card to the agency. The

11  agency shall establish a record of the request in the database

12  provided for in paragraph (c) and forward the request to the

13  Department of Law Enforcement, which is authorized to submit

14  the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a

15  national criminal history records check. The results of the

16  national criminal history records check shall be returned to

17  the agency, which shall maintain the results in the database

18  provided for in paragraph (c). The agency shall notify the

19  administrator of the requesting nursing facility or the

20  administrator of any other facility licensed under chapter

21  393, chapter 394, chapter 395, chapter 397, or this chapter,

22  as requested by such facility, as to whether or not the

23  employee has qualified under level 1 or level 2 screening. An

24  employee or prospective employee who has qualified under level

25  2 screening and has maintained such continuous residency

26  within the state shall not be required to complete a

27  subsequent level 2 screening as a condition of employment at

28  another facility.

29         (c)  The agency shall establish and maintain a database

30  of background screening information which shall include the

31  results of both level 1 and level 2 screening and central

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    





 1  abuse registry and tracking system checks. The Department of

 2  Law Enforcement shall timely provide to the agency,

 3  electronically, the results of each statewide screening for

 4  incorporation into the database. The Department of Children

 5  and Family Services shall provide the agency with electronic

 6  access to the central abuse registry and tracking system. The

 7  agency shall search the registry to identify any confirmed

 8  report and shall access such report for incorporation into the

 9  database. The agency shall, upon request from any facility,

10  agency, or program required by or authorized by law to screen

11  its employees or applicants, notify the administrator of the

12  facility, agency, or program of the qualifying or

13  disqualifying status of the employee or applicant named in the

14  request.

15         (d)  Applicants and employees shall be excluded from

16  employment pursuant to s. 435.06.

17         (3)  The applicant is responsible for paying the fees

18  associated with obtaining the required screening.  Payment for

19  the screening and the abuse registry check shall be submitted

20  to the agency. The agency shall establish a schedule of fees

21  to cover the costs of level 1 and level 2 screening and the

22  abuse registry check. Facilities may reimburse employees for

23  these costs. The agency shall, as allowable, reimburse nursing

24  facilities for the cost of conducting background screening as

25  required by this section.  This reimbursement will not be

26  subject to any rate ceilings or payment targets in the

27  Medicaid Reimbursement plan.

28         (4)(a)  As provided in s. 435.07, the agency may grant

29  an exemption from disqualification to an employee or

30  prospective employee who is subject to this section and who

31  has not received a professional license or certification from

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    





 1  the Department of Health.

 2         (b)  As provided in s. 435.07, the Department of Health

 3  may grant an exemption from disqualification to an employee or

 4  prospective employee who is subject to this section and who

 5  has received a professional license or certification from the

 6  Department of Health.

 7         (5)  Any provision of law to the contrary

 8  notwithstanding, persons who have been screened and qualified

 9  as required by this section and who have not been unemployed

10  for more than 180 days thereafter, and who under penalty of

11  perjury attest to not having been convicted of a disqualifying

12  offense since the completion of such screening, shall not be

13  required to be rescreened. An employer may obtain, pursuant to

14  s. 435.10, written verification of qualifying screening

15  results from the previous employer or other entity which

16  caused such screening to be performed.

17         (6)  The agency and the Department of Health shall have

18  authority to adopt rules pursuant to the Administrative

19  Procedures Act to implement this section.

20         (7)  All employees shall comply with the requirements

21  of this section by October 1, 1998. No current employee of a

22  nursing facility as of the effective date of this act shall be

23  required to submit to rescreening if the nursing facility has

24  in its possession written evidence that the person has been

25  screened and qualified according to level 1 standards as

26  specified in s. 435.03(1). Any current employee who meets the

27  level 1 requirement but does not meet the 5-year residency

28  requirement as specified in this section must provide to the

29  employing nursing facility written attestation under penalty

30  of perjury that the employee has not been convicted of a

31  disqualifying offense in another state or jurisdiction. All

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    





 1  applicants hired on or after October 1, 1998, shall comply

 2  with the requirements of this section.

 3         (8)  There is no monetary or unemployment liability on

 4  the part of, and no cause of action for damages arising

 5  against an employer that, upon notice of a disqualifying

 6  offense listed under chapter 435 or a confirmed report of

 7  abuse, neglect, or exploitation or an act of domestic

 8  violence, terminates the employee against whom the report was

 9  issued, whether or not the employee has filed for an exemption

10  with the Department of Health or the Agency for Health Care

11  Administration.

12         Section 3.  Subsection (5) of section 400.211, Florida

13  Statutes, is repealed.

14         Section 4.  This act shall take effect on July 1 of the

15  year in which enacted.

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18  ================ T I T L E   A M E N D M E N T ===============

19  And the title is amended as follows:

20         Delete everything before the enacting clause

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22  and insert:

23                      A bill to be entitled

24         An act relating to nursing facilities; amending

25         s. 400.121, F.S.; providing procedure for

26         administrative hearings on certain actions to

27         deny, suspend, or revoke a nursing facility's

28         license; creating s. 400.215, F.S.; requiring

29         background screening for certain nursing

30         facility employees; providing requirements for

31         employers and employees; authorizing

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208

    Amendment No.    





 1         conditional status for certain employees;

 2         requiring the Agency for Health Care

 3         Administration to establish and maintain a

 4         database and provide certain information;

 5         providing for screening fees; providing for

 6         exemptions from disqualification; providing an

 7         exemption from rescreening for certain persons;

 8         providing for certain sharing of screening

 9         information among employers; providing for

10         adoption of rules; specifying dates and

11         conditions for compliance by employees and new

12         applicants; repealing s. 400.211(5), F.S.,

13         relating to screening requirements for

14         certified nursing assistants; providing an

15         effective date.

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