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Senator Brown-Waite moved the following amendment:
SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 208
Amendment No.
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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