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House Bill 0803c1

Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 803 By the Committee on Elder Affairs & Long Term Care and Representative Eggelletion 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to Alzheimer's disease; 3 creating s. 400.4178, F.S.; providing standards 4 for facilities that provide special care for 5 persons with Alzheimer's disease and other 6 related disorders; providing employee training 7 requirements; providing continuing education 8 requirements; providing for approval of 9 education courses and providers; providing for 10 fees; providing for rules; amending s. 400.452, 11 F.S.; including education on Alzheimer's 12 disease and related disorders in the core 13 educational requirement for facility 14 administrators and staff; providing an 15 effective date. 16 17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 19 Section 1. Section 400.4178, Florida Statutes, is 20 created to read: 21 400.4178 Special care for persons with Alzheimer's 22 disease or other related disorders.-- 23 (1) A facility which advertises that it provides 24 special care for persons with Alzheimer's disease or other 25 related disorders must meet the following standards of 26 operation: 27 (a)1. If the facility has 17 or more residents, have 28 an awake staff member on duty at all hours of the day and 29 night; or 30 2. If the facility has fewer than 17 residents, have 31 an awake staff member on duty at all hours of the day and 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 803 173-937-97 1 night or have mechanisms in place to monitor and ensure the 2 safety of the facility's residents. 3 (b) Offer activities specifically designed for persons 4 who are cognitively impaired. 5 (c) Have a physical environment that provides for the 6 safety and welfare of the facility's residents. 7 (d) Employ staff who have completed the training and 8 continuing education required in subsection (2). 9 (2)(a) An individual who is employed by a facility 10 that provides special care for residents with Alzheimer's 11 disease or other related disorders, and who has regular 12 contact with such residents, must complete up to 4 hours of 13 initial dementia-specific training developed or approved by 14 the department. The training shall be completed within 3 15 months after beginning employment and shall satisfy the core 16 training requirements of s. 400.452(2)(g). 17 (b) A direct caregiver who is employed by a facility 18 that provides special care for residents with Alzheimer's 19 disease or other related disorders, and who provides direct 20 care to such residents, must complete the required initial 21 training and 4 additional hours of training developed or 22 approved by the department. The training shall be completed 23 within 9 months after beginning employment and shall satisfy 24 the core training requirements of s. 400.452(2)(g). 25 (c) An individual who is employed by a facility that 26 provides special care for residents with Alzheimer's disease 27 or other related disorders, but who only has incidental 28 contact with such residents, must be given, at a minimum, 29 general information on interacting with individuals with 30 Alzheimer's disease or other related disorders, within 3 31 months after beginning employment. 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 803 173-937-97 1 (3) In addition to the training required under 2 subsection (2), a direct caregiver must participate in a 3 minimum of 4 contact hours of continuing education each 4 calendar year. The continuing education must include one or 5 more topics included in the dementia-specific training 6 developed or approved by the department, in which the 7 caregiver has not received previous training. 8 (4) Upon completing any training listed in subsection 9 (2), the employee or direct caregiver shall be issued a 10 certificate that includes the name of the training provider, 11 the topic covered, and the date and signature of the training 12 provider. The certificate is evidence of completion of 13 training in the identified topic, and the employee or direct 14 caregiver is not required to repeat training in that topic if 15 the employee or direct caregiver changes employment to a 16 different facility. The employee or direct caregiver must 17 comply with other applicable continuing education 18 requirements. 19 (5) The department, or its designee, shall approve the 20 initial and continuing education courses and providers. 21 (6) The department shall keep a current list of 22 providers who are approved to provide initial and continuing 23 education for staff of facilities that provide special care 24 for persons with Alzheimer's disease or other related 25 disorders. 26 (7) Any facility more than 90 percent of whose 27 residents receive monthly optional supplementation payments is 28 not required to pay for the training and education programs 29 required under this section. A facility that has one or more 30 such residents shall pay a reduced fee that is proportional to 31 the percentage of such residents in the facility. A facility 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 803 173-937-97 1 that does not have any residents who receive monthly optional 2 supplementation payments must pay a reasonable fee, as 3 established by the department, for such training and education 4 programs. 5 (8) The department shall adopt rules to establish 6 standards for trainers and training and to implement this 7 section. 8 Section 2. Paragraph (g) is added to subsection (2) of 9 section 400.452, Florida Statutes, to read: 10 400.452 Staff training and educational programs; core 11 educational requirement.-- 12 (2) The department shall also establish a core 13 educational requirement to be used in these programs. 14 Successful completion of the core educational requirement must 15 include successful completion of a competency test. Programs 16 must be provided by the department or by a provider approved 17 by the department at least quarterly. The core educational 18 requirement must cover at least the following topics: 19 (g) Alzheimer's disease and other related disorders. 20 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a 21 law. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 4