Senate Bill sb1822e2

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




    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to adult protective services;

  3         amending s. 415.1045, F.S.; requiring the

  4         Department of Children and Family Services to

  5         enter into certain working agreements with

  6         local law enforcement agencies; requiring the

  7         Office of Program Policy Analysis and

  8         Government Accountability to review and report

  9         to the Legislature; amending s. 415.1102, F.S.;

10         defining the term "multidisciplinary adult

11         protection team"; providing for composition of

12         such teams; requiring the department to report

13         to the Legislature on the status of compliance

14         with certain recommendations relating to the

15         Adult Services Program and to analyze and

16         provide a plan for the implementation of

17         multidisciplinary adult protection teams;

18         creating the Guardianship Task Force within the

19         department; providing purpose; providing for

20         staff, a chairperson, and membership of the

21         task force; providing for organizations that

22         appoint members to pay their expenses;

23         providing duties of the task force; requiring a

24         preliminary and a final report to the Governor

25         and the Legislature; allowing the appointment

26         of auxiliary members; providing a term of

27         service; amending s. 744.7021, F.S.; providing

28         that the executive director of the Statewide

29         Public Guardianship Office shall be appointed

30         by the Secretary of Elderly Affairs, rather

31         than by the Governor; transferring certain


                                  1

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1         responsibilities from the Statewide Public

 2         Guardianship Office to the Department of

 3         Elderly Affairs; providing an effective date.

 4  

 5  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

 6  

 7         Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 415.1045, Florida

 8  Statutes, is amended to read:

 9         415.1045  Photographs, videotapes, and medical

10  examinations; abrogation of privileged communications;

11  confidential records and documents.--

12         (6)  WORKING AGREEMENTS.--By March 1, 2004, the

13  department shall enter into working agreements with the

14  jurisdictionally responsible county sheriffs' office or local

15  police department that will be the lead agency when conducting

16  any criminal investigation arising from an allegation of

17  abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The

18  working agreement must specify how the requirements of this

19  chapter will be met. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and

20  Government Accountability shall conduct a review of the

21  efficacy of the agreements and report its findings to the

22  Legislature by March 1, 2005. For the purposes of such

23  agreement, the jurisdictionally responsible law enforcement

24  entity is authorized to share Florida criminal history and

25  local criminal history information that is not otherwise

26  exempt from s. 119.07(1) with the district personnel. A law

27  enforcement entity entering into such agreement must comply

28  with s. 943.0525. Criminal justice information provided by

29  such law enforcement entity shall be used only for the

30  purposes specified in the agreement and shall be provided at

31  no charge. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the


                                  2

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1  Department of Law Enforcement shall provide to the department

 2  electronic access to Florida criminal justice information

 3  which is lawfully available and not exempt from s. 119.07(1),

 4  only for the purpose of protective investigations and

 5  emergency placement. As a condition of access to such

 6  information, the department shall be required to execute an

 7  appropriate user agreement addressing the access, use,

 8  dissemination, and destruction of such information and to

 9  comply with all applicable laws and rules of the Department of

10  Law Enforcement.

11         Section 2.  Section 415.1102, Florida Statutes, is

12  amended to read:

13         415.1102  Adult protection teams.--

14         (1)  Subject to an appropriation, the department may

15  develop, maintain, and coordinate the services of one or more

16  multidisciplinary adult protection teams in each of the

17  districts of the department. As used in this section, the term

18  "multidisciplinary adult protection team" means a team of two

19  or more persons who are trained in the prevention,

20  identification, and treatment of abuse of elderly persons, as

21  defined in s. 430.602, or of dependent persons and who are

22  qualified to provide a broad range of services related to

23  abuse of elderly or dependent persons.

24         (2)  Such teams may be composed of, but need not be

25  limited to:

26         (a)  Psychiatrists, psychologists, or other trained

27  counseling personnel;

28         (b)  Police officers or other law enforcement officers;

29         (c)  Medical personnel who have sufficient training to

30  provide health services;

31  


                                  3

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1         (d)  Social workers who have experience or training in

 2  preventing the abuse of elderly or dependent persons; and

 3         (e)  Public guardians as described in part IX of

 4  chapter 744., representatives of appropriate health, mental

 5  health, social service, legal service, and law enforcement

 6  agencies.

 7         (3)  The department shall utilize and convene the teams

 8  to supplement the protective services activities of the

 9  protective services program of the department.

10         (4)  This section does not prevent a person from

11  reporting under s. 415.1034 all suspected or known cases of

12  abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The

13  role of the teams is to support activities of the protective

14  services program and to provide services deemed by the teams

15  to be necessary and appropriate to abused, neglected, and

16  exploited vulnerable adults upon referral. Services must be

17  provided with the consent of the vulnerable adult or that

18  person's guardian, or through court order.

19         (5)  If In all instances in which an adult protection

20  team is providing certain services to abused, neglected, or

21  exploited vulnerable adults, other offices and units of the

22  department shall avoid duplicating the provisions of those

23  services.

24         Section 3.  Given the serious and growing problem of

25  elder abuse, by December 1, 2003, the Department of Children

26  and Family Services shall report to the Legislature on the

27  status of its compliance with all of the recommendations for

28  improvement of the Adult Services Program included in Report

29  No. 03-08 from the Office of Program Planning and Government

30  Accountability. The department shall also analyze and include

31  as part of this report a plan for implementing at least one


                                  4

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1  multidisciplinary adult protection team, as defined in section

 2  415.1102, Florida Statutes, in each of its districts.

 3         Section 4.  Guardianship Task Force; creation;

 4  membership, duties.--

 5         (1)  There is created within the Department of Elderly

 6  Affairs a Guardianship Task Force. The purpose of the task

 7  force is to examine guardianship and incapacity and make

 8  recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature for the

 9  improvement of guardianship and incapacity practice. The

10  department shall staff the task force. The Secretary of

11  Elderly Affairs shall appoint the chair of the task force.

12  Members of the task force shall serve without compensation.

13  Unless specified otherwise, task force members shall be

14  appointed by the respective organizations that they represent.

15         (2)  Members shall serve without compensation. Any

16  member of the committee who is a public employee is entitled

17  to reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses by his or

18  her employer, and the cost of each member's participation must

19  be borne by the organization that appointed the member.

20         (3)  The Guardianship Task Force shall identify the

21  characteristics of Florida guardianship practice. It shall

22  also identify guardianship best practices and recommend

23  specific statutory and other changes for achieving such best

24  practices and for achieving citizen access to quality

25  guardianship services. The task force shall submit a

26  preliminary report to the Governor, the Secretary of Elderly

27  Affairs and the Legislature no later than January 1, 2004, and

28  shall submit a final report no later than January 1, 2005.

29         (4)  The Guardianship Task Force shall consist of 10

30  members as follows: a judge who has experience sitting in

31  guardianship proceedings appointed by the Florida Conference


                                  5

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1  of Circuit Judges, a representative of the Association of

 2  Clerks of Court, a professor of law who has experience in

 3  elder issues appointed by the Secretary of Elderly Affairs, a

 4  representative of the Florida State Guardianship Association,

 5  a representative of the Florida Guardianship Foundation, a

 6  representative of the Real Property and Probate Section of The

 7  Florida Bar, a representative of the Elder Law Section of The

 8  Florida Bar, a professional who has experience in examining

 9  and determining incapacity, a representative of the Florida

10  Bankers' Association and a citizen/consumer appointed by the

11  Florida AARP (American Association of Retired Persons).

12         (5)  The Guardianship Task Force may appoint auxiliary

13  members based on their expertise to assist the task force in

14  carrying out its duties.

15         (6)  The task force is terminated May 6, 2005.

16         Section 5.  Section 744.7021, Florida Statutes, is

17  amended to read:

18         744.7021  Statewide Public Guardianship Office.--There

19  is hereby created the Statewide Public Guardianship Office

20  within the Department of Elderly Affairs. The Department of

21  Elderly Affairs shall provide administrative support and

22  service to the office to the extent requested by the executive

23  director within the available resources of the department. The

24  Statewide Public Guardianship Office may request the

25  assistance of the Inspector General of the Department of

26  Elderly Affairs in providing auditing services, and the Office

27  of General Counsel of the department may provide assistance in

28  rulemaking and other matters as needed to assist the Statewide

29  Public Guardianship Office. The Statewide Public Guardianship

30  Office shall not be subject to control, supervision, or

31  


                                  6

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1  direction by the Department of Elderly Affairs in the

 2  performance of its duties.

 3         (1)  The Secretary of Elderly Affairs shall appoint the

 4  executive director, who shall be the head of the Statewide

 5  Public Guardianship Office is the executive director, who

 6  shall be appointed by the Governor. The executive director

 7  must be a member of The Florida Bar, knowledgeable of licensed

 8  attorney with a background in guardianship law and knowledge

 9  of the social services available to meet the needs of

10  incapacitated persons, shall serve on a full-time basis, and

11  shall personally, or through representatives of the office,

12  carry out the purposes and functions of the Statewide Public

13  Guardianship Office in accordance with state and federal law.

14  The executive director shall serve at the pleasure of and

15  report to the Secretary Governor.

16         (2)  The executive director Statewide Public

17  Guardianship Office shall, within available resources, have

18  oversight responsibilities for all public guardians.

19         (a)  The executive director office shall review the

20  current public guardian programs in Florida and other states.

21         (b)  The executive director office, in consultation

22  with local guardianship offices, shall develop statewide

23  performance measures and standards.

24         (c)  The executive director office shall review the

25  various methods of funding guardianship programs, the kinds of

26  services being provided by such programs, and the demographics

27  of the wards. In addition, the executive director office shall

28  review and make recommendations regarding the feasibility of

29  recovering a portion or all of the costs of providing public

30  guardianship services from the assets or income of the wards.

31  


                                  7

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1         (d)  No later than October 1, 2000, the office shall

 2  submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the

 3  Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice

 4  of the Supreme Court an interim report describing the progress

 5  of the office in meeting the goals as described in this

 6  section. No later than October 1, 2001, the office shall

 7  submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the

 8  Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice

 9  of the Supreme Court a proposed public guardianship plan

10  including alternatives for meeting the state's guardianship

11  needs. This plan may include recommendations for less than the

12  entire state, may include a phase-in system, and shall include

13  estimates of the cost of each of the alternatives. By January

14  1, 2004, and by January 1 of each year thereafter, the

15  executive director office shall provide a status report and

16  provide further recommendations to the Secretary that address

17  the need for public guardianship services and related issues.

18         (e)  The executive director office may provide

19  assistance to local governments or entities in pursuing grant

20  opportunities. The executive director office shall review and

21  make recommendations in the annual report on the availability

22  and efficacy of seeking Medicaid matching funds. The executive

23  director office shall diligently seek ways to use existing

24  programs and services to meet the needs of public wards.

25         (f)  The executive director, in consultation with the

26  Florida Guardianship Foundation office shall develop a

27  guardianship training program curriculum that. The training

28  program may be offered to all guardians whether public or

29  private. The office shall establish a curriculum committee to

30  develop the training program specified in this part. The

31  curriculum committee shall include, but not be limited to,


                                  8

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






    CS for SB 1822                                Second Engrossed



 1  probate judges. A fee may be charged to private guardians in

 2  order to defray the cost of providing the training. In

 3  addition, a fee may be charged to any training provider for up

 4  to the actual cost of the review and approval of their

 5  curriculum. Any fees collected pursuant to this paragraph

 6  shall be deposited in the Department of Elderly Affairs

 7  Administrative Trust Fund to be used for the guardianship

 8  training program.

 9         (3)  The executive director office may conduct or

10  contract for demonstration projects authorized by the

11  Department of Elderly Affairs, within funds appropriated or

12  through gifts, grants, or contributions for such purposes, to

13  determine the feasibility or desirability of new concepts of

14  organization, administration, financing, or service delivery

15  designed to preserve the civil and constitutional rights of

16  persons of marginal or diminished capacity. Any gifts, grants,

17  or contributions for such purposes shall be deposited in the

18  Department of Elderly Affairs Administrative Trust Fund.

19         (4)  The Department of Elderly Affairs office has

20  authority to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54

21  to carry out the provisions of this section.

22         Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  


                                  9

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