Amendment
Bill No. 0463
Amendment No. 137135
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
.
.
.






1Representative Simmons offered the following:
2
3     Amendment to Amendment (866277) (with title amendment)
4Remove line(s) 97-188 and insert:
5     Section 4.  Effective July 1, 2005, paragraph (a) of
6subsection (2) of section 394.463, Florida Statutes, is amended
7to read:
8     394.463  Involuntary examination.--
9     (2)  INVOLUNTARY EXAMINATION.--
10     (a)  An involuntary examination may be initiated by any one
11of the following means:
12     1.  A court may enter an ex parte order stating that a
13person appears to meet the criteria for involuntary examination,
14giving the findings on which that conclusion is based.  The ex
15parte order for involuntary examination must be based on sworn
16testimony, written or oral.  If other less restrictive means are
17not available, such as voluntary appearance for outpatient
18evaluation, a law enforcement officer, or other designated agent
19of the court, shall take the person into custody and deliver him
20or her to the nearest receiving facility for involuntary
21examination.  The order of the court shall be made a part of the
22patient's clinical record.  No fee shall be charged for the
23filing of an order under this subsection.  Any receiving
24facility accepting the patient based on this order must send a
25copy of the order to the Agency for Health Care Administration
26on the next working day.  The order shall be valid only until
27executed or, if not executed, for the period specified in the
28order itself. If no time limit is specified in the order, the
29order shall be valid for 7 days after the date that the order
30was signed.
31     2.  A law enforcement officer shall take a person who
32appears to meet the criteria for involuntary examination into
33custody and deliver the person or have him or her delivered to
34the nearest receiving facility for examination.  The officer
35shall execute a written report detailing the circumstances under
36which the person was taken into custody, and the report shall be
37made a part of the patient's clinical record.  Any receiving
38facility accepting the patient based on this report must send a
39copy of the report to the Agency for Health Care Administration
40on the next working day.
41     3.  A physician, clinical psychologist, psychiatric nurse,
42mental health counselor, or clinical social worker may execute a
43certificate stating that he or she has examined a person within
44the preceding 48 hours and finds that the person appears to meet
45the criteria for involuntary examination and stating the
46observations upon which that conclusion is based. If other less
47restrictive means are not available, such as voluntary
48appearance for outpatient evaluation, a law enforcement officer
49shall take the person named in the certificate into custody and
50deliver him or her to the nearest receiving facility for
51involuntary examination. The law enforcement officer shall
52execute a written report detailing the circumstances under which
53the person was taken into custody. The report and certificate
54shall be made a part of the patient's clinical record. Any
55receiving facility accepting the patient based on this
56certificate must send a copy of the certificate to the Agency
57for Health Care Administration on the next working day.
58     Section 5.  Effective January 1, 2005, subsection (1) and
59paragraphs (e), (g), and (i) of subsection (2) of section
60394.463, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
61     394.463  Involuntary examination.--
62     (1)  CRITERIA.--A person may be taken to a receiving
63facility for involuntary examination if there is reason to
64believe that the person has a mental illness he or she is
65mentally ill and because of his or her mental illness:
66     (a)1.  The person has refused voluntary examination after
67conscientious explanation and disclosure of the purpose of the
68examination; or
69     2.  The person is unable to determine for himself or
70herself whether examination is necessary; and
71     (b)1.  Without care or treatment, the person is likely to
72suffer from neglect or refuse to care for himself or herself;
73such neglect or refusal poses a real and present threat of
74substantial harm to his or her well-being; and it is not
75apparent that such harm may be avoided through the help of
76willing family members or friends or the provision of other
77services; or
78     2.  There is a substantial likelihood that without care or
79treatment the person will cause serious bodily harm to himself
80or herself or others in the near future, as evidenced by recent
81behavior.
82     (2)  INVOLUNTARY EXAMINATION.--
83     (e)  The Agency for Health Care Administration shall
84receive and maintain the copies of ex parte orders, involuntary
85outpatient placement orders issued pursuant to s. 394.4655,
86involuntary inpatient placement orders issued pursuant to s.
87394.467, professional certificates, and law enforcement
88officers' reports.  These documents shall be considered part of
89the clinical record, governed by the provisions of s. 394.4615.  
90The agency shall prepare annual reports analyzing the data
91obtained from these documents, without information identifying
92patients, and shall provide copies of reports to the department,
93the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
94Representatives, and the minority leaders of the Senate and the
95House of Representatives.
96     (g)  A person for whom an involuntary examination has been
97initiated who is being evaluated or treated at a hospital for an
98emergency medical condition specified in s. 395.002 must be
99examined by a receiving facility within 72 hours.  The 72-hour
100period begins when the patient arrives at the hospital and
101ceases when the attending physician documents that the patient
102has an emergency medical condition. If the patient is examined
103at a hospital providing emergency medical services by a
104professional qualified to perform an involuntary examination and
105is found as a result of that examination not to meet the
106criteria for involuntary outpatient placement pursuant to s.
107394.4655(1) or involuntary inpatient placement pursuant to s.
108394.467(1), the patient may be offered voluntary placement, if
109appropriate, or released directly from the hospital providing
110emergency medical services.  The finding by the professional
111that the patient has been examined and does not meet the
112criteria for involuntary inpatient placement or involuntary
113outpatient placement must be entered into the patient's clinical
114record. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to prevent a
115hospital providing emergency medical services from appropriately
116transferring a patient to another hospital prior to
117stabilization, provided the requirements of s. 395.1041(3)(c)
118have been met.
119     (i)  Within the 72-hour examination period or, if the 72
120hours ends on a weekend or holiday, no later than the next
121working day thereafter, one of the following actions must be
122taken, based on the individual needs of the patient:
123     1.  The patient shall be released, unless he or she is
124charged with a crime, in which case the patient shall be
125returned to the custody of a law enforcement officer;
126     2.  The patient shall be released, subject to the
127provisions of subparagraph 1., for voluntary outpatient
128treatment;
129     3.  The patient, unless he or she is charged with a crime,
130shall be asked to give express and informed consent to placement
131as a voluntary patient, and, if such consent is given, the
132patient shall be admitted as a voluntary patient; or
133     4.  A petition for involuntary placement shall be filed in
134the circuit appropriate court by the facility administrator when
135outpatient or inpatient treatment is deemed necessary. When
136inpatient treatment is deemed necessary; in which case, the
137least restrictive treatment consistent with the optimum
138improvement of the patient's condition shall be made available.
139When a petition is to be filed for involuntary outpatient
140placement, it shall be filed by one of the petitioners specified
141in s. 394.4655(3)(a). A petition for involuntary inpatient
142placement shall be filed by the facility administrator.
143
144
145================ T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =============
146     Remove lines 760-774 and insert:
147394.463, F.S.; adding mental health counselors to the
148persons who can initiate an involuntary examination;
149revising criteria for an involuntary examination; revising
150requirements for filing a petition for involuntary
151placement; creating s. 394.4655, F.S.; providing for
152involuntary outpatient placement; providing criteria;
153providing procedures; providing for a voluntary
154examination for outpatient placement; providing for a
155petition for involuntary outpatient placement; requiring
156the appointment of counsel; providing for a continuance of
157hearing; providing procedures for the hearing on
158involuntary outpatient placement; providing a procedure
159for continued involuntary outpatient placement; amending
160s. 394.467, F.S., relating to involuntary placement;
161conforming terminology to changes made by the act;
162providing for rulemaking authority; providing for
163severability; providing effective dates.


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