HB 0161

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Elder & Long-Term Care Committee recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to caregivers for disabled or elderly
7	adults; providing legislative intent to foster caregiving
8	as a nonlicensed paraprofessional activity and to promote
9	the caregivers' use of best practices; creating the
10	Florida Caregiver Institute, Inc., an independent
11	nonprofit corporation housed in the Florida Policy
12	Exchange Center on Aging at the University of South
13	Florida; providing purposes, duties, and powers of the
14	corporation; providing for a board of directors; providing
15	for membership, terms of office, meetings, and powers and
16	duties of and restrictions on the board; providing for an
17	audit committee; requiring reports to the Governor and the
18	Legislature; providing duties of the Florida Policy
19	Exchange Center on Aging and other public agencies;
20	providing for the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
21	Government Accountability to conduct a review of the
22	corporation by a specified date and to report to the
23	Governor and the Legislature; providing an effective date.
24
25	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27	Section 1.  Caregivers; legislative intent; Florida
28	Caregiver Institute, Inc.; creation, duties, board of directors,
29	and reports.--
30	(1)  It is the intent of the Legislature to foster the
31	development of caregiving as a nonlicensed paraprofessional
32	activity that is critical to the provision of community-based
33	and institutional care for frail and vulnerable Floridians who
34	live in the community, reside in a licensed assisted living
35	facility or licensed adult family-care home, or attend a
36	licensed adult day care center. It is the further intent of the
37	Legislature to promote the use of nationally recognized best
38	practices information by caregivers so as to improve the quality
39	of care both in the community and in long-term care facilities
40	licensed by the state and to ensure some degree of uniformity as
41	to the techniques, practices, and standards used in caring for
42	the state's most vulnerable residents.
43	(2)  In order to accomplish the goal of developing best
44	practices information and placing that information into the
45	hands of caregivers that care for Floridians who live in the
46	community, reside in facilities licensed by the state under part
47	III or part VII of chapter 400, Florida Statutes, or attend an
48	adult day care center licensed under part V of chapter 400,
49	Florida Statutes, there is created the Florida Caregiver
50	Institute, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that is to be
51	registered, incorporated, organized, and operated in compliance
52	with chapter 617, Florida Statutes, and that is not a unit or
53	entity of state government. The Florida Caregiver Institute,
54	Inc., hereinafter referred to as "the corporation," shall be
55	administratively housed in the Florida Policy Exchange Center on
56	Aging at the University of South Florida.
57	(3)  The corporation shall assist the Florida Policy
58	Exchange Center on Aging in the development of policy
59	recommendations to enhance the center's efforts to improve the
60	availability and skills of individuals who seek to work as
61	caregivers in the home, in the community, or in a facility
62	licensed by the state under part III, part V, or part VII of
63	chapter 400, Florida Statutes. The corporation also:
64	(a)  Shall seek to identify funding for the purpose of
65	providing training in and promotion of the use of best practices
66	to front-line caregivers through state, federal, and private
67	sources.
68	(b)  Shall work with universities and other related parties
69	to develop training materials, identify best practices
70	techniques, and develop a curriculum.
71	(c)  Shall conduct a needs assessment of the nonlicensed
72	caregivers who work in the community or in facilities that are
73	licensed under part III, part V, or part VII of chapter 400,
74	Florida Statutes.
75	(d)  Shall make recommendations to the Department of
76	Elderly Affairs, the Department of Children and Family Services,
77	the Agency for Health Care Administration, and the Department of
78	Health regarding policy and related changes that will help
79	improve the quality, availability, and retention of nonlicensed
80	caregivers who work in the community or in facilities licensed
81	under part III, part V, or part VII of chapter 400, Florida
82	Statutes.
83	(e)  Shall make recommendations on proposed legislative
84	changes and budget-related items that would affect the quality,
85	availability, and retention of nonlicensed caregivers and review
86	the need for nonlicensed caregivers to work in the community or
87	in facilities licensed under part III, part V, or part VII of
88	chapter 400, Florida Statutes. This information must be provided
89	to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
90	Representatives, and the Governor by January 1 of each year.
91	(f)  Shall develop agreements with the Department of
92	Elderly Affairs, the Department of Children and Family Services,
93	the Agency for Health Care Administration, and the Department of
94	Health, and any other state agency it considers necessary, for
95	the exclusive purpose of accessing state-owned buildings and
96	state employees for the purpose of providing low-cost, effective
97	training and paraprofessional development assistance to
98	nonlicensed caregivers who work in the community or in
99	facilities licensed under part III, part V, or part VII of
100	chapter 400, Florida Statutes.
101	(g)  May charge a reasonable fee, on a sliding scale, as
102	provided in the bylaws of the corporation for the training of
103	nonlicensed caregivers who work in the community or in
104	facilities licensed under part III, part V, or part VII of
105	chapter 400, Florida Statutes. The corporation shall take all
106	steps possible to offer high-quality training at the most cost-
107	effective rates.
108	(h)  May offer to assisted living facilities, adult family-
109	care homes, and adult day care centers core training and other
110	training. The Departmental of Elderly Affairs, in consultation
111	with the corporation and the contractor responsible for the
112	development of the core training testing materials, shall
113	annually evaluate the testing materials and make any necessary
114	changes to these materials.
115	(i)  Shall collect information regarding nonlicensed
116	caregivers who work in the community and in facilities licensed
117	under part III, part V, or part VII of chapter 400, Florida
118	Statutes. The information collected must include, but need not
119	be limited to, the salary rates for various positions,
120	professional development needs of nonlicensed caregivers,
121	information regarding turnover and retention, and data that
122	identify the number of caregivers using best practices
123	information in day-to-day care-related activities.
124	(j)  Shall develop a memorandum of understanding with the
125	Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging which describes how the
126	corporation will interact with the center in carrying out its
127	responsibilities.
128	(k)  Shall develop an agreement with the Florida Policy
129	Exchange Center on Aging for the provision of administrative
130	support and startup, with the expectation that the corporation
131	will not rely upon the center for staff or financial assistance
132	after June 1, 2007.
133	(l)  May contract with the Florida Policy Exchange Center
134	on Aging for the provision of staff support, research, technical
135	assistance, and data storage under a memorandum of agreement.
136	(4)(a)  The board of directors of the corporation shall
137	consist of 13 members who represent the views, interests, and
138	perspectives of the parties, individuals, and stakeholders
139	affected by the activities of the corporation. Each member of
140	the board shall be appointed to a 2-year term and may not be
141	reappointed to more than three additional terms, except that the
142	initial legislative appointments shall be for a period of 3
143	years each.
144	(b)  The board of directors of the corporation shall
145	include:
146	1.  One member appointed by the Florida Association of
147	Homes for the Aging.
148	2.  One member appointed by the Florida Assisted Living
149	Affiliation.
150	3.  One member appointed by the Alzheimer's Association.
151	4.  One member appointed by the Florida Council on Aging.
152	5.  One member appointed by the Florida Adult Day Care
153	Association.
154	6.  One member appointed by the Florida Respite Coalition.
155	7.  One member appointed by the State Long-Term Care
156	Ombudsman.
157	8.  Two members appointed by the Governor.
158	9.  Two members appointed by the President of the Senate.
159	10.  Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of
160	Representatives.
161
162	The Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
163	the House of Representatives must make their respective initial
164	appointments not later than September 1, 2005.
165	(c)  The chair shall be elected by the members, may not
166	serve more than two 1-year terms, and may not be a state
167	employee.
168	(d)  The corporation shall adopt bylaws that describe how
169	it will do its work. The corporation shall follow Robert's Rules
170	of Order, newly revised edition, for all procedural matters that
171	arise.
172	(e)  A majority of the members of the corporation's board
173	of directors constitutes a quorum.
174	(f)  The corporation shall be accountable to the board of
175	directors and make its meetings open to any member of the public
176	and shall make provision for accepting input from family
177	members, consumers, stakeholders, providers, or other parties
178	affected by the activities of the corporation. The corporation
179	shall make every effort to make its schedule and meeting
180	location accessible to the public by means that include the use
181	of websites and public buildings.
182	(g)  The chair of the corporation's board of directors
183	shall ensure that accurate minutes are kept which reflect the
184	attendance, motions, and actions of the board and the discussion
185	of matters brought before the board. These minutes shall be made
186	available to the public for inspection and review and, if
187	possible, posted on a website to provide greater public access.
188	(h)  The chair shall call a meeting quarterly and may
189	schedule other meetings using electronic means as he or she
190	considers appropriate. The chair must call at least one meeting
191	per year for the purpose of establishing goals and evaluating
192	the progress of the corporation in the previous year.
193	(i)  The chair of the corporation's board of directors may
194	appoint advisory committees to advise the corporation on
195	specific issues that fall within the corporation's scope of work
196	and stated objectives.
197	(j)  Each member of the corporation's board of directors
198	and its advisory committees shall serve at his or her own
199	expense, including travel or other costs associated with his or
200	her duties as a member of the board of directors.
201	(k)  The chair may remove a member of the board for three
202	unexcused absences from regularly scheduled meetings.
203	(l)  An appointed member serves at the pleasure of the
204	entity that has made the appointment and may be removed by that
205	entity without cause.
206	(5)(a)  The chair of the corporation's board of directors
207	shall establish an audit committee, consisting of at least three
208	board members, to annually review and report on the financial
209	condition of the corporation. A copy of the audit committee's
210	report shall be provided to the board members, the Governor, the
211	President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
212	Representatives by January 10 of each year. The audit
213	committee's report must include a complete accounting of all
214	revenues and expenses incurred by the corporation during that
215	year.
216	(b)  The corporation may employ staff, contract with
217	consultants, and otherwise retain the necessary staff within the
218	limits of available funds to accomplish its goals and purposes.
219	(c)  The corporation shall annually evaluate and, by
220	January 10 of each year, shall report to the Legislature and the
221	Governor the status of its work relative to promoting the use of
222	best practices by caregivers and developing nonlicensed
223	caregivers who work in the community or in facilities licensed
224	under part III, part V, or part VII of chapter 400, Florida
225	Statutes.
226	(d)  Each public-sector agency that provides training or
227	support for nonlicensed caregivers who work in the community or
228	in facilities licensed under part III, part V, or part VII of
229	chapter 400, Florida Statutes, shall cooperate with the
230	corporation. The Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging shall
231	certify to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
232	Speaker of the House of Representatives, using criteria that
233	include communication, timeliness of response, and coordination
234	of efforts, as to whether the corporation is receiving the
235	necessary and requested support from various public sector
236	organizations that provide training to such nonlicensed
237	caregivers.
238	Section 2.  By October 1, 2008, the Office of Program
239	Policy Analysis and Government Accountability shall conduct a
240	review of the Florida Caregiver Institute, Inc., and shall
241	report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
242	Speaker of the House of Representatives as to whether the
243	corporation has been effective in helping the state meet its
244	goals of improving the retention of nonlicensed caregivers in
245	the community or in facilities licensed under part III, part V,
246	or part VII of chapter 400, Florida Statutes, and whether it has
247	been successful in promoting the use of best practices
248	techniques by caregivers who care for Florida's frail and
249	disabled adult population.
250	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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