Amendment
Bill No. 1284

Amendment No. 687223

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
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1	Representative(s) Benson offered the following:
2
3	Amendment (with title amendment)
4	On page 1, between line(s) 24 and 25, insert:
5	Section 1.  Subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection
6	(2) of section 402.164, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
7	402.164  Legislative intent; definitions.--
8	(1)(a)  It is the intent of the Legislature to use citizen
9	volunteers as members of the Florida Statewide Advocacy Council
10	and the Florida local advocacy councils, and to have volunteers
11	operate a network of councils that shall, without interference
12	by an executive agency, undertake to discover, monitor,
13	investigate, and determine the presence of conditions or
14	individuals that constitute a threat to the rights, health,
15	safety, or welfare of persons who receive services from state
16	agencies.
17	(b)  It is the further intent of the Legislature that the
18	monitoring and investigation shall safeguard the health, safety,
19	and welfare of consumers of services provided by these state
20	agencies.
21	(c)  It is the further intent of the Legislature that state
22	agencies cooperate with the councils in forming interagency
23	agreements to provide the councils with authorized client
24	records so that the councils may monitor services and
25	investigate claims.
26	(2)  As used in ss. 402.164-402.167, the term:
27	(b)  "Client" means a client of the Agency for Persons with
28	Disabilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the
29	Department of Children and Family Services, or the Department of
30	Elderly Affairs, as defined in s. 393.063, s. 394.67, s.
31	397.311, or s. 400.960, a forensic client or client as defined
32	in s. 916.106, a child or youth as defined in s. 39.01, a child
33	as defined in s. 827.01, a family as defined in s. 414.0252, a
34	participant as defined in s. 400.551, a resident as defined in
35	s. 400.402, a Medicaid recipient or recipient as defined in s.
36	409.901, a child receiving child care as defined in s. 402.302,
37	a disabled adult as defined in s. 410.032 or s. 410.603, or a
38	victim as defined in s. 39.01 or s. 415.102 as each definition
39	applies within its respective chapter.
40	Section 2.  Subsections (2), (5), and (7) and paragraph (a)
41	of subsection (8) of section 402.165, Florida Statutes, are
42	amended to read:
43	402.165  Florida Statewide Advocacy Council; confidential
44	records and meetings.--
45	(2)  Members of the statewide council shall be appointed to
46	serve terms of 4 years, subject to termination at the pleasure
47	of the Governor prior to expiration of such period. A member may
48	not serve more than two full consecutive terms.
49	(5)(a)  Members of the statewide council shall receive no
50	compensation, but are entitled to be reimbursed for per diem and
51	travel expenses in accordance with s. 112.061.
52	(b)  The Governor shall select an executive director who
53	shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor and shall perform
54	the duties delegated to him or her by the council. The
55	compensation of the executive director and staff shall be
56	established in accordance with the rules of the Selected Exempt
57	Service. The Governor shall give priority consideration in the
58	selection of an executive director to an individual with
59	professional expertise in research design, statistical analysis,
60	or agency evaluation and analysis.
61	(c)  The council may apply for, receive, and accept grants,
62	gifts, donations, bequests, and other payments including money
63	or property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, and
64	service from any governmental or other public or private entity
65	or person and make arrangements as to the use of same.
66	(d)  The statewide council shall annually prepare a budget
67	request that, after it is approved by the council, shall be
68	submitted to the Governor. The budget shall include a request
69	for funds to carry out the activities of the statewide council
70	and the local councils.
71	(7)  The responsibilities of the statewide council include,
72	but are not limited to:
73	(a)  Serving as an independent third-party mechanism for
74	protecting the constitutional and human rights of clients within
75	programs or facilities operated, funded, or contracted by any
76	state agency that provides client services.
77	(b)  Monitoring, by site visit and through access to
78	records, the delivery and use of services, programs, or
79	facilities operated, funded, or contracted by any state agency
80	that provides client services, for the purpose of preventing
81	abuse or deprivation of the constitutional and human rights of
82	clients. The statewide council may conduct an unannounced site
83	visit or monitoring visit that involves the inspection of
84	records if the visit is conditioned upon a complaint. A
85	complaint may be generated by the council itself, after
86	consulting with the Governor's office, if information from any
87	state agency that provides client services or from other sources
88	indicates a situation at the program or facility that indicates
89	possible abuse or neglect or deprivation of the constitutional
90	and human rights of clients. The statewide council shall
91	establish and follow uniform criteria for the review of
92	information and generation of complaints. The statewide council
93	shall develop a written protocol for all complaints it generates
94	to provide the Governor's office with information including the
95	nature of the abuse or neglect, the agencies involved, the
96	populations or numbers of individuals affected, the types of
97	records necessary to complete the investigation, and a strategy
98	for approaching the problem. Routine program monitoring and
99	reviews that do not require an examination of records may be
100	made unannounced.
101	(c)  Receiving, investigating, and resolving reports of
102	abuse or deprivation of constitutional and human rights referred
103	to the statewide council by a local council. If a matter
104	constitutes a threat to the life, safety, or health of clients
105	or is multiservice-area in scope, the statewide council may
106	exercise its powers without the necessity of a referral from a
107	local council.
108	(d)  Reviewing existing programs or services and new or
109	revised programs of the state agencies that provide client
110	services and making recommendations as to how the rights of
111	clients are affected.
112	(e)  Submitting an annual report to the Legislature, no
113	later than December 30 of each calendar year, concerning
114	activities, recommendations, and complaints reviewed or
115	developed by the council during the year.
116	(f)  Conducting meetings at least once six times a year at
117	the call of the chair and at other times at the call of the
118	Governor or by written request of eight six members of the
119	council, including the executive director.
120	(g)  Developing and adopting uniform procedures to be used
121	to carry out the purpose and responsibilities of the statewide
122	council and the local councils.
123	(h)  Supervising the operations of the local councils and
124	monitoring the performance and activities of all local councils
125	and providing technical assistance to members of local councils.
126	(i)  Providing for the development and presentation of a
127	standardized training program for members of local councils.
128	(j)  Developing and maintaining interagency agreements
129	between the council and the state agencies providing client
130	services. The interagency agreements shall address the
131	coordination of efforts and identify the roles and
132	responsibilities of the statewide and local councils and each
133	agency in fulfillment of their responsibilities, including
134	access to records. The interagency agreements shall explicitly
135	define a process that the statewide and local councils shall use
136	to request records from the agency and shall define a process
137	for appeal when disputes about access to records arise between
138	agency staff and council members. Interagency agreements shall
139	be renewed annually and shall be completed and reported to the
140	Governor no later than February 1.
141	(8)(a)  In the performance of its duties, the statewide
142	council shall have:
143	1.  Authority to receive, investigate, seek to conciliate,
144	hold hearings on, and act on complaints that allege any abuse or
145	deprivation of constitutional or human rights of persons who
146	receive client services from any state agency.
147	2.  Access to all client records, files, and reports from
148	any program, service, or facility that is operated, funded, or
149	contracted by any state agency that provides client services and
150	any records that are material to its investigation and are in
151	the custody of any other agency or department of government. The
152	council's investigation or monitoring shall not impede or
153	obstruct matters under investigation by law enforcement agencies
154	or judicial authorities. Access shall not be granted if a
155	specific procedure or prohibition for reviewing records is
156	required by federal law and regulation that supersedes state
157	law. Access shall not be granted to the records of a private
158	licensed practitioner who is providing services outside the
159	state agency, or outside a state facility, and whose client is
160	competent and refuses disclosure.
161	3.  Standing to petition the circuit court for access to
162	client records that are confidential as specified by law. The
163	petition shall be filed with notice and opportunity to be heard
164	by the state agency and shall state the specific reasons for
165	which the council is seeking access and the intended use of such
166	information. The circuit court may authorize council access to
167	the records upon a finding that access is directly related to an
168	investigation regarding the possible deprivation of
169	constitutional or human rights or the abuse of a client.
170	Original client files, agency records, and reports may not be
171	removed from a state agency, but copies must be provided to the
172	council and the local councils at the agency's expense. Under no
173	circumstance shall the council have access to confidential
174	adoption records once the adoption is finalized by a court in
175	accordance with ss. 39.0132, 63.022, and 63.162. Upon completion
176	of a general investigation of practices and procedures of a
177	state agency, the statewide council shall report its findings to
178	that agency.
179
180	========= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =========
181	On page 1, remove line(s) 2 and 3 and insert:
182	An act relating to health and human services; amending s.
183	402.164, F.S.; establishing legislative intent for the statewide
184	and local advocacy councils; revising a definition; amending s.
185	402.165, F.S.; providing for termination of members of the
186	statewide council; providing guidelines for selection of the
187	executive director of the Florida Statewide Advocacy Council;
188	establishing a process for investigating reports of abuse;
189	revising council meeting requirements; providing requirements
190	for interagency agreements; requiring interagency agreements to
191	be renewed annually and submitted to the Governor by a specified
192	date; providing additional requirements for the statewide
193	council to petition the circuit court for access to certain
194	records; amending s. 400.191, F.S.;

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