HB 1327

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Future of Florida's Families Committee recommends the
2	following:
3
4	Council/Committee Substitute
5	Remove the entire bill and insert:
6	A bill to be entitled
7	An act relating to transition services for adolescents and
8	young adults with disabilities; creating the Jacksonville
9	Health and Transition Services Pilot Program; assigning
10	the program for administrative purposes to the Children's
11	Medical Services program in the Department of Health;
12	providing purposes of the pilot program; providing for the
13	development of collaborative partnerships with certain
14	entities; delineating the target population; describing
15	participating service providers and the services that they
16	are to provide; providing for the design and
17	implementation of a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot
18	program; providing an appropriation; providing an
19	effective date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1.  Jacksonville Health and Transition Services
24	Pilot Program; creation; purposes; participating agencies and
25	services provided; evaluation.--
26	(1)  The Jacksonville Health and Transition Services Pilot
27	Program is created for the purpose of assisting adolescents and
28	young adults who have special needs relating to health care and
29	educational and vocational services in making a smooth
30	transition from the child health care and educational system to
31	the adult health care system and to employment. For
32	administrative purposes, the pilot program is located in the
33	Children's Medical Services program in the Department of Health.
34	(2)  The pilot program, in consultation with the Children's
35	Medical Services program in the Department of Health, shall
36	develop collaborative partnerships with the public and private
37	entities specified in this section to administer and implement
38	the pilot program. Participation in the program by such entities
39	is voluntary. However, an entity that participates in the
40	program must comply with the requirements of this section.
41	(3)  The Department of Internal Medicine and the Department
42	of Pediatrics at the University of Florida Jacksonville, in
43	collaboration with Children's Medical Services and community
44	partners, including, but not limited to, ARC Jacksonville, Hope
45	Haven Children's Clinic and Family Center, the Spina Bifida
46	Association, and the Down Syndrome Association, shall develop
47	the pilot program. The primary care clinic for the program shall
48	be located in the Ambulatory Care Center on the University of
49	Florida/Shands Jacksonville campus.
50	(4)  The target population for the pilot program comprises
51	adolescents and young adults with disabilities who are between
52	14 and 25 years of age, inclusive, reside in the North Central
53	area of Children's Medical Services of the Department of Health,
54	have chronic health-related or developmental conditions, and
55	could benefit from such a program. All children in the
56	Children's Medical Services State Child Health Insurance Program
57	(SCHIP), Medicaid, and Safety Net (Children's Medical Services),
58	as well as referrals from the Nemours Children's Clinic, the
59	Duval County School District, general pediatricians, and other
60	health care providers, shall be assessed for eligibility to
61	enroll in the program.
62	(5)  Upon intake into the program, participants shall be
63	offered an assessment of their development and educational and
64	vocational achievement. The pilot program shall work with
65	participants and their families to plan for transition to
66	college or to programs for adult educational and vocational
67	rehabilitation. The program shall work with local school
68	systems, community colleges, technical centers, and community-
69	based agencies to provide vocational counseling and training.
70	The pilot program shall develop partnerships with community-
71	based agencies as listed in subsection (3) to support
72	comprehensive transition planning and educational and vocational
73	counseling services.
74	(6)  The pilot program shall include:
75	(a)  A primary-care clinic in the Ambulatory Care Center on
76	the University of Florida/Shands Jacksonville campus, which
77	shall be staffed by a multidisciplinary team that includes a
78	pediatrician and an internist, a nurse care coordinator, a
79	transition specialist, and insurance specialists.
80	(b)  A network of adult medical and surgical specialists
81	from the community and from the University of Florida
82	Jacksonville Health Care System who agree to treat the special
83	needs of the adolescents and young adults who are being served
84	in the pilot program.
85	(c)  Comprehensive intake-evaluation and transition-
86	planning services for adolescents and young adults and their
87	families that cover health care planning, assessment of
88	educational needs, vocational preparation, referral to
89	habilitative support services, assistance in securing insurance,
90	and coordination of services across these areas.
91	(d)  Coordination and collaboration with other agencies
92	that are involved in providing services to adolescents and young
93	adults who have special health care needs, including ARC
94	Jacksonville, Hope Haven Children's Clinic and Family Center,
95	Nemours Children's Clinic, the Duval County School District, the
96	juvenile justice system, family support services, the foster
97	care program of the Department of Children and Family Services,
98	faith-based community programs, and the Duval County Health
99	Department.
100	(e)  Ongoing evaluation of patient satisfaction, disease
101	self-management, and success in taking steps toward employment
102	and health-related quality of life and other health-related
103	outcomes.
104	(f)  Services that support the intellectual development and
105	educational and vocational preparation of adolescents and young
106	adults with disabilities who are enrolled in the program.
107	(7)  Participating agencies and the health and social
108	services that they shall provide include:
109	(a)  The Department of Internal Medicine at the University
110	of Florida Jacksonville, which shall:
111	1.  Provide a primary care physician who shall serve as the
112	co-medical director of the pilot program.
113	2.  Work with both medical and surgical specialty services
114	to facilitate specialty referrals of patients.
115	3.  Provide administrative support to the pilot program,
116	including, but not limited to, supervision of clinic staff,
117	scheduling, and billing.
118	4.  Allot clinic space for a multidisciplinary transition
119	clinic, which shall initially operate at least once a week and
120	shall expand as the demand increases.
121	5.  Assign nursing and support staff to the clinic,
122	including staff to implement an appointment system.
123	6.  Maintain medical records and charts under the
124	University of Florida/Shands Health Care System.
125	7.  Make efforts to ensure that adolescents and young
126	adults with disabilities participating in the pilot program,
127	regardless of their funding source, shall continue to receive
128	health care services, including primary and specialty outpatient
129	medical services, medications, and laboratory services, until
130	they reach their 26th birthday.
131	(b)  The Department of Pediatrics at the University of
132	Florida Jacksonville, which shall:
133	1.  Provide a primary care pediatrician who shall serve as
134	the co-medical director of the pilot program.
135	2.  Work with pediatric specialty physicians to facilitate
136	the transfer of adolescents and young adults with disabilities
137	from pediatric health care specialists to adult health care
138	specialists. The Department of Pediatrics shall contact
139	pediatric specialists and determine what activities or supports
140	are needed to transfer patients from pediatric specialty care to
141	adult specialty care, such as the transfer of medical records
142	and the provision of educational programs for adult specialists.
143	3.  Encourage participation by the subspecialty pediatric
144	physicians through the development of transition programs within
145	each specialty area to prepare patients and their families for
146	participation in the pilot program.
147	4.  Identify and refer adolescents and young adults and
148	their families who are candidates for the pilot program.
149	(c)  The Nemours Children's Clinic, which shall:
150	1.  Encourage participation by the subspecialty pediatric
151	physicians through the development of transition programs within
152	each specialty area to prepare adolescents and young adults with
153	disabilities and their families for participation in the pilot
154	program.
155	2.  Identify and refer adolescents and young adults and
156	their families who are candidates for the pilot program.
157	3.  Provide in-kind support for care coordination and
158	specialized transitional services.
159	(d)  The Institute for Health, Policy and Evaluation
160	Research within the Duval County Health Department, which shall
161	provide the design and implementation of a comprehensive
162	evaluation of the pilot program that includes an assessment of
163	the service-oriented process and patient and family-oriented
164	outcome measures. The Institute for Health, Policy and
165	Evaluation Research shall also conduct a longitudinal study to
166	determine whether the adolescents and young adults with
167	disabilities who participate in this pilot program are more
168	successful than the adolescents and young adults with
169	disabilities who are not associated with the program but receive
170	assistance with vocational rehabilitation only.
171	(e)  Hope Haven Children's Clinic and Family Center,
172	Nemours Children's Clinic, ARC Jacksonville, the Duval County
173	School District, the Florida Community College of Jacksonville,
174	the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of
175	Education, and other groups, which shall develop a comprehensive
176	educational and vocational transition program that shall be
177	offered to adolescents and young adults with disabilities in the
178	program. The transition specialists in these agencies shall
179	identify, to the greatest extent feasible, all adolescents and
180	young adults with disabilities in the district and refer them to
181	the program.
182	Section 2.  The sum of $350,000 is appropriated from the
183	General Revenue Fund to Children's Medical Services in the
184	Department of Health for the purpose of paying startup and
185	operation costs of the Jacksonville Health and Transition
186	Services Pilot Program during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
187	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

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