HB 1327

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

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