Senate Bill sb2288

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 2288

    By Senator Wise





    5-960B-06

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to transitional services to

  3         young adults with disabilities; creating the

  4         Jacksonville Health and Transition Services

  5         Pilot Program; assigning the program for

  6         administrative purposes to Children's Medical

  7         Services in the Department of Health; providing

  8         purposes of the program; delineating the target

  9         population; describing participating service

10         providers and the services that they are to

11         provide; providing for the design and

12         implementation of a comprehensive evaluation of

13         the pilot program; providing an appropriation;

14         providing an effective date.

15  

16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

17  

18         Section 1.  Jacksonville Health and Transition Services

19  Pilot Program; creation; purposes; participating agencies and

20  services provided; evaluation.--

21         (1)  The Jacksonville Health and Transition Services

22  Pilot Program is created for the purpose of assisting

23  adolescents and young adults who have special needs relating

24  to health care and educational and vocational services in

25  making a smooth transition from the child health care and

26  educational system to the adult health care system and to

27  employment. For administrative purposes, the pilot program is

28  located in Children's Medical Services in the Department of

29  Health.

30         (2)  The Department of Internal Medicine and the

31  Department of Pediatrics, at the University of

                                  1

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






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 2288
    5-960B-06




 1  Florida-Jacksonville Campus, in collaboration with Children's

 2  Medical Services and community partners, including, but not

 3  limited to, ARC Jacksonville, Hope Haven Clinic, the Spina

 4  Bifida Association, and the Down Syndrome Association shall

 5  develop the pilot program. The primary care clinic for the

 6  program will be located in the Ambulatory Care Center on the

 7  Shands/Jacksonville Hospital campus.

 8         (3)  The target population for this pilot program

 9  comprises disabled persons who are 14 through 25 years of age,

10  reside in the North Central area of Children's Medical

11  Services of the Department of Health, have chronic

12  health-related or developmental conditions, and could benefit

13  from such a program. All children in the Children's Medical

14  Services State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP),

15  Medicaid, and Safety Net (Children's Medical Services), as

16  well as referrals from the Nemours Children's Clinic, the

17  Duval County School District, general pediatricians, and other

18  health care providers, should be assessed for eligibility to

19  enroll in the program.

20         (4)  Upon intake into the program, participants shall

21  be offered an assessment of their development and educational

22  and vocational achievement. The pilot program shall work with

23  participants and their families to plan for transition to

24  college or to programs for adult educational and vocational

25  rehabilitation. The program should work with local school

26  systems, community colleges, technical centers, and

27  community-based agencies to provide vocational counseling and

28  training. The pilot program should develop partnerships with

29  community-based agencies as listed in subsection (2) to

30  support comprehensive transition planning and educational and

31  vocational counseling services.

                                  2

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






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 2288
    5-960B-06




 1         (5)  The pilot program shall include:

 2         (a)  A primary-care clinic in the University of

 3  Florida-Jacksonville Adult Ambulatory Care Center, which shall

 4  be staffed by a multidisciplinary team that includes a

 5  pediatrician and an internist, a nurse care coordinator, a

 6  transition specialist, and insurance specialists.

 7         (b)  A network of adult medical and surgical

 8  specialists from the community and from the University of

 9  Florida-Jacksonville System who agree to treat the special

10  needs of the adolescents and young adults who are being served

11  in the pilot program.

12         (c)  Comprehensive intake-evaluation and

13  transition-planning services for children and families which

14  cover health care planning, assessment of educational needs,

15  vocational preparation, referral to habilitative support

16  services, assistance in securing insurance, and coordination

17  of services across these areas.

18         (d)  Coordination and collaboration with other agencies

19  that are involved in providing services to adolescents and

20  young adults who have special health care needs, including ARC

21  of Jacksonville, Hope Haven, Nemours Children's Clinic, the

22  Duval County School District, the juvenile justice system,

23  family support services, the foster care program of the

24  Department of Children and Family Services, faith-based

25  community programs, and the Duval County Health Department.

26         (e)  Ongoing evaluation of patient satisfaction,

27  disease self-management, and success in taking steps toward

28  employment and health-related quality of life and other

29  health-related outcomes.

30  

31  

                                  3

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






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 2288
    5-960B-06




 1         (f)  Services that support the intellectual development

 2  and educational and vocational preparation of disabled young

 3  people who are enrolled in the program.

 4         (6)  Participating agencies and the health and social

 5  services that they shall provide include:

 6         (a)  The Department of Internal Medicine-Jacksonville

 7  at the University of Florida-Jacksonville, which shall:

 8         1.  Provide a primary care physician who will serve as

 9  the co-medical director of the pilot program;

10         2.  Work with both medical and surgical specialty

11  services to facilitate specialty referrals of patients;

12         3.  Provide administrative support to the clinic

13  program, including, but not limited to, supervision of clinic

14  staff, scheduling, and billing;

15         4.  Allot clinic space for a multidisciplinary

16  transition clinic, which should initially operate at least

17  once a week and should expand as the demand increases;

18         5.  Assign nursing and support staff to the clinic,

19  including staff to implement an appointment system;

20         6.  Maintain medical records and charts under the

21  University of Florida Shands Health Care System; and

22         7.  Make efforts to ensure that disabled young people

23  participating in the pilot program, regardless of their

24  funding source, will continue to receive health care services

25  through the age of 23, including primary and specialty

26  outpatient medical services, medications, and laboratory

27  services.

28         (b)  The Department of Pediatrics at the University of

29  Florida-Jacksonville, which shall:

30         1.  Provide a primary care pediatrician who will serve

31  as the co-medical director of the pilot program;

                                  4

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






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 2288
    5-960B-06




 1         2.  Work with pediatric specialty physicians to

 2  facilitate the transfer of disabled young people from

 3  pediatric health care specialists to adult health care

 4  specialists. The Department of Pediatrics shall contact

 5  pediatric specialists and determine what activities or

 6  supports are needed to transfer patients from pediatric

 7  specialty care to adult specialty care, such as the transfer

 8  of medical records and the provision of educational programs

 9  for adult specialists;

10         3.  Encourage participation by the subspecialty

11  pediatric physicians through the development of transition

12  programs within each specialty area to prepare patients and

13  their families for participation in the pilot program; and

14         4.  Identify and refer children and families who are

15  candidates for the pilot program.

16         (c)  The Nemours Children's Clinic, which shall:

17         1.  Encourage participation by the subspecialty

18  pediatric physicians through the development of transition

19  programs within each specialty area to prepare disabled young

20  people and their families for participation in the pilot

21  program;

22         2.  Identify and refer children and families who are

23  candidates for the pilot program; and

24         3.  Provide in-kind support for care coordination and

25  specialized transitional services.

26         (d)  The Institute for Health Policy Evaluation and

27  Research within the Duval County Health Department, which

28  shall provide the design and implementation of a comprehensive

29  evaluation of the pilot program which includes an assessment

30  of the service-oriented process and patient and

31  family-oriented outcome measures. The Institute for Health

                                  5

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






    Florida Senate - 2006                                  SB 2288
    5-960B-06




 1  Policy Evaluation and Research within the Duval County Health

 2  Department shall also conduct a longitudinal study to

 3  determine whether the disabled youth who participate in this

 4  pilot program are more successful than the disabled youth who

 5  are not associated with the program but receive assistance

 6  with vocational rehabilitation only.

 7         (e)  Hope Haven Clinic, Nemours Children's Clinic, ARC

 8  Jacksonville, the Duval County School District, the Florida

 9  Community College of Jacksonville, the state Vocational

10  Rehabilitation Agency, and other groups, which shall develop a

11  comprehensive educational and vocational transition program

12  that will be offered to adolescents and young adults in the

13  program. The transition specialists in these agencies shall

14  identify, to the greatest extent feasible, all disabled young

15  people in the district and refer them to the program.

16         Section 2.  The sum of $350,000 is appropriated from

17  the General Revenue Fund to Children's Medical Services in the

18  Department of Health for the purpose of paying startup and

19  operation costs of the Jacksonville Health and Transition

20  Services Pilot Program during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

21         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

22  

23            *****************************************

24                          SENATE SUMMARY

25    Creates the Jacksonville Health and Transition Services
      Pilot Program to provide disabled young adults who reside
26    in the North Central area of Children's Medical Services
      of the Department of Health with transitional services
27    relating to health care and educational and vocational
      goals. Assigns the program for administrative purposes to
28    the Department of Health. Describes participating service
      providers and the services that they are to provide.
29    Provides for the design and implementation of a
      comprehensive evaluation of the pilot program.
30  

31  

                                  6

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