1

A bill to be entitled

2

An act relating to the personal care attendant program;

3

amending s. 413.402, F.S.; revising provisions governing a

4

program to provide personal care attendants for persons

5

who have disabilities; requiring the Florida Endowment

6

Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation to enter into an

7

agreement by a certain date with the Florida Association

8

of Centers for Independent Living to administer a program

9

to provide such attendants to persons who have severe and

10

chronic disabilities; requiring that the parties execute a

11

memorandum of understanding; naming the program the "James

12

Patrick Memorial Work Incentive Personal Attendant

13

Services Program"; providing for payment for the

14

administration of the program; removing a provision

15

requiring interagency memoranda of agreement; revising

16

eligibility requirements for participation in the personal

17

care attendant program; removing provisions concerning the

18

training, selection, and recruitment of personal care

19

attendants; providing for training of program participants

20

concerning hiring and managing an attendant; providing for

21

the adoption and revision of program policies and

22

procedures by the association in cooperation with an

23

oversight group; providing for membership in the oversight

24

group; amending s. 413.4021, F.S.; increasing the

25

percentage of revenues collected from persons who fail to

26

remit sales tax which is deposited in the special reserve

27

account of the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational

28

Rehabilitation to administer the program; deleting a

29

provision requiring that the Florida Endowment Foundation

30

for Vocational Rehabilitation select an entity to

31

administer the program; providing for automatic enrollment

32

in the program for certain persons; providing an effective

33

date.

34

35

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

36

37

     Section 1.  Section 413.402, Florida Statutes, is amended to

38

read:

39

     413.402 Personal care attendant program.--The Florida

40

Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation shall enter

41

into an agreement, no later than October 1, 2008, with the

42

Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living to

43

administer the James Patrick Memorial Work Incentive Personal

44

Attendant Services, in conjunction with the Brain and Spinal Cord

45

Injury Program in the Department of Health, shall develop a

46

Program to provide personal care attendants to persons who have

47

severe and chronic disabilities of all kinds and who are eligible

48

under pursuant to subsection (1). Effective July 1, 2008, the

49

Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living shall

50

receive 12 percent of the funds paid to or on behalf of

51

participants from funds to be deposited with the Florida

52

Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation pursuant to

53

ss. 320.08068(4)(d) and 413.4021(1) to administer the program.

54

For the purpose of ensuring continuity of services, a memorandum

55

of understanding shall be executed between the parties to cover

56

the period between July 1, 2008, and the execution of the final

57

agreement. association and the Department of Health shall jointly

58

develop memoranda of understanding with the Department of

59

Revenue, the Florida Medicaid program in the Agency for Health

60

Care Administration, the Florida Endowment Foundation for

61

Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Division of Vocational

62

Rehabilitation of the Department of Education.

63

     (1) In order to be Persons eligible to participate in the

64

program, a person must:

65

     (a) Be at least 18 years of age, be a legal resident of

66

this state, and be significantly and chronically disabled due to

67

a traumatic spinal cord injury;

68

     (b) Require a personal care attendant for assistance with

69

or support for at least two activities of daily living as defined

70

in s. 429.02, as determined by a physician, psychologist, or

71

psychiatrist bathing, dressing, bowel and bladder management, and

72

transportation;

73

     (c) Require a personal care attendant in order to accept a

74

job or maintain substantial gainful employment; and

75

     (d) Be able to acquire hire and direct supervise a personal

76

care attendant.; and

77

     (e) Meet one of the following requirements:

78

     1. Live in a nursing home;

79

     2. Have moved out of a nursing home within the preceding

80

180 days due to participation in a Medicaid home and community-

81

based waiver program targeted to persons with brain or spinal

82

cord injuries; or

83

     3. Presently be employed but, because of a loss of a

84

caregiver, will lose employment and potentially return to a

85

nursing home.

86

     (2)(a) The association, in cooperation with the Department

87

of Health and the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational

88

Rehabilitation, shall develop a program to recruit, screen, and

89

select candidates to be trained as personal care attendants.

90

     (b) The services of a nurse registry licensed pursuant to

91

s. 400.506 may be utilized to recruit and screen candidates and

92

to operate as a fiscal intermediary through which payments are

93

made to individuals performing services as personal care

94

attendants under the program. The Department of Health and the

95

Agency for Health Care Administration shall seek any federal

96

waivers necessary to implement this provision.

97

     (3) The Florida Association of Centers for Independent

98

Living association and the Department of Health, in cooperation

99

with the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational

100

Rehabilitation, shall provide develop a training to program

101

participants on hiring and managing a personal care attendant

102

and, in cooperation with the oversight group described in

103

paragraph (b), adopt and revise the policies and procedures

104

governing the personal care attendant program and the training

105

program.

106

     (b) The oversight group shall include, but need not be

107

limited to, a member of the Florida Association of Centers for

108

Independent Living, a person who is participating in the program,

109

and one representative each from the Department of Revenue, the

110

Department of Children and Family Services, the Division of

111

Vocational Rehabilitation in the Department of Education, the

112

Medicaid program in the Agency for Health Care Administration,

113

the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation,

114

and the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of

115

Health program for personal care attendants.

116

     (4) The association, in cooperation with the Department of

117

Health and the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational

118

Rehabilitation, shall establish procedures for selecting persons

119

eligible under subsection (1) to participate in the program.

120

     (5) The association, in cooperation with the Department of

121

Revenue, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the

122

Department of Health, the Florida Medicaid program in the Agency

123

for Health Care Administration, a representative from the state

124

attorney's office in each of the judicial circuits participating

125

in the program, the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational

126

Rehabilitation, and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of

127

the Department of Education, shall develop a plan for

128

implementation of the program.

129

     (6) The Department of Health shall establish an oversight

130

workgroup for the personal care attendant program to oversee the

131

implementation and administration of the program. The workgroup

132

shall be composed of one representative from the Brain and Spinal

133

Cord Injury Program in the Department of Health, one

134

representative from the Department of Revenue, one representative

135

from the Florida Medicaid Program in the Agency for Health Care

136

Administration, one representative from the Florida Endowment

137

Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, one representative from

138

the Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living, one

139

representative from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of

140

the Department of Education, and two members who are persons with

141

traumatic spinal cord injuries or are family members of persons

142

with traumatic spinal cord injuries.

143

     Section 2.  Subsections (1) and (2) of section 413.4021,

144

Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

145

     413.4021  Program participant selection; tax collection

146

enforcement diversion program.--The Department of Revenue, in

147

coordination with the Florida Association of Centers for

148

Independent Living and the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys

149

Association, shall select judicial circuits in which to operate

150

the program. The association and the state attorneys' offices

151

shall develop and implement a tax collection enforcement

152

diversion program, which shall collect revenue due from persons

153

who have not remitted their collected sales tax. The criteria for

154

referral to the tax collection enforcement diversion program

155

shall be determined cooperatively between the state attorneys'

156

offices and the Department of Revenue.

157

     (1)  Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 212.20, 50 percent

158

of the revenues collected from the tax collection enforcement

159

diversion program shall be deposited into the special reserve

160

operating account of the Florida Endowment Foundation for

161

Vocational Rehabilitation, to be used to administer the personal

162

care attendant program and to contract with the state attorneys

163

participating in the tax collection enforcement diversion program

164

in an amount of not more than $50,000 for each state attorney.

165

     (2)  The program shall operate only from funds deposited

166

into the operating account of the Florida Endowment Foundation

167

for Vocational Rehabilitation. The Florida Endowment Foundation

168

for Vocational Rehabilitation shall select the entity to

169

administer the personal care attendant program.

170

     Section 3. Notwithstanding any other law, each person

171

enrolled in the personal care attendant program under s. 413.402,

172

Florida Statutes, on June 30, 2008, and each person enrolled in

173

the pilot personal care attendant program in Lake, Orange,

174

Osceola, and Seminole Counties as authorized in Specific

175

Appropriation 340, chapter 2006-25, Laws of Florida, on June 30,

176

2008, is automatically eligible for and enrolled in the personal

177

care attendant program, as amended by this act on July 1, 2008.

178

     Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.