Florida Senate - 2009 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 2612
Barcode 325762
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: 1/WD/3R .
04/27/2009 04:16 PM .
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Senator Wise moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 2317 and 2318
4 insert:
5 Section 52. (1) A workgroup shall be created to review
6 state policy and budgeting issues affecting adults with serious
7 mental illness who also have involvement with the state criminal
8 justice system.
9 (2) The workgroup shall consist of the following members:
10 (a) One member from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
11 Corporation.
12 (b) One member appointed by Florida Legal Services, Inc.
13 (c) One member appointed by the Florida Psychiatric
14 Society.
15 (d) One member appointed by the Correctional Medical
16 Authority.
17 (e) One member appointed by the Florida Prosecuting
18 Attorneys Association.
19 (f) One member appointed by the Florida Public Defender
20 Association.
21 (g) One member appointed by the Florida Association of
22 Court Clerks.
23 (h) One member appointed by the Florida Assisted Living
24 Affiliation.
25 (i) One member appointed by the Florida Council for
26 Community Mental Health.
27 (j) One member appointed by the Department of Children and
28 Family Services.
29 (k) One member appointed by the Agency for Health Care
30 Administration.
31 (l) One member appointed by the Department of Corrections.
32 (m) One member appointed by the Florida Sheriffs
33 Association.
34 (n) One member appointed by the Florida Police Benevolent
35 Association.
36 (o) One member appointed by the Florida chapter of the
37 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
38 (p) One member appointed by the Florida Hospital
39 Association representing private receiving facilities.
40 (q) One member appointed by the Florida Psychological
41 Association.
42 (r) One member appointed by the President of the Senate.
43 (s) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
44 Representatives.
45 (t) One member appointed by the Governor.
46 (3) Members of the workgroup shall serve without
47 compensation except that a member may request reimbursement from
48 the member’s employing entity for per diem and travel expenses
49 as provided in s. 112.061, Florida Statutes.
50 (4) Each meeting of the workgroup shall be held in
51 Tallahassee. The workgroup shall meet 4 times per year and may
52 use electronic means of communication, which may include, but
53 are not limited to, conference calls, web seminars, and video
54 conferencing.
55 (5) The workgroup shall organize and conduct its meetings
56 in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.
57 (6) The review conducted by the workgroup under this
58 section must include:
59 (a) The identification of all state funds being expended on
60 the care of adults with mental illnesses who have legal
61 involvement with state and county courts, including funds
62 expended on care in correctional facilities and funds expended
63 on medication, courts, attorneys, state institutions, contracts
64 with private institutions, community-based programs, Medicaid
65 services, state-funded substance abuse services, state-funded
66 mental health services, and managed care plans.
67 (b) A detailed examination of community-based service
68 delivery systems, including utilization issues, housing issues,
69 psychiatric emergency crisis response outcomes, effective
70 practices, and programs directed toward individuals who are at
71 risk for court or legal involvement.
72 (c) A detailed review of data, utilization, and cost
73 analysis for individuals who are involved with the county
74 courts, state courts, state prisons, and state and private
75 institutions, have been charged with misdemeanors or felonies,
76 and have a diagnosis of serious and persistent mental illness.
77 (d) A detailed review of utilization data and costs for
78 individuals who have traumatic brain injuries, have involvement
79 with state courts, state prisons, county courts, or county
80 jails, and have involvement with state-funded substance abuse
81 and mental health services.
82 (e) A review of the cost and impact of early discharge from
83 public crisis-stabilization units, community inpatient
84 psychiatric hospitals, and state and private institutions that
85 care for persons with serious and persistent mental illness and
86 inappropriate placement into state prisons and county jails.
87 (f) A review of the Criminal Punishment Code, including
88 penalties and sentencing guidelines, and other laws pertaining
89 to the forensic mentally ill in order to assess where changes
90 could be made that protect public safety while ensuring that the
91 needs of the mentally ill are met in a cost-effective manner,
92 with a goal to create a plan that will reduce reliance on state
93 prisons and county jails.
94 (g) The identification of programs, practices, and
95 innovative solutions emerging in the state that would reduce the
96 need for incarceration, improve cost-effectiveness, help reduce
97 the impact on the state budget, and improve public safety.
98 (h) A process for requesting and reviewing innovative
99 proposals that would help the state optimize the use of state
100 funding through special pilot projects, mental health courts,
101 changes in emergency psychiatric care, new approaches to law
102 enforcement practices and court diversion programs, and the use
103 of modified sentencing or waivers relative to the Criminal
104 Punishment Code.
105 (i) The development of a proposal for legislative
106 consideration that would establish an innovative Medicaid waiver
107 that would help support stable housing and services for
108 individuals at risk of court-related involvement. For the
109 purposes of this subsection, the term “at risk of court-related
110 involvement” means having been charged with a misdemeanor or
111 felony and diagnosed with a serious and persistent mental
112 illness.
113 (j) A review of the effect of substance abuse on the system
114 and methods to create integration and the use of Medicaid
115 waivers, such as the Medicaid 1915c Home and Community-Based
116 Waiver, to provide a more integrated approach to treating
117 substance abuse in the community.
118 (k) The use of involuntary outpatient commitment
119 requirements under the Baker Act and the need for changes to
120 those requirements that would help reduce or mitigate the
121 potential for court involvement in this process. The review
122 shall include the use of the Florida Medication Algorithm
123 Project and its implications for improved outcomes relative to
124 individuals at risk of court-related involvement.
125 (l) A review of the current status of the use of electronic
126 medical records, the need for broader use of electronic medical
127 records for individuals at risk of court-related involvement,
128 and the fiscal impact in terms of the savings that this type of
129 client information system would have on reducing state
130 expenditures and improving access to care for those considered
131 most at risk. The workgroup may request experts in the field to
132 make presentations and respond to questions. The workgroup shall
133 make recommendations as provided in subsection (7).
134 (m) A review and comparison of the practices and standards
135 used in correctional facilities to provide mental health care
136 for individuals who are incarcerated in county jails, state
137 prisons, or state or private state mental health forensic
138 institutions.
139 (n) The consideration of plans and recommendations
140 concerning appropriate methods of diverting mentally ill inmates
141 to less restrictive and less expensive alternatives using
142 conditional release or probation.
143 (o) A review of probation and parole requirements for
144 recommended modifications in order to assist with improving
145 community placement and community control for persons with
146 serious and persistent mental illness who are eligible for
147 probation. This shall include a review of rules and policies and
148 recommendations.
149 (p) A review of practices associated with the discharge of
150 individuals with a serious mental illness from correctional
151 facilities and from state-operated and state-funded forensic
152 mental health institutions for compliance with interagency
153 agreements regarding placement in the community, recidivism to a
154 jail or institutional setting, and the use of hospital emergency
155 rooms, involuntary commitment services, and crisis stabilization
156 units.
157 (7) The workgroup shall make recommendations in its interim
158 and final reports regarding proposed changes to the state penal
159 code, sentencing guidelines, state mental health policy, and
160 related strategies that would improve public safety through
161 better integration of behavioral health care at all levels of
162 the criminal justice system, with a goal of reducing reliance on
163 county jails and state prisons. The workgroup shall submit an
164 interim report with findings and recommendations to the
165 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
166 House of Representatives by January 5, 2010, and its final
167 report with recommendations and findings by January 5, 2011.
168 (8) The workgroup terminates and this section expires July
169 1, 2011.
170
171 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
172 And the title is amended as follows:
173 Delete line 113
174 and insert:
175 substance abuse and mental health services; providing
176 for the creation of a workgroup to review state policy
177 and budgeting issues affecting adults with serious
178 mental illness who also have involvement with the
179 state criminal justice system; providing for
180 membership, organization, and meetings; specifying
181 that members serve without compensation, but may be
182 reimbursed for expenses; specifying components of the
183 review; providing for interim and final reports;
184 providing for future termination of the workgroup and
185 expiration of the provisions creating it; providing