Florida Senate - 2017 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1580
Ì960350vÎ960350
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/17/2017 .
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The Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs (Gibson)
recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (2) of
6 section 394.463, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
7 394.463 Involuntary examination.—
8 (2) INVOLUNTARY EXAMINATION.—
9 (g) The examination period may last for up to 72 hours for
10 an adult. For a minor, the examination must be initiated within
11 12 hours after the patient’s arrival at the facility and
12 completed within 24 hours unless the attending physician,
13 clinical psychologist, or psychiatric nurse performing within
14 the framework of an established protocol with a psychiatrist
15 determines that additional time is required to stabilize and
16 assess the minor. Within the 72-hour examination period or, if
17 the examination period 72 hours ends on a weekend or holiday, no
18 later than the next working day thereafter, one of the following
19 actions must be taken, based on the individual needs of the
20 patient:
21 1. The patient shall be released, unless he or she is
22 charged with a crime, in which case the patient shall be
23 returned to the custody of a law enforcement officer;
24 2. The patient shall be released, subject to the provisions
25 of subparagraph 1., for voluntary outpatient treatment;
26 3. The patient, unless he or she is charged with a crime,
27 shall be asked to give express and informed consent to placement
28 as a voluntary patient and, if such consent is given, the
29 patient shall be admitted as a voluntary patient; or
30 4. A petition for involuntary services shall be filed in
31 the circuit court if inpatient treatment is deemed necessary or
32 with the criminal county court, as defined in s. 394.4655(1), as
33 applicable. When inpatient treatment is deemed necessary, the
34 least restrictive treatment consistent with the optimum
35 improvement of the patient’s condition shall be made available.
36 When a petition is to be filed for involuntary outpatient
37 placement, it shall be filed by one of the petitioners specified
38 in s. 394.4655(4)(a). A petition for involuntary inpatient
39 placement shall be filed by the facility administrator.
40 (h) A person for whom an involuntary examination has been
41 initiated who is being evaluated or treated at a hospital for an
42 emergency medical condition specified in s. 395.002 must be
43 examined by a facility within the examination period specified
44 in paragraph (g) 72 hours. The examination 72-hour period begins
45 when the patient arrives at the hospital and ceases when the
46 attending physician documents that the patient has an emergency
47 medical condition. If the patient is examined at a hospital
48 providing emergency medical services by a professional qualified
49 to perform an involuntary examination and is found as a result
50 of that examination not to meet the criteria for involuntary
51 outpatient services pursuant to s. 394.4655(2) or involuntary
52 inpatient placement pursuant to s. 394.467(1), the patient may
53 be offered voluntary services or placement, if appropriate, or
54 released directly from the hospital providing emergency medical
55 services. The finding by the professional that the patient has
56 been examined and does not meet the criteria for involuntary
57 inpatient services or involuntary outpatient placement must be
58 entered into the patient’s clinical record. This paragraph is
59 not intended to prevent a hospital providing emergency medical
60 services from appropriately transferring a patient to another
61 hospital before stabilization if the requirements of s.
62 395.1041(3)(c) have been met.
63 Section 2. (1) There is created a task force within the
64 Department of Children and Families to address the issue of
65 involuntary examinations under s. 394.463, Florida Statutes, of
66 children age 17 and younger. The task force shall, at a minimum,
67 analyze data on the initiation of involuntary examinations of
68 children, research the root causes of trends in such involuntary
69 examinations, and identify recommendations for encouraging
70 alternatives to these examinations. The task force shall submit
71 a report on its findings to the Governor, the President of the
72 Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on or
73 before December 1, 2017.
74 (2) The task force shall consist of the following members:
75 (a) The Secretary of the Department of Children and
76 Families, or his or her designee, who shall chair the task
77 force.
78 (b) The Commissioner of the Department of Education, or his
79 or her designee.
80 (c) A representative of the Florida Public Defender
81 Association.
82 (d) A representative of the Florida Association of District
83 School Superintendents.
84 (e) A representative of the Florida Sheriffs Association.
85 (f) A representative of the Florida Police Chiefs
86 Association.
87 (g) A representative of the Florida Council for Community
88 Mental Health.
89 (h) A representative of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse
90 Association.
91 (i) A representative of the Behavioral Health Care Council
92 of the Florida Hospital Association.
93 (j) A representative of the Florida Psychiatric Society.
94 (k) A representative of the National Alliance on Mental
95 Illness.
96 (l) One individual who is a family member of a minor who
97 has been subject to an involuntary examination.
98 (m) Other members as deemed appropriate by the Secretary of
99 the Department of Children and Families.
100 (3) The department shall use existing and available
101 resources to administer and support the activities of the task
102 force. Members of the task force shall serve without
103 compensation and are not entitled to reimbursement for per diem
104 or travel expense. The task force may conduct its meetings via
105 teleconference.
106 (4) This section expires March 31, 2018.
107 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
108
109 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
110 And the title is amended as follows:
111 Delete everything before the enacting clause
112 and insert:
113 A bill to be entitled
114 An act relating to admission of children and
115 adolescents to mental health facilities; amending s.
116 394.463, F.S.; requiring a facility to initiate an
117 involuntary examination of a minor within 12 hours and
118 complete the examination within 24 hours after the
119 patient’s arrival; providing an exception; creating a
120 task force within the Department of Children and
121 Families; requiring the task force to analyze certain
122 data and make recommendations in a report to the
123 Governor and the Legislature by a specified date;
124 specifying task force membership; specifying operation
125 of the task force; providing for expiration of the
126 task force; providing an effective date.