Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 452
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì658758bÎ658758                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/26/2019           .                                
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       The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
       (Gibson) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (584510) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 40 - 185
    5  and insert:
    6  persons found to have been caused by, or related to, abuse or
    7  neglect. The review teams are housed, for administrative
    8  purposes only, in the Department of Elderly Affairs.
    9         (b) An elder abuse fatality review team may include, but is
   10  not limited to, representatives from the following entities in
   11  the review team’s judicial circuit:
   12         1. Law enforcement agencies;
   13         2. The state attorney;
   14         3. The medical examiner;
   15         4. A county court judge;
   16         5. Adult protective services;
   17         6. The area agency on aging;
   18         7. The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program;
   19         8. The Agency for Health Care Administration;
   20         9. The Office of the Attorney General;
   21         10.The Office of the State Courts Administrator;
   22         11.The clerk of the court;
   23         12.A victim services program;
   24         13.An elder law attorney;
   25         14.Emergency services personnel;
   26         15.A certified domestic violence center;
   27         16.An advocacy organization for victims of sexual
   28  violence;
   29         17.A funeral home director;
   30         18.A forensic pathologist;
   31         19.A geriatrician;
   32         20.A geriatric nurse;
   33         21.A geriatric psychiatrist or other individual licensed
   34  to offer behavioral health services;
   35         22.A hospital discharge planner;
   36         23.A public guardian; or
   37         24.Any other persons who have knowledge regarding fatal
   38  incidents of elder abuse, domestic violence, or sexual violence,
   39  including knowledge of research, policy, law, and other matters
   40  connected with such incidents involving elders, or who are
   41  recommended for inclusion by the review team.
   42         (c)A state attorney, or his or her designee, may initiate
   43  the establishment of a review team in his or her judicial
   44  circuit and may call the first organizational meeting of the
   45  team. At the initial meeting, members of the review team shall
   46  choose two members to serve as co-chairs and shall establish a
   47  schedule for future meetings.
   48         (d)Participation in a review team is voluntary. Members of
   49  the review team shall serve without compensation and may not be
   50  reimbursed for per diem or travel expenses.
   51         (e)Members shall serve for terms of 2 years, to be
   52  staggered as determined by the co-chairs. Chairs may be
   53  reelected by a majority vote of the review team but not for more
   54  than two consecutive terms.
   55         (f)A review team shall determine the local operations of
   56  the team, including, but not limited to, the process for case
   57  selection. Reviews must be limited to closed cases in which an
   58  elderly person’s death is alleged or found to have been caused
   59  by, or related to, abuse or neglect. All identifying information
   60  concerning the person must be redacted in documents received for
   61  review. The review team shall meet at least once each fiscal
   62  year.
   63         (g)Administrative costs of operating the review team must
   64  be borne by the team members or entities that they represent.
   65         (2) An elder abuse fatality review team in existence on
   66  July 1, 2019, may continue to exist and shall comply with the
   67  requirements of this section.
   68         (3) An elder abuse fatality review team shall do all of the
   69  following:
   70         (a) Review deaths of elderly persons in its judicial
   71  circuit alleged or found to have been caused by, or related to,
   72  abuse or neglect.
   73         (b) Consider the events leading up to a fatal incident,
   74  available community resources, current law and policies, and the
   75  actions taken by systems or individuals related to the fatal
   76  incident.
   77         (c) Identify potential gaps, deficiencies, or problems in
   78  the delivery of services to elderly persons by public and
   79  private agencies which may be related to deaths reviewed by the
   80  review team.
   81         (d) Whenever possible, develop communitywide approaches to
   82  address causes of, and contributing factors to, deaths reviewed
   83  by the review team.
   84         (e) Develop recommendations and potential changes in law,
   85  rules, and policies to support the care of elderly persons and
   86  to prevent elder abuse deaths.
   87         (4)(a)Review teams in this state may share with each other
   88  any relevant information that pertains to the review of the
   89  death of an elderly person.
   90         (b)A review team member may not contact, interview, or
   91  obtain information by request directly from a member of the
   92  deceased elder’s family as part of the review unless a team
   93  member is authorized to do so in the course of his or her
   94  employment duties. A member of the deceased elder’s family may
   95  voluntarily provide information or records to a review team but
   96  must be informed that such information or records are subject to
   97  public disclosure unless a public records exemption applies.
   98         (5)(a) Annually by September 1, each elder abuse fatality
   99  review team shall submit a summary report to the Department of
  100  Elderly Affairs which includes, but is not limited to:
  101         1. Descriptive statistics regarding cases reviewed by the
  102  review team, including demographic information on victims and
  103  the causes and nature of deaths;
  104         2. Current policies, procedures, rules, or statutes that
  105  the review team identified as contributing to the incidence of
  106  elder abuse and elder deaths, and recommendations for system
  107  improvements and needed resources, training, or information
  108  dissemination to address those identified issues; and
  109         3. Any other recommendations to prevent deaths from elder
  110  abuse or neglect, based on an analysis of the data and
  111  information presented in the report.
  112         (b)Annually by November 1, the Department of Elderly
  113  Affairs shall prepare a summary report of the review team
  114  information required under paragraph (a). The department shall
  115  provide the summary report to the Governor, the President of the
  116  Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
  117  Department of Children and Families.
  118         (6)There is no monetary liability on the part of, and a
  119  cause of action for damages may not arise against, any member of
  120  an elder abuse fatality review team due to the performance of
  121  his or her duties as a review team member in regard to any
  122  discussions by, or deliberations or recommendations of, the team
  123  or the member, unless such member acted in bad faith, with
  124  wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or
  125  property.
  126  
  127  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  128  And the title is amended as follows:
  129         Delete lines 23 - 31
  130  and insert:
  131         Children and Families; providing immunity from
  132         monetary liability for review team members under
  133         certain conditions; providing an effective date.