Florida Senate - 2025 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1620
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/25/2025 .
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The Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs (Rouson)
recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 220 - 395
4 and insert:
5 treatment facilities. The agency shall give priority in issuing
6 licenses to short-term residential treatment facilities located
7 in counties identified by the review.
8 Section 8. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section
9 394.9086, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
10 394.9086 Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use
11 Disorder.—
12 (4) DUTIES.—
13 (a) The duties of the Commission on Mental Health and
14 Substance Use Disorder include the following:
15 1. Conducting a review and evaluation of the management and
16 functioning of the existing publicly supported mental health and
17 substance use disorder systems and services in the department,
18 the Agency for Health Care Administration, and all other
19 departments which administer mental health and substance use
20 disorder services. Such review must shall include, at a minimum,
21 a review of current goals and objectives, current planning,
22 services strategies, coordination management, purchasing,
23 contracting, financing, local government funding responsibility,
24 and accountability mechanisms.
25 2. Considering the unique needs of persons who are dually
26 diagnosed.
27 3. Addressing access to, financing of, and scope of
28 responsibility in the delivery of emergency behavioral health
29 care services.
30 4. Addressing the quality and effectiveness of current
31 mental health and substance use disorder services delivery
32 systems, and professional staffing and clinical structure of
33 services, roles, and responsibilities of public and private
34 providers, such as community mental health centers; community
35 substance use disorder agencies; hospitals, including emergency
36 services departments; law enforcement agencies; and the judicial
37 system.
38 5. Addressing priority population groups for publicly
39 funded mental health and substance use disorder services;,
40 identifying the comprehensive mental health and substance use
41 disorder services delivery systems;, mental health and substance
42 use disorder needs assessment and planning activities,
43 including, but not limited to, the use of the Daily Living
44 Activities-20 functional assessment tool as described in s.
45 1006.041(2)(b); and local government funding responsibilities
46 for mental health and substance use disorder services.
47 6. Reviewing the implementation of chapter 2020-107, Laws
48 of Florida.
49 7. Identifying any gaps in the provision of mental health
50 and substance use disorder services.
51 8. Providing recommendations on how behavioral health
52 managing entities may fulfill their purpose of promoting service
53 continuity and work with community stakeholders throughout this
54 state in furtherance of supporting the 988 Suicide and Crisis
55 Lifeline system and other crisis response services.
56 9. Conducting an overview of the current infrastructure of
57 the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline system.
58 10. Analyzing the current capacity of crisis response
59 services available throughout this state, including services
60 provided by mobile response teams and centralized receiving
61 facilities. The analysis must include information on the
62 geographic area and the total population served by each mobile
63 response team along with the average response time to each call
64 made to a mobile response team; the number of calls that a
65 mobile response team was unable to respond to due to staff
66 limitations, travel distance, or other factors; and the veteran
67 status and age groups of individuals served by mobile response
68 teams.
69 11. Evaluating and making recommendations to improve
70 linkages between the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
71 infrastructure and crisis response services within this state.
72 12. Identifying available mental health block grant funds
73 that can be used to support the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
74 and crisis response infrastructure within this state, including
75 any available funding through opioid settlements or through the
76 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2; the
77 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Pub.
78 L. No. 116-136; or other federal legislation.
79 13. In consultation with the Agency for Health Care
80 Administration, identifying sources of funding available through
81 the Medicaid program specifically for crisis response services,
82 including funding that may be available by seeking approval of a
83 Section 1115 waiver submitted to the Centers for Medicare and
84 Medicaid Services.
85 14. Making recommendations regarding the mission and
86 objectives of state-supported mental health and substance use
87 disorder services and the planning, management, staffing,
88 financing, contracting, coordination, and accountability
89 mechanisms which will best foster the recommended mission and
90 objectives.
91 15. Evaluating and making recommendations regarding the
92 establishment of a permanent, agency-level entity to manage
93 mental health, substance use disorder, and related services
94 statewide. At a minimum, the evaluation must consider and
95 describe the:
96 a. Specific duties and organizational structure proposed
97 for the entity;
98 b. Resource needs of the entity and possible sources of
99 funding;
100 c. Estimated impact on access to and quality of services;
101 d. Impact on individuals with behavioral health needs and
102 their families, both those currently served through the affected
103 systems providing behavioral health services and those in need
104 of services; and
105 e. Relation to, integration with, and impact on providers,
106 managing entities, communities, state agencies, and systems
107 which provide mental health and substance use disorder services
108 in this state. Such recommendations must ensure that the ability
109 of such other agencies and systems to carry out their missions
110 and responsibilities is not impaired.
111 16. Evaluating and making recommendations regarding skills
112 based training that teaches participants about mental health and
113 substance use disorder issues, including, but not limited to,
114 Mental Health First Aid models.
115 Section 9. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section
116 1004.44, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (8) are
117 added to that section, to read:
118 1004.44 Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute.
119 There is established the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health
120 Institute within the University of South Florida.
121 (6)(a) There is established within the institute the
122 Florida Center for Behavioral Health Workforce. The purpose of
123 the center is to support an adequate, highly skilled, resilient,
124 and innovative workforce that meets the current and future human
125 resources needs of the state’s behavioral health system in order
126 to provide high-quality care, services, and supports to
127 Floridians with, or at risk of developing, behavioral health
128 conditions through original research, policy analysis,
129 evaluation, and development and dissemination of best practices.
130 The goals of the center are, at a minimum, to research the
131 state’s current behavioral health workforce and future needs;
132 expand the number of clinicians, professionals, and other
133 workers involved in the behavioral health workforce; and enhance
134 the skill level and innovativeness of the workforce. The center
135 shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:
136 1. Describe and analyze the current workforce and project
137 possible future workforce demand, especially in critical roles,
138 and develop strategies for addressing any gaps. The center’s
139 efforts may include, but need not be limited to, producing a
140 statistically valid biennial analysis of the supply and demand
141 of the behavioral health workforce.
142 2. Expand pathways to behavioral health professions through
143 enhanced educational opportunities and improved faculty
144 development and retention. The center’s efforts may include, but
145 need not be limited to:
146 a. Identifying best practices in the academic preparation
147 and continuing education of behavioral health professionals.
148 b. Facilitating and coordinating the development of
149 academic-practice partnerships that support behavioral health
150 faculty employment and advancement.
151 c. Developing and implementing innovative projects to
152 support the recruitment, development, and retention of
153 behavioral health educators, faculty, and clinical preceptors.
154 d. Developing distance learning infrastructure for
155 behavioral health education and the evidence-based use of
156 technology, simulation, and distance learning techniques.
157 3. Promote behavioral health professions. The center’s
158 efforts may include, but need not be limited to:
159 a. Conducting original research on the factors affecting
160 recruitment, retention, and advancement of the behavioral health
161 workforce, such as designing and implementing a longitudinal
162 study of the state’s behavioral health workforce.
163 b. Developing and implementing innovative projects to
164 support the recruitment, development, and retention of
165 behavioral health workers.
166 4. Analyze compensation and benefit data every other year
167 to
168
169 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
170 And the title is amended as follows:
171 Delete lines 30 - 37
172 and insert:
173 agency to prioritize specified facilities in issuing licenses;
174 amending s. 394.9086, F.S.; revising the duties of the
175 Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder; amending
176 s. 1004.44, F.S.; revising the requirements of