The Florida Senate

397.801  Substance abuse impairment coordination.--

(1)  There is created a Statewide Coordinator for Substance Abuse Impairment Prevention and Treatment. The statewide coordinator is an interdepartmental and interagency position with respect to the departments and agencies of the state for programs and services affecting persons who are substance abuse impaired. The statewide coordinator is administratively located in an agency designated by the Governor but functions independently of the control and supervision of the administering agency. The statewide coordinator reports directly to the Governor. The responsibilities of the statewide coordinator include, but are not limited to:

(a)  Developing an annual state comprehensive plan for substance abuse impairment which includes a description of the current problem, data on specialized populations which are currently underserved, and recommendations on the types of providers and services needed to address the substance abuse impairment problem.

(b)  Coordinating substance abuse impairment prevention, education, treatment, and criminal justice activities across the various state agencies.

(c)  Coordinating the activities of advocacy groups, service providers, parents, consumers, religious organizations, and volunteers designed to combat substance abuse impairment.

(d)  Encouraging the participation of concerned citizens in the development of the state comprehensive plan for substance abuse impairment and in fundraising and public awareness efforts.

(2)  The ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Department of Law Enforcement each shall appoint a policy level staff person to serve as the agency substance abuse impairment coordinator. The responsibilities of the agency coordinator include interagency and intraagency coordination, collection and dissemination of agency-specific data relating to substance abuse impairment, and participation in the development of the state comprehensive plan for substance abuse impairment.

(3)  The department shall establish, within each of its service districts, the full-time position of substance abuse impairment prevention coordinator, to be filled by a person with expertise in the area of substance abuse impairment. The primary responsibility of this person is to develop and implement activities which foster the prevention of substance abuse impairment.

History.--s. 10, ch. 93-39.

¹Note.--The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was redesignated as the Department of Children and Family Services by s. 5, ch. 96-403, and the Department of Health was created by s. 8, ch. 96-403.