HB 1327

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to transition services for adolescents and
3	young adults with disabilities; creating the Jacksonville
4	Health and Transition Services Pilot Program; assigning
5	the program for administrative purposes to Children's
6	Medical Services in the Department of Health; providing
7	purposes of the program; delineating the target
8	population; describing participating service providers and
9	the services that they are to provide; providing for the
10	design and implementation of a comprehensive evaluation of
11	the pilot program; providing an appropriation; providing
12	an effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1.  Jacksonville Health and Transition Services
17	Pilot Program; creation; purposes; participating agencies and
18	services provided; evaluation.--
19	(1)  The Jacksonville Health and Transition Services Pilot
20	Program is created for the purpose of assisting adolescents and
21	young adults who have special needs relating to health care and
22	educational and vocational services in making a smooth
23	transition from the child health care and educational system to
24	the adult health care system and to employment. For
25	administrative purposes, the pilot program is located in
26	Children's Medical Services in the Department of Health.
27	(2)  The Department of Internal Medicine and the Department
28	of Pediatrics at the University of Florida Jacksonville, in
29	collaboration with Children's Medical Services and community
30	partners, including, but not limited to, ARC Jacksonville, Hope
31	Haven Children's Clinic and Family Center, the Spina Bifida
32	Association, and the Down Syndrome Association, shall develop
33	the pilot program. The primary care clinic for the program shall
34	be located in the Ambulatory Care Center on the University of
35	Florida/Shands Jacksonville campus.
36	(3)  The target population for the pilot program comprises
37	adolescents and young adults with disabilities who are between
38	14 and 25 years of age, inclusive, reside in the North Central
39	area of Children's Medical Services of the Department of Health,
40	have chronic health-related or developmental conditions, and
41	could benefit from such a program. All children in the
42	Children's Medical Services State Child Health Insurance Program
43	(SCHIP), Medicaid, and Safety Net (Children's Medical Services),
44	as well as referrals from the Nemours Children's Clinic, the
45	Duval County School District, general pediatricians, and other
46	health care providers, shall be assessed for eligibility to
47	enroll in the program.
48	(4)  Upon intake into the program, participants shall be
49	offered an assessment of their development and educational and
50	vocational achievement. The pilot program shall work with
51	participants and their families to plan for transition to
52	college or to programs for adult educational and vocational
53	rehabilitation. The program shall work with local school
54	systems, community colleges, technical centers, and community-
55	based agencies to provide vocational counseling and training.
56	The pilot program shall develop partnerships with community-
57	based agencies as listed in subsection (2) to support
58	comprehensive transition planning and educational and vocational
59	counseling services.
60	(5)  The pilot program shall include:
61	(a)  A primary-care clinic in the Ambulatory Care Center on
62	the University of Florida/Shands Jacksonville campus, which
63	shall be staffed by a multidisciplinary team that includes a
64	pediatrician and an internist, a nurse care coordinator, a
65	transition specialist, and insurance specialists.
66	(b)  A network of adult medical and surgical specialists
67	from the community and from the University of Florida
68	Jacksonville Health Care System who agree to treat the special
69	needs of the adolescents and young adults who are being served
70	in the pilot program.
71	(c)  Comprehensive intake-evaluation and transition-
72	planning services for adolescents and young adults and their
73	families that cover health care planning, assessment of
74	educational needs, vocational preparation, referral to
75	habilitative support services, assistance in securing insurance,
76	and coordination of services across these areas.
77	(d)  Coordination and collaboration with other agencies
78	that are involved in providing services to adolescents and young
79	adults who have special health care needs, including ARC
80	Jacksonville, Hope Haven Children's Clinic and Family Center,
81	Nemours Children's Clinic, the Duval County School District, the
82	juvenile justice system, family support services, the foster
83	care program of the Department of Children and Family Services,
84	faith-based community programs, and the Duval County Health
85	Department.
86	(e)  Ongoing evaluation of patient satisfaction, disease
87	self-management, and success in taking steps toward employment
88	and health-related quality of life and other health-related
89	outcomes.
90	(f)  Services that support the intellectual development and
91	educational and vocational preparation of adolescents and young
92	adults with disabilities who are enrolled in the program.
93	(6)  Participating agencies and the health and social
94	services that they shall provide include:
95	(a)  The Department of Internal Medicine at the University
96	of Florida Jacksonville, which shall:
97	1.  Provide a primary care physician who shall serve as the
98	co-medical director of the pilot program.
99	2.  Work with both medical and surgical specialty services
100	to facilitate specialty referrals of patients.
101	3.  Provide administrative support to the pilot program,
102	including, but not limited to, supervision of clinic staff,
103	scheduling, and billing.
104	4.  Allot clinic space for a multidisciplinary transition
105	clinic, which shall initially operate at least once a week and
106	shall expand as the demand increases.
107	5.  Assign nursing and support staff to the clinic,
108	including staff to implement an appointment system.
109	6.  Maintain medical records and charts under the
110	University of Florida/Shands Health Care System.
111	7.  Make efforts to ensure that adolescents and young
112	adults with disabilities participating in the pilot program,
113	regardless of their funding source, shall continue to receive
114	health care services, including primary and specialty outpatient
115	medical services, medications, and laboratory services, until
116	they reach their 26th birthday.
117	(b)  The Department of Pediatrics at the University of
118	Florida Jacksonville, which shall:
119	1.  Provide a primary care pediatrician who shall serve as
120	the co-medical director of the pilot program.
121	2.  Work with pediatric specialty physicians to facilitate
122	the transfer of adolescents and young adults with disabilities
123	from pediatric health care specialists to adult health care
124	specialists. The Department of Pediatrics shall contact
125	pediatric specialists and determine what activities or supports
126	are needed to transfer patients from pediatric specialty care to
127	adult specialty care, such as the transfer of medical records
128	and the provision of educational programs for adult specialists.
129	3.  Encourage participation by the subspecialty pediatric
130	physicians through the development of transition programs within
131	each specialty area to prepare patients and their families for
132	participation in the pilot program.
133	4.  Identify and refer adolescents and young adults and
134	their families who are candidates for the pilot program.
135	(c)  The Nemours Children's Clinic, which shall:
136	1.  Encourage participation by the subspecialty pediatric
137	physicians through the development of transition programs within
138	each specialty area to prepare adolescents and young adults with
139	disabilities and their families for participation in the pilot
140	program.
141	2.  Identify and refer adolescents and young adults and
142	their families who are candidates for the pilot program.
143	3.  Provide in-kind support for care coordination and
144	specialized transitional services.
145	(d)  The Institute for Health, Policy and Evaluation
146	Research within the Duval County Health Department, which shall
147	provide the design and implementation of a comprehensive
148	evaluation of the pilot program that includes an assessment of
149	the service-oriented process and patient and family-oriented
150	outcome measures. The Institute for Health, Policy and
151	Evaluation Research shall also conduct a longitudinal study to
152	determine whether the adolescents and young adults with
153	disabilities who participate in this pilot program are more
154	successful than the adolescents and young adults with
155	disabilities who are not associated with the program but receive
156	assistance with vocational rehabilitation only.
157	(e)  Hope Haven Children's Clinic and Family Center,
158	Nemours Children's Clinic, ARC Jacksonville, the Duval County
159	School District, the Florida Community College of Jacksonville,
160	the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of
161	Education, and other groups, which shall develop a comprehensive
162	educational and vocational transition program that shall be
163	offered to adolescents and young adults with disabilities in the
164	program. The transition specialists in these agencies shall
165	identify, to the greatest extent feasible, all adolescents and
166	young adults with disabilities in the district and refer them to
167	the program.
168	Section 2.  The sum of $350,000 is appropriated from the
169	General Revenue Fund to Children's Medical Services in the
170	Department of Health for the purpose of paying startup and
171	operation costs of the Jacksonville Health and Transition
172	Services Pilot Program during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
173	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.