HB 249

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Florida 211 Network; amending s.
3	408.918, F.S.; requiring the Florida 211 Network to
4	provide services in each county and to coordinate services
5	with county emergency management agencies during
6	disasters; providing requirements for distribution of
7	state funds appropriated for such purposes; requiring
8	local matching funds; requiring expenditure reports to the
9	Florida Alliance of Information and Referral Services, the
10	Agency for Health Care Administration, the Governor, and
11	the Legislature; providing an appropriation; providing an
12	effective date.
13
14	WHEREAS, the 2002 Legislature created the "Florida Health
15	and Human Services Access Act" in ss. 408.911-408.918, Florida
16	Statutes, and
17	WHEREAS, the act "authorizes the planning, development,
18	and, subject to appropriations, the implementation of a
19	statewide Florida 211 Network, which shall serve as the single
20	point of coordination for information and referral for health
21	and human services" in s. 408.918(1), Florida Statutes, and
22	WHEREAS, in order to participate in the Florida 211
23	Network, a 211 provider must be certified by the Agency for
24	Health Care Administration under s. 408.918(2), Florida
25	Statutes, and
26	WHEREAS, 211 is the 911 telephone number for nonemergency
27	health and human services and for crisis response information,
28	is available in 36 counties, and represents 13.1 million people,
29	or 77.5 percent of the state's population, and
30	WHEREAS, the Florida Alliance of Information and Referral
31	Services is the statewide membership organization in which all
32	211 providers participate and which has drafted the Florida 211
33	Network business plan identifying the most efficient processes
34	by which the Florida 211 Network should expand statewide, and
35	WHEREAS, 211 providers, who answer 3 million telephone
36	inquiries about human services annually, have compiled
37	information on thousands of human services programs across the
38	state, and
39	WHEREAS, 211 call centers make it easier for 11 million
40	Floridians to get the information they need to keep them out of
41	emergency rooms, off government assistance, out of "deep-end"
42	social services programs, safe from abuse, and in stable
43	housing, and
44	WHEREAS, 211 call centers also help people find job
45	training and assistance, elder care and child care, and before-
46	school and after-school care that allow them to stay employed,
47	and
48	WHEREAS, during the 2004 hurricanes, 211 call centers
49	provided critically needed support to many emergency management
50	agencies, provided information to more than 100,000 Floridians
51	impacted by hurricanes, were instrumental in identifying unmet
52	and emerging needs, and helped mobilize and manage volunteers,
53	and
54	WHEREAS, 211 will continue to be a critical part of
55	recovery efforts, providing a connection to help for people
56	whose lives have been dramatically affected by the 2004
57	hurricanes, NOW, THEREFORE,
58
59	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
60
61	Section 1.  Section 408.918, Florida Statutes, is amended
62	to read:
63	408.918  Florida 211 Network; uniform certification
64	requirements.--
65	(1)  The Legislature finds that a statewide Florida 211
66	Network would be of great benefit to Floridians, particularly in
67	times of disaster, and authorizes the planning, development,
68	and, subject to appropriations, the implementation of a
69	statewide Florida 211 Network, which shall serve as the single
70	point of coordination for information and referral for health
71	and human services. The objectives for establishing the Florida
72	211 Network shall be to:
73	(a)  Provide comprehensive and cost-effective access to
74	health and human services information.
75	(b)  Improve access to accurate information by simplifying
76	and enhancing state and local health and human services
77	information and referral systems and by fostering collaboration
78	among information and referral systems.
79	(c)  Electronically connect local information and referral
80	systems to each other, to service providers, and to consumers of
81	information and referral services.
82	(d)  Establish and promote standards for data collection
83	and for distributing information among state and local
84	organizations.
85	(e)  Promote the use of a common dialing access code and
86	the visibility and public awareness of the availability of
87	information and referral services.
88	(f)  Provide a management and administrative structure to
89	support the Florida 211 Network and establish technical
90	assistance, training, and support programs for information and
91	referral-service programs.
92	(g)  Test methods for integrating information and referral
93	services with local and state health and human services programs
94	and for consolidating and streamlining eligibility and case
95	management processes.
96	(h)  Provide access to standardized, comprehensive data to
97	assist in identifying gaps and needs in health and human
98	services programs.
99	(i)  Provide a unified systems plan with a developed
100	platform, taxonomy, and standards for data management and
101	access.
102	(2)  In order to participate in the Florida 211 Network, a
103	211 provider must be certified by the Agency for Health Care
104	Administration. The agency shall develop criteria for
105	certification, as recommended by the Florida Alliance of
106	Information and Referral Services, and shall adopt the criteria
107	as administrative rules.
108	(a)  If any provider of information and referral services
109	or other entity leases a 211 number from a local exchange
110	company and is not certified by the agency, the agency shall,
111	after consultation with the local exchange company and the
112	Public Service Commission, request that the Federal
113	Communications Commission direct the local exchange company to
114	revoke the use of the 211 number.
115	(b)  The agency shall seek the assistance and guidance of
116	the Public Service Commission and the Federal Communications
117	Commission in resolving any disputes arising over jurisdiction
118	related to 211 numbers.
119	(3)(a)  The Florida 211 Network shall be expanded statewide
120	to provide services in each county. Each 211 provider shall
121	coordinate with each county emergency management agency in the
122	211 service area to determine how the Florida 211 Network may be
123	used in the event of a disaster.
124	(b)  To implement the Florida 211 Network business plan,
125	the agency shall distribute to the Florida Alliance of
126	Information and Referral Services funds appropriated to the
127	agency to expand the Florida 211 Network statewide and to
128	enhance operations of existing 211 providers. The funds
129	distributed to the Florida Alliance of Information and Referral
130	Services shall be made available to 211 providers based on a
131	formula developed by the Florida Alliance of Information and
132	Referral Services, which includes a disparity factor ensuring
133	that all areas of the state, urban and rural, receive an
134	equitable share of the state-appropriated funds, and on a
135	matching basis, with each 211 provider required to provide $1
136	for each $1 provided to that 211 provider from state funds
137	appropriated for that purpose. At a minimum, the funds shall be
138	used to achieve statewide coverage.
139	(c)1.  No later than December 15, 2006, each 211 provider
140	that receives funding under this subsection shall report to the
141	Florida Alliance of Information and Referral Services the
142	expenditure of the state funds on a form developed by the
143	agency.
144	2.  No later than January 1, 2007, the Florida Alliance of
145	Information and Referral Services shall provide a statewide
146	report to the agency that includes the individual reports and
147	aggregated data provided by the 211 providers.
148	3.  No later than February 15, 2007, the agency shall
149	submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
150	and the Speaker of the House of Representatives detailing
151	expenditure of the funds appropriated to it for the purposes of
152	this subsection.
153	Section 2.  The sum of $5 million is appropriated for
154	fiscal year 2006-2007 from the General Revenue Fund to the
155	Agency for Health Care Administration to fund the statewide
156	expansion of the Florida 211 Network to all counties and to
157	enhance the operations of existing 211 providers pursuant to s.
158	408.918, Florida Statutes, as amended by this act.
159	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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