HB 1443

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to veterans; requiring school districts to
3	observe Veterans' Day and Veterans' Awareness Week;
4	providing requirements for such recognition; directing the
5	Department of Children and Family Services to establish up
6	to three pilot projects for the purpose of reducing
7	suicide among veterans and increasing access to services;
8	providing duties of the department; providing requirements
9	for the pilot project programs; requiring the Statewide
10	Office of Suicide Prevention, the Department of Veterans'
11	Affairs, and the Florida National Guard to enter into
12	partnerships with the pilot projects and community
13	providers to implement the initiative; requiring an
14	evaluation and a report to the Governor and Legislature;
15	providing for expiration of the pilot projects;
16	establishing a veterans' suicide prevention direct-support
17	organization answerable to the Statewide Office for
18	Suicide Prevention to assist with funding veterans'
19	suicide prevention initiatives; providing corporate
20	requirements; providing for a board of directors;
21	providing for a contract with the office and requirements
22	for the contract; authorizing the direct-support
23	organization to use the property, facilities, and
24	personnel services of the office; requiring the moneys of
25	the direct-support organization to be deposited in a
26	separate account in the name of the organization;
27	providing an effective date.
28
29	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31	Section 1.  Veterans' Awareness Week.--
32	(1)  Each school district shall observe November 11 of each
33	year as the Veterans' Day holiday and shall observe that week as
34	Veterans' Awareness Week. In any year in which November 11 falls
35	on a Saturday or Sunday, Veterans' Awareness Week shall be
36	observed the week immediately preceding or following November
37	11, to coincide with the date on which Veterans' Day is observed
38	as a federal holiday.
39	(2)  During Veterans' Awareness Week, each school district
40	shall provide programs that instruct students on the role of
41	veterans in the history of our state and country and shall
42	recognize the contributions made by veterans to our state and
43	country. Programs, instruction, ceremonies, or any other events
44	conducted as part of Veterans' Awareness Week are to be
45	organized and presented at the discretion of each individual
46	school district.
47	Section 2.  Veterans' suicide prevention pilot projects.--
48	(1)  PURPOSE.--The Department of Children and Family
49	Services, subject to the availability of public or private
50	funding, shall establish up to three pilot projects in the three
51	areas of the state which have the largest concentration of
52	veteran residents. The purpose of the projects is to reduce the
53	incidence of suicide among veterans by increasing access to
54	services and support for veterans and their families who may be
55	in need of mental health services and who are not currently
56	being served by the United States Department of Veterans
57	Affairs.
58	(2)  DEPARTMENT DUTIES.--The department shall work with the
59	Florida Certification Board to develop a new veteran-peer-
60	specialist credential and develop a statewide certification
61	process for certifying veteran peer specialists through the
62	Florida Certification Board in order to create a cadre of
63	certified specialists to assist in providing peer support for
64	veterans through the pilot projects.
65	(3)  PILOT PROJECTS.--Each pilot project must:
66	(a)  Develop a veteran-to-veteran peer support program that
67	reaches out to veterans on a continual basis by mail, e-mail,
68	telephone, or face-to-face contact in order to:
69	1.  Reduce isolation and the risk of suicide through
70	regular and ongoing, long-term contact;
71	2.  Conduct informal assessments to determine if a referral
72	is needed; and
73	3.  Assist in connecting veterans to local resources.
74	(b)  Conduct a needs assessment of local substance abuse
75	and mental health providers in the pilot project area to
76	determine if local providers are trained and able to meet the
77	specific needs of veterans and the increase in demand for
78	services.
79	(c)  Establish a veterans information program at each pilot
80	project site to serve as a resource for student veterans and
81	college and university personnel serving student veterans. The
82	program must provide prevention education, as well as early
83	intervention and counseling, and assist student veterans who
84	have personal problems. The key components of the program
85	include:
86	1.  A faculty-training component under which project
87	personnel work with a faculty coordinator from each of the
88	colleges and universities in the pilot project area to provide
89	training on the symptoms and warning signs of suicide to faculty
90	members. The training must focus on the special circumstances
91	that are unique to this population, such as posttraumatic stress
92	disorder, traumatic brain injuries, and issues specific to
93	female veterans.
94	2.  A component that disseminates information and provides
95	education for student veterans. The program must hold regular
96	education workshops for student veterans related to veterans
97	issues and stress factors that are experienced in an academic
98	setting. Printed literature that is specific to veterans shall
99	be disseminated regularly.
100	3.  An outreach component under which program personnel
101	shall undertake outreach activities and engage and educate
102	student veterans, their families, and the community in order to
103	increase information on and access to services for veterans who
104	are at risk of suicide. Outreach activities include linkage with
105	service resources, dissemination of information, and education
106	to:
107	a.  Increase public awareness about the unique needs of
108	veterans and the risks of suicide and warning signs of suicide
109	in veterans, without creating additional stigma.
110	b.  Coordinate and train professionals who provide services
111	for at-risk veterans.
112	c.  Identify available services and specialized assistance
113	for veterans and family members.
114	d.  Provide education on veterans' issues and trauma.
115	e.  Mobilize a recovery-oriented system of care within the
116	community for at-risk veterans.
117	4.  A component for responding to critical incidents, such
118	as traumatic death or medical crisis, campus violence, or other
119	incidents that may have a significant emotional impact on
120	student veterans. This includes providing trained debriefing
121	counselors, as well as group counseling for affected student
122	veterans and consultation services related to crisis management
123	and veterans.
124	(d)  Work with community emergency response resources to
125	more effectively address crises involving veterans and their
126	families. This includes linking emergency responders to
127	veterans' resources and persons trained in veterans' issues.
128	Regular pilot staff shall be trained in dealing with emergency
129	referrals, including training in being able to differentiate
130	between the need for face-to-face intervention or phone
131	intervention. All staff shall be made aware of the necessity for
132	immediate documentation of all contacts inclusive of intentional
133	self-injurious behavior, statements of threat, written forms of
134	threat, extreme withdrawal, significant loss of appetite or
135	weight, and crisis warning signs unique to veterans. All
136	referrals in the areas served by the pilot projects must be
137	followed up with telephone contact and field-based intervention
138	services, if agreed to by the veteran or family member.
139	(e)  Offer postdeployment reintegration sessions for
140	veterans who were deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom or
141	Operation Enduring Freedom through community providers at 4, 6,
142	and 10 months after returning home to complement the
143	reintegration efforts overseen by the United States Department
144	of Defense. Because symptoms of stress and warning signs are
145	often delayed, continual contact over time is important. The
146	timing protocol for reintegration sessions may vary for each
147	pilot project in order to evaluate the effectiveness of
148	different models.
149	(4)  OTHER AGENCIES.--The Statewide Office of Suicide
150	Prevention, the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and the Florida
151	National Guard shall enter into partnerships with the pilot
152	projects and community providers in order to implement this
153	initiative.
154	(5)  EVALUATION.--The department, together with input from
155	each of the pilot projects, shall design an evaluation
156	methodology for measuring the efficacy of the pilot projects.
157	The evaluation shall be presented to the Governor, the President
158	of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
159	by March 1, 2012. The evaluation must consider whether the pilot
160	projects have:
161	(a)  Improved veteran access to community linkages and
162	resources, including primary care, behavioral health care
163	providers, and veterans' services, in order to provide needed
164	services and to help veterans be self-sufficient members of the
165	community.
166	(b)  Educated, increased awareness of, and mobilized the
167	community about suicide as a public health problem, especially
168	as it relates to veterans.
169	(c)  Reduced the danger and incidence of suicide and self-
170	harm among veterans.
171	(d)  Increased the likelihood of long-term community
172	commitment to providing support to veterans.
173	(6)  EXPIRATION.--The pilot projects shall expire July 1,
174	2012.
175	Section 3.  Veterans' suicide prevention direct-support
176	organization.--The Statewide Office for Suicide Prevention may
177	establish a direct-support organization to assist with securing
178	funding for veterans' suicide prevention and other suicide
179	prevention initiatives, including any pilot projects established
180	by the Department of Children and Family Services to reduce the
181	incidence of suicide among veterans.
182	(1)  The direct-support organization must be:
183	(a)  A not-for-profit Florida corporation, incorporated
184	under chapter 617, Florida Statutes, and approved by the
185	Secretary of State.
186	(b)  Organized and operated exclusively to solicit funds;
187	request and receive grants, gifts, and bequests of money;
188	acquire, receive, hold, invest, and administer property and
189	funds in its own name; and make expenditures for the benefit of
190	the purposes specified in this section.
191	(c)  Certified by the office, after review, to be operating
192	in a manner consistent with the goals of this section and in the
193	best interests of the state. Such certification must be made
194	annually and reported to the Office of Drug Control.
195	(2)  The direct-support organization shall be governed by a
196	seven-member board of directors. The members of the board shall
197	be appointed by the office, shall serve at the pleasure of the
198	office, and be appointed to terms that may not exceed 4 years.
199	(3)  The direct-support organization shall operate under
200	written contract with the office. The contract must provide for:
201	(a)  Approval of the articles of incorporation and bylaws
202	of the direct-support organization by the office.
203	(b)  The fiscal year of the direct-support organization to
204	begin July 1 of each year and end June 30 of the following year.
205	(c)  Submission of an annual budget for the approval of the
206	office.
207	(d)  Any procedures or conditions with which the direct-
208	support organization must comply to use property, facilities, or
209	personnel services of the office and to meet the administrative
210	requirements of the office.
211	(e)  The disclosure of the material provisions of the
212	contract and the distinction between the Office for Suicide
213	Prevention and the direct-support organization to donors of
214	gifts, contributions, or bequests and on all promotional and
215	fundraising publications.
216	(f)  The reversion to the office or the state of moneys and
217	property held in trust by the direct-support organization if the
218	direct-support organization is no longer approved to operate or
219	ceases to exist.
220	(4)  The office may authorize the use of its facilities and
221	property, other than money, to the direct-support organization
222	as well as personnel services. The term "personnel services"
223	includes full-time personnel and part-time personnel as well as
224	payroll processing.
225	(5)  Moneys of the direct-support organization shall be
226	held in a separate depository account in the name of the direct-
227	support organization and subject to the provisions of the
228	contract with the office. Such moneys may include membership
229	fees, private donations, income derived from fundraising
230	activities, and grants applied for and received by the direct-
231	support organization.
232	(6)  The direct-support organization is subject to an
233	annual financial audit in accordance with s. 215.981, Florida
234	Statutes.
235	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.

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