Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1418
       
       
        
       By Senator Rouson
       
       
       
       
       
       19-01249-18                                           20181418__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to substance abuse services; amending
    3         s. 397.311, F.S.; deleting the definition of the term
    4         “day or night treatment with community housing”;
    5         defining the term “treatment with housing overlay”;
    6         amending s. 397.4073, F.S.; requiring the Department
    7         of Children and Families to notify an applicant within
    8         a certain timeframe regarding the status of the
    9         applicant’s application for an exemption from
   10         disqualification for a disqualifying offense revealed
   11         pursuant to a background screening; amending s.
   12         397.487, F.S.; revising legislative findings relating
   13         to voluntary certification of recovery residences;
   14         requiring recovery residences to comply with specified
   15         Florida Fire Prevention Code provisions; revising
   16         background screening requirements for owners,
   17         directors, and chief financial officers of recovery
   18         residences; amending s. 397.4873, F.S.; prohibiting
   19         service providers from having certain contractual or
   20         referral relationships with recovery residences;
   21         revising applicability; prohibiting recovery
   22         residences and specified affiliated individuals from
   23         benefiting from certain referrals; providing
   24         penalties; amending s. 435.07, F.S.; revising criteria
   25         for an exemption from disqualification for an employee
   26         providing mental health and substance use treatment
   27         services under certain circumstances; amending s.
   28         394.9085, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference;
   29         providing an effective date.
   30          
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (26) of section
   34  397.311, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   35         397.311 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, except part
   36  VIII, the term:
   37         (26) Licensed service components include a comprehensive
   38  continuum of accessible and quality substance abuse prevention,
   39  intervention, and clinical treatment services, including the
   40  following services:
   41         (a) “Clinical treatment” means a professionally directed,
   42  deliberate, and planned regimen of services and interventions
   43  that are designed to reduce or eliminate the misuse of drugs and
   44  alcohol and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. As defined
   45  by rule, “clinical treatment services” include, but are not
   46  limited to, the following licensable service components:
   47         1. “Addictions receiving facility” is a secure, acute care
   48  facility that provides, at a minimum, detoxification and
   49  stabilization services; is operated 24 hours per day, 7 days per
   50  week; and is designated by the department to serve individuals
   51  found to be substance use impaired as described in s. 397.675
   52  who meet the placement criteria for this component.
   53         2. “Day or night treatment” is a service provided in a
   54  nonresidential environment, with a structured schedule of
   55  treatment and rehabilitative services.
   56         3.“Day or night treatment with community housing” means a
   57  program intended for individuals who can benefit from living
   58  independently in peer community housing while participating in
   59  treatment services for a minimum of 5 hours a day for a minimum
   60  of 25 hours per week.
   61         3.4. “Detoxification” is a service involving subacute care
   62  that is provided on an inpatient or an outpatient basis to
   63  assist individuals to withdraw from the physiological and
   64  psychological effects of substance abuse and who meet the
   65  placement criteria for this component.
   66         4.5. “Intensive inpatient treatment” includes a planned
   67  regimen of evaluation, observation, medical monitoring, and
   68  clinical protocols delivered through an interdisciplinary team
   69  approach provided 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, in a highly
   70  structured, live-in environment.
   71         5.6. “Intensive outpatient treatment” is a service that
   72  provides individual or group counseling in a more structured
   73  environment, is of higher intensity and duration than outpatient
   74  treatment, and is provided to individuals who meet the placement
   75  criteria for this component.
   76         6.7. “Medication-assisted treatment for opiate addiction”
   77  is a service that uses methadone or other medication as
   78  authorized by state and federal law, in combination with
   79  medical, rehabilitative, and counseling services in the
   80  treatment of individuals who are dependent on opioid drugs.
   81         7.8. “Outpatient treatment” is a service that provides
   82  individual, group, or family counseling by appointment during
   83  scheduled operating hours for individuals who meet the placement
   84  criteria for this component.
   85         8.9. “Residential treatment” is a service provided in a
   86  structured live-in environment within a nonhospital setting on a
   87  24-hours-per-day, 7-days-per-week basis, and is intended for
   88  individuals who meet the placement criteria for this component.
   89         9.“Treatment with housing overlay” is a program that
   90  provides one or more of the components in subparagraphs 2.-8.
   91  for individuals who are living independently in a recovery
   92  residence while participating in substance abuse treatment
   93  services. A service provider that offers treatment with housing
   94  overlay may only do so through a recovery residence that holds a
   95  valid certificate of compliance as provided in s. 397.487 and is
   96  actively managed by a certified recovery residence administrator
   97  as provided in s. 397.4871.
   98         Section 2. Paragraphs (f) and (g) of subsection (1) of
   99  section 397.4073, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  100         397.4073 Background checks of service provider personnel.—
  101         (1) PERSONNEL BACKGROUND CHECKS; REQUIREMENTS AND
  102  EXCEPTIONS.—
  103         (f) Service provider personnel who request an exemption
  104  from disqualification must submit the request within 30 days
  105  after being notified of the disqualification. The department
  106  must notify the applicant within 60 days after receipt of a
  107  completed application whether an exemption is granted or denied.
  108         (g) If 5 years or more have elapsed since the most recent
  109  disqualifying offense, service provider personnel may work with
  110  adults with substance use disorders under the supervision of a
  111  qualified professional licensed under chapter 490 or chapter 491
  112  or a master’s-level-certified addictions professional until the
  113  agency makes a final determination regarding the request for an
  114  exemption from disqualification.
  115         (h)(g) The department may not issue a regular license to
  116  any service provider that fails to provide proof that background
  117  screening information has been submitted in accordance with
  118  chapter 435.
  119         Section 3. Subsection (1), paragraph (m) of subsection (3),
  120  and subsection (6) of section 397.487, Florida Statutes, are
  121  amended to read:
  122         397.487 Voluntary certification of recovery residences.—
  123         (1) The Legislature finds that a person suffering from
  124  addiction has a higher success rate of achieving long-lasting
  125  sobriety when given the opportunity to build a stronger
  126  foundation by living in a recovery residence while receiving
  127  treatment or after completing treatment. The Legislature further
  128  finds that this state and its subdivisions have a legitimate
  129  state interest in protecting these persons, who represent a
  130  vulnerable consumer population in need of adequate housing. It
  131  is the intent of the Legislature to protect persons who reside
  132  in a recovery residence.
  133         (3) A credentialing entity shall require the recovery
  134  residence to submit the following documents with the completed
  135  application and fee:
  136         (m) Proof of satisfactory fire, safety, and health
  137  inspections. A recovery residence must comply with the
  138  provisions of the Florida Fire Prevention Code which apply to
  139  one-family and two-family dwellings, public lodging
  140  establishments or rooming houses, or other housing facilities,
  141  as applicable.
  142         (6) All owners, directors, and chief financial officers of
  143  an applicant recovery residence are subject to level 2
  144  background screening as provided under chapter 435 and s.
  145  408.809. A recovery residence is ineligible for certification,
  146  and a credentialing entity shall deny a recovery residence’s
  147  application, if any owner, director, or chief financial officer
  148  has been found guilty of, or has entered a plea of guilty or
  149  nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, any offense
  150  listed in s. 435.04(2) unless the department has issued an
  151  exemption under s. 397.4872. In accordance with s. 435.04, the
  152  department shall notify the credentialing agency of an owner’s,
  153  director’s, or chief financial officer’s eligibility based on
  154  the results of his or her background screening.
  155         Section 4. Section 397.4873, Florida Statutes, is amended
  156  to read:
  157         397.4873 Referrals to or from recovery residences;
  158  prohibitions; penalties.—
  159         (1) A service provider licensed under this part may not:
  160         (a) Make a referral of a prospective, current, or
  161  discharged patient to, or accept a referral of such a patient
  162  from, a recovery residence unless the recovery residence holds a
  163  valid certificate of compliance as provided in s. 397.487 and is
  164  actively managed by a certified recovery residence administrator
  165  as provided in s. 397.4871.
  166         (b)Have a contractual or referral relationship with a
  167  recovery residence to provide treatment with housing overlay
  168  pursuant to s. 397.311(26) unless the recovery residence holds a
  169  valid certificate of compliance as provided in s. 397.487 and is
  170  actively managed by a certified recovery residence administrator
  171  as provided in s. 397.4871.
  172         (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to:
  173         (a) A licensed service provider under contract with a
  174  managing entity as defined in s. 394.9082.
  175         (b) Referrals by a recovery residence to a licensed service
  176  provider when a resident has experienced a recurrence of
  177  substance use and, in the best judgment of the recovery
  178  residence administrator, it appears that the resident may
  179  benefit from clinical treatment services the recovery residence
  180  or its owners, directors, operators, or employees do not
  181  benefit, directly or indirectly, from the referral.
  182         (c) Referrals made before July 1, 2018, by a licensed
  183  service provider to that licensed service provider’s wholly
  184  owned subsidiary.
  185         (3)A recovery residence or its owners, directors,
  186  operators, employees, or volunteers may not benefit, directly or
  187  indirectly, from a referral made pursuant to subsection (1) or
  188  subsection (2).
  189         (4)(3) For purposes of this section, a licensed service
  190  provider or recovery residence shall be considered to have made
  191  a referral if the provider or recovery residence has informed a
  192  patient by any means about the name, address, or other details
  193  of a recovery residence or licensed service provider, or
  194  informed a licensed service provider or a recovery residence of
  195  any identifying details about a patient.
  196         (5)(4) A licensed service provider shall maintain records
  197  of referrals to or from recovery residences as may be prescribed
  198  by the department in rule.
  199         (6)(5) After June 30, 2019, a licensed service provider
  200  violating this section shall be subject to an administrative
  201  fine of $1,000 per occurrence. Repeat violations of this section
  202  may subject a provider to license suspension or revocation
  203  pursuant to s. 397.415.
  204         (7)(6) Nothing in this section requires a licensed service
  205  provider to refer a patient to or to accept a referral of a
  206  patient from a recovery residence.
  207         Section 5. Subsections (2) through (5) of section 435.07,
  208  Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (3) through (6),
  209  respectively, and a new subsection (2) is added to that section,
  210  to read:
  211         435.07 Exemptions from disqualification.—Unless otherwise
  212  provided by law, the provisions of this section apply to
  213  exemptions from disqualification for disqualifying offenses
  214  revealed pursuant to background screenings required under this
  215  chapter, regardless of whether those disqualifying offenses are
  216  listed in this chapter or other laws.
  217         (2)The head of the appropriate agency may grant an
  218  exemption from disqualification which is limited solely to
  219  employment related to providing mental health and substance
  220  abuse treatment under chapter 394 or chapter 397 to an employee
  221  otherwise disqualified from employment under subsection (1).
  222         Section 6. Subsection (6) of section 394.9085, Florida
  223  Statutes, is amended to read:
  224         394.9085 Behavioral provider liability.—
  225         (6) For purposes of this section, the terms “detoxification
  226  services,” “addictions receiving facility,” and “receiving
  227  facility” have the same meanings as those provided in ss.
  228  397.311(26)(a)3. 397.311(26)(a)4., 397.311(26)(a)1., and
  229  394.455(39), respectively.
  230         Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.