Florida Senate - 2021 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 260
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/16/2021 .
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The Committee on Appropriations (Harrell) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 25 - 118
4 and insert:
5 (1) The Department of Veterans’ Affairs may establish the
6 Florida Veterans’ Care Coordination Program. If the Department
7 of Veterans’ Affairs establishes the program, it may contract
8 with a nonprofit entity that is accredited by the Council on
9 Accreditation, is fully accredited by the National Alliance of
10 Information and Referral Services, and has statewide phone
11 capacity to serve veterans to enter into agreements with Florida
12 211 Network participants to provide veterans and their families
13 in this state with dedicated behavioral health care referral
14 services, especially mental health and substance abuse services.
15 The Department of Veterans’ Affairs shall model the program
16 after the proof-of-concept pilot program established in 2014 by
17 the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the Department of Veterans’
18 Affairs in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Manatee
19 Counties.
20 (2) The goals of the program are to:
21 (a) Prevent suicides by veterans.
22 (b) Increase veterans’ use of programs and services
23 provided by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
24 (c) Increase the number of veterans who use other available
25 community-based programs and services.
26 (3) The program must be available statewide. Program
27 services must be provided by program teams operated by Florida
28 211 Network participants as authorized by s. 408.918. A Florida
29 211 Network participant may provide services in more than one
30 geographic area under a single contract.
31 (4) The program teams shall provide referral and care
32 coordination services to veterans and their families and expand
33 the existing Florida 211 Network to include the optimal range of
34 veterans’ service organizations and programs. Florida 211
35 Network participants in the Florida Veterans’ Care Coordination
36 Program must include all of the following:
37 (a) Telephonic peer support, crisis intervention, and the
38 communication of information on referral resources.
39 (b) Treatment coordination, including coordination of
40 followup care.
41 (c) Suicide risk assessment.
42 (d) Promotion of the safety and wellness of veterans and
43 their families, including continuous safety planning and
44 support.
45 (e) Resource coordination, including data analysis, to
46 facilitate acceptance, enrollment, and attendance of veterans
47 and their families in programs and services provided by the
48 United States Department of Veterans Affairs and other available
49 community-based programs and services.
50 (f) Immediate needs assessments, including safety planning
51 and support.
52 (5) To enhance program services, program teams shall:
53 (a) Track the number of requests from callers who are
54 veterans or members of a veteran’s family.
55 (b) Follow up with callers who are veterans or members of a
56 veteran’s family to determine whether they have acted on the
57 referrals or received the assistance needed and whether
58 additional referral or advocacy is needed.
59 (c) Develop and implement communication strategies, such as
60 media promotions, public service announcements, print and
61 Internet articles, and community presentations, to inform
62 veterans and their families about available programs and
63 services provided by the United States Department of Veterans
64 Affairs and other available community-based programs and
65 services.
66 (d) Document all calls and capture all necessary data to
67 improve outreach to veterans and their families and report such
68 data to the contracted entity.
69 (6) Florida 211 Network participants in the Florida
70 Veterans’ Care Coordination Program shall maintain a database of
71 veteran-specific services available in the communities served by
72 the programs. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs and its
73 selected contractor shall work with managing entities as defined
74 in s. 394.9082(2) to educate service providers about the Florida
75 Veterans Support Line and the Florida Veterans’ Care
76 Coordination Program.
77 (7) Florida 211 Network participants shall collect data on
78 the program and submit such data to the Department of Veterans’
79 Affairs in the format prescribed by the Department of Veterans’
80 Affairs. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs shall use such data
81 to prepare a report for submittal to the Governor, the President
82 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
83 by December 15, 2022. The report must include all of the
84 following:
85 (a) The number of calls received.
86 (b) Demographic information for each caller, including, but
87 not limited to, the caller’s military affiliation, the caller’s
88 veteran status, and whether the caller is receiving services
89 provided by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or
90 other available community-based programs and services.
91 (c) The nature of each call, including, but not limited to,
92 the concerns prompting the call and the services requested.
93 (d) The outcome of each call, including, but not limited
94 to, the services for which referrals were made and the
95 organizations to which the caller was referred.
96 (e) Services received as a result of each call.
97 (f) Information regarding followup by the program team,
98 including, but not limited to, the percentage of calls receiving
99 followup and the outcome of followup.
100
101 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
102 And the title is amended as follows:
103 Delete lines 3 - 16
104 and insert:
105 families; creating s. 394.9087, F.S.; authorizing the
106 Department of Veterans’ Affairs to establish the
107 Florida Veterans’ Care Coordination Program to provide
108 veterans and their families with behavioral health
109 care referral and care coordination services;
110 authorizing the department to contract with a certain
111 nonprofit entity to enter into agreements with Florida
112 211 Network participants to provide such services;
113 providing program goals; providing for the statewide
114 delivery of specified services by program teams;
115 requiring Florida 211 Network participants to collect
116 program implementation data and to submit such data to
117 the department; requiring the department to submit a
118 report to the Governor and Legislature by a