Florida Senate - 2022                                     SB 478
       
       
        
       By Senator Brodeur
       
       
       
       
       
       9-00532-22                                             2022478__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to suicide prevention; directing the
    3         Statewide Office for Suicide Prevention within the
    4         Department of Children and Families to conduct a study
    5         for specified purposes; specifying requirements for
    6         the study; requiring the office to submit the report
    7         to the Legislature and the Secretary of Children and
    8         Families by a specified date; providing an effective
    9         date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. (1) In order to assess the adequacy of the
   14  current infrastructure of Florida’s National Suicide Prevention
   15  Lifeline (NSPL) system and other components of the state’s
   16  behavioral health crisis system and to inform the Legislature on
   17  how best to provide appropriate and sustainable funding for such
   18  purposes, the Statewide Office for Suicide Prevention within the
   19  Department of Children and Families shall conduct a study that,
   20  at a minimum, includes the following:
   21         (a) An overview of the current infrastructure of the NSPL
   22  system within this state.
   23         (b) An analysis of the current capacity of other crisis
   24  response services available throughout the state, including
   25  services provided by mobile response teams and centralized
   26  receiving facilities. The analysis must include information on
   27  the geographic area and the total population served by each
   28  mobile response team along with the average response time to
   29  each call made to a mobile response team; the number of calls
   30  that a mobile response team was unable to respond to due to
   31  staff limitations, travel distance, or other factors; and the
   32  veteran status and age groups of individuals served by mobile
   33  response teams.
   34         (c) Proposed strategies to improve linkages between the
   35  NSPL infrastructure and crisis response services throughout the
   36  state.
   37         (d) In consultation with the Department of Children and
   38  Families, identified available mental health block grant funds
   39  that can be used to support the NSPL and crisis response
   40  infrastructure within this state, including any available
   41  funding through opioid settlements or through the American
   42  Rescue Plan Act, Pub. L. No. 117-2, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief,
   43  and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136, or other
   44  federal legislation.
   45         (e) In consultation with the Agency for Health Care
   46  Administration, identified sources of funding available through
   47  the Medicaid program specifically for crisis response services,
   48  including funding that may be available through seeking approval
   49  of a section 1115 waiver submitted to the Centers for Medicare
   50  and Medicaid Services.
   51         (f) Proposed strategies to ensure that managing entities
   52  continue to work with community stakeholders throughout the
   53  state in furtherance of supporting the NSPL system and other
   54  crisis response services.
   55         (2) By July 1, 2023, the office shall submit a report
   56  detailing the findings of the study to the President of the
   57  Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the chairs
   58  of the appropriations committees of the Legislature, the chairs
   59  of the committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over
   60  behavioral health care services, and the Secretary of Children
   61  and Families.
   62         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.