Florida Senate - 2023 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 824
Ì705128)Î705128
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/29/2023 .
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The Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
Domestic Security (Collins) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 35 - 188
4 and insert:
5 (1) Each board of county commissioners or the governing
6 body of any city may employ a county veteran service officer;
7 provide office space, clerical assistance, and the necessary
8 supplies incidental to providing and maintaining a county
9 service office; and pay related said expenses and salaries from
10 the moneys hereinafter provided for. The governing body of any
11 city may employ a city veteran service officer; provide such
12 office space, clerical assistance, and supplies; and pay
13 expenses and salaries. A county or city veteran service officer
14 must be a veteran as defined in s. 1.01(14) who served as a
15 member of the Armed Forces of the United States during a period
16 of war, as defined in Title 38, U.S.C.; who served at least 18
17 months’ active duty in the Armed Forces; and who was separated
18 from such service under honorable conditions, or the surviving
19 spouse of any such a veteran and must. Any honorably discharged
20 wartime veteran who was so discharged for service-connected or
21 aggravated medical reasons before serving 18 months of active
22 duty; who completed a tour of duty other than active duty for
23 training, regardless of the length of the tour; or who satisfied
24 his or her military obligation in a manner other than active
25 duty for training or reserve duty shall be eligible for
26 employment as a county or city veteran service officer. Every
27 county or city veteran service officer, in order to be eligible
28 for employment as a county or city veteran service officer,
29 shall have a 2-year degree from an accredited university,
30 college, or community college or a high school degree or
31 equivalency diploma and 4 years of administrative experience.
32 Section 3. Part III of chapter 296, Florida Statutes,
33 consisting of sections 296.42 through 296.49, Florida Statutes,
34 is created to read:
35 PART III
36 VETERANS’ ADULT DAY HEALTH CARE OF FLORIDA ACT
37 296.42 Short title.—This part may be cited as the
38 “Veterans’ Adult Day Health Care of Florida Act.”
39 296.43 Purpose.—The purpose of this part is to provide for
40 the establishment of basic standards for the operation of
41 veterans’ adult day health care programs for eligible veterans
42 in need of such services.
43 296.44 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
44 (1) “Contractor” means an entity responsible for the day
45 to-day operations of an adult day health care facility or adult
46 day care center as prescribed by 38 C.F.R. s. 59.160 or part III
47 of chapter 429, respectively. The contractor may be a for-profit
48 or nonprofit entity that operates the adult day health care
49 facility or adult day care center under the direction of the
50 executive director of the department.
51 (2) “Department” means the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
52 (3) “Director” means the executive director of the
53 department.
54 (4) “Operator” means the person designated to have and who
55 has the general administrative charge of an adult day health
56 care facility or adult day care center. The administrator of a
57 veterans’ nursing home under s. 296.34 or the administrator of
58 the Veterans’ Domiciliary Home of Florida under s. 296.04 may
59 serve as the operator if the adult day health care facility or
60 adult day care center is colocated at an existing veterans’
61 nursing home or the Veterans’ Domiciliary Home of Florida or is
62 a freestanding facility.
63 (5) “Participant” means an eligible veteran recipient of
64 basic services or of supportive and optional services provided
65 by an adult day health care facility or adult day care center.
66 (6) “Program” means a licensed facility operated by the
67 department under part III of chapter 429.
68 (7) “Veteran” has the same meaning as in s. 1.01(14).
69 296.45 Operator; qualifications, duties, and
70 responsibilities.—
71 (1) The director shall appoint an operator who is
72 responsible for the overall operation of the program and for the
73 care of the participant or shall designate a contractor to
74 perform the same duties.
75 (2) The department shall determine the eligibility of
76 applicants for admission to the program in accordance with
77 provisions of this part and shall adopt rules necessary for the
78 proper administration of the program, including rules for the
79 preservation of order and enforcement of discipline in the
80 program. Rules governing the program must conform as nearly as
81 possible to the rules and regulations for comparable facilities
82 of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
83 (3) The operator position is assigned to the Selected
84 Exempt Service under part V of chapter 110 unless the operation
85 of the program is assigned to a contractor. The director must
86 give veterans preference in selecting an operator as provided in
87 ss. 295.07 and 295.085 if the operation of the program is not
88 assigned to a contractor.
89 (4) Employees who fill authorized and established positions
90 appropriated for the program must be state employees unless the
91 operation of the program is assigned to a contractor. The
92 department shall classify such employees in the manner
93 prescribed in chapter 110.
94 (5) The operator shall administer and enforce all rules of
95 the program, including rules of discipline, and may dismiss a
96 participant in the program for an infraction of the rules,
97 subject to the approval of the director.
98 296.46 Nondiscrimination policy of the program.—It is the
99 policy of the state to admit residents into the program without
100 regard to race, age, sex, creed, religion, national origin, or
101 any other reason that would thereby create a practice of
102 discrimination. However, consideration of an applicant’s veteran
103 status does not constitute discrimination.
104 296.47 Eligibility and priority of admittance.—
105 (1) To be eligible for admittance to the program, the
106 person must be a veteran or have eligible peacetime service as
107 defined in s. 296.02 and must:
108 (a) Be in need of adult day health care;
109 (b) Be a resident of this state at the time of application
110 for admission to the program;
111 (c) Not owe money to the department for services rendered
112 during any previous stay at a department facility;
113 (d) Have applied for all financial assistance reasonably
114 available through governmental sources; and
115 (e) Have been approved as eligible for care and treatment
116 by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
117 (2) The operator may waive the residency requirement for a
118 veteran who is otherwise eligible under Florida law for
119 admittance to a program. The waiver must be limited to a veteran
120 who is a disaster evacuee of a state that is under a declared
121 state of emergency.
122 (3) Admittance priority must be given to eligible veterans
123 in the following order of priority:
124 (a) An eligible veteran who is a resident of this state.
125 (b) An eligible veteran who has a service-connected
126 disability as determined by the United States Department of
127 Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from military
128 service for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of
129 duty, and the disability is the condition for which adult day
130 health care is needed.
131 (c) An eligible veteran who has a non-service-connected
132 disability and is unable to defray the expense of adult day
133 health care and so states under oath before a notary public or
134 other officer authorized to administer an oath.
135 296.48 Participants; contribution to support.—The operator
136 may, if there is room, admit to participation in the program a
137 veteran who has sufficient means for his or her own support but
138 is otherwise eligible to become a participant in the program,
139 upon payment of the full cost of his or her support, which cost
140 and method of collection must be fixed from time to time by the
141 operator.
142 296.49 Audit; inspection; standards for the program.—The
143 program must be open at any time to audit and inspection by the
144 Auditor General and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
145 Government Accountability, as provided by law, the department,
146 and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and to any
147 other audits or inspections as required by law to maintain
148 appropriate standards in the program. The standards that the
149 department must use to regulate the operation of the program are
150 those prescribed by the United States Department of Veterans
151 Affairs, provided that when the state’s standards are more
152 restrictive, the standards of the state must apply.
153 Section 4. Section 683.1475, Florida Statutes, is created
154 to read:
155 683.1475 Veterans Week.—
156 (1) The week of November 11 of each year is designated as
157 “Veterans Week,” with the week starting with the Sunday
158 preceding November 11. If November 11 falls on a Sunday,
159 “Veterans Week” begins on that day.
160
161 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
162 And the title is amended as follows:
163 Delete line 11
164 and insert:
165 operator; requiring the department to determine
166 applicant eligibility; requiring the department to
167 adopt specified rules; specifying the qualifications,
168 duties, and