The Florida Senate

413.49  Duties and responsibilities of the division.--Consistent with the mandate of s. 413.46, the division shall develop and administer a multilevel treatment program for persons who have brain or spinal cord injuries and who are referred to the brain and spinal cord injury program.

(1)  Within 15 days after any report of a person who has a brain or spinal cord injury, the division shall notify the individual or the most immediate available family members of their right to assistance from the state, the services available, and the eligibility requirements.

(2)  The division shall refer persons who have brain or spinal cord injuries to other state agencies to assure that rehabilitative services, if desired, are obtained by that person.

(3)  The division, in consultation with emergency medical service, shall develop standards for an emergency medical evacuation system that will ensure that all persons who sustain traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries are transported to a division-approved trauma center that meets the standards and criteria established by the emergency medical service and the acute-care standards of the brain and spinal cord injury program.

(4)  The division shall develop standards for designation of rehabilitation centers to provide rehabilitation services for persons who have brain or spinal cord injuries.

(5)  The division shall determine the appropriate number of designated acute-care facilities, inpatient rehabilitation centers, and outpatient rehabilitation centers, needed based on incidence, volume of admissions, and other appropriate criteria.

(6)  The division shall develop standards for designation of transitional living facilities to provide individuals the opportunity to adjust to their disabilities and to develop physical and functional skills in a supported living environment.

(a)  The Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation with the division, shall develop rules for the licensure of transitional living facilities for persons who have brain or spinal cord injuries.

(b)  The goal of a transitional living program for persons who have brain or spinal cord injuries is to assist each person who has such a disability to achieve a higher level of independent functioning and to enable that person to reenter the community. The program shall be focused on preparing participants to return to community living.

(c)  A transitional living facility for a person who has a brain or spinal cord injury shall provide to such person, in a residential setting, a time-limited, goal-oriented treatment program designed to improve the person's physical, cognitive, communicative, behavioral, psychological, and social functioning, as well as to provide necessary support and supervision.

(d)  All residents shall use the transitional living facility as a temporary measure and not as a permanent home or domicile.

(7)  Recipients of services, under this section, from any of the facilities referred to in this section shall pay a fee based on ability to pay.

History.--s. 4, ch. 74-254; s. 5, ch. 87-320; s. 34, ch. 94-324.