Bill Text: FL S1580 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Admission of Children and Adolescents to Mental Health Facilities

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2017-05-05 - Died in Judiciary, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 1121 (Ch. 2017-151) [S1580 Detail]

Download: Florida-2017-S1580-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2017                             CS for SB 1580
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senator Gibson
       
       
       
       
       586-03957-17                                          20171580c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to admission of children and
    3         adolescents to mental health facilities; amending s.
    4         394.463, F.S.; requiring a facility to initiate an
    5         involuntary examination of a minor within 12 hours and
    6         complete the examination within 24 hours after the
    7         patient’s arrival; providing an exception; creating a
    8         task force within the Department of Children and
    9         Families; requiring the task force to analyze certain
   10         data and make recommendations in a report to the
   11         Governor and the Legislature by a specified date;
   12         specifying task force membership; specifying operation
   13         of the task force; providing for expiration of the
   14         task force; providing an effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (2) of
   19  section 394.463, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   20         394.463 Involuntary examination.—
   21         (2) INVOLUNTARY EXAMINATION.—
   22         (g) The examination period may last for up to 72 hours for
   23  an adult. For a minor, the examination must be initiated within
   24  12 hours after the patient’s arrival at the facility and
   25  completed within 24 hours unless the attending physician,
   26  clinical psychologist, or psychiatric nurse performing within
   27  the framework of an established protocol with a psychiatrist
   28  determines that additional time is required to stabilize and
   29  assess the minor. Within the 72-hour examination period or, if
   30  the examination period 72 hours ends on a weekend or holiday, no
   31  later than the next working day thereafter, one of the following
   32  actions must be taken, based on the individual needs of the
   33  patient:
   34         1. The patient shall be released, unless he or she is
   35  charged with a crime, in which case the patient shall be
   36  returned to the custody of a law enforcement officer;
   37         2. The patient shall be released, subject to the provisions
   38  of subparagraph 1., for voluntary outpatient treatment;
   39         3. The patient, unless he or she is charged with a crime,
   40  shall be asked to give express and informed consent to placement
   41  as a voluntary patient and, if such consent is given, the
   42  patient shall be admitted as a voluntary patient; or
   43         4. A petition for involuntary services shall be filed in
   44  the circuit court if inpatient treatment is deemed necessary or
   45  with the criminal county court, as defined in s. 394.4655(1), as
   46  applicable. When inpatient treatment is deemed necessary, the
   47  least restrictive treatment consistent with the optimum
   48  improvement of the patient’s condition shall be made available.
   49  When a petition is to be filed for involuntary outpatient
   50  placement, it shall be filed by one of the petitioners specified
   51  in s. 394.4655(4)(a). A petition for involuntary inpatient
   52  placement shall be filed by the facility administrator.
   53         (h) A person for whom an involuntary examination has been
   54  initiated who is being evaluated or treated at a hospital for an
   55  emergency medical condition specified in s. 395.002 must be
   56  examined by a facility within the examination period specified
   57  in paragraph (g) 72 hours. The examination 72-hour period begins
   58  when the patient arrives at the hospital and ceases when the
   59  attending physician documents that the patient has an emergency
   60  medical condition. If the patient is examined at a hospital
   61  providing emergency medical services by a professional qualified
   62  to perform an involuntary examination and is found as a result
   63  of that examination not to meet the criteria for involuntary
   64  outpatient services pursuant to s. 394.4655(2) or involuntary
   65  inpatient placement pursuant to s. 394.467(1), the patient may
   66  be offered voluntary services or placement, if appropriate, or
   67  released directly from the hospital providing emergency medical
   68  services. The finding by the professional that the patient has
   69  been examined and does not meet the criteria for involuntary
   70  inpatient services or involuntary outpatient placement must be
   71  entered into the patient’s clinical record. This paragraph is
   72  not intended to prevent a hospital providing emergency medical
   73  services from appropriately transferring a patient to another
   74  hospital before stabilization if the requirements of s.
   75  395.1041(3)(c) have been met.
   76         Section 2. (1)There is created a task force within the
   77  Department of Children and Families to address the issue of
   78  involuntary examinations under s. 394.463, Florida Statutes, of
   79  children age 17 and younger. The task force shall, at a minimum,
   80  analyze data on the initiation of involuntary examinations of
   81  children, research the root causes of trends in such involuntary
   82  examinations, and identify recommendations for encouraging
   83  alternatives to these examinations. The task force shall submit
   84  a report on its findings to the Governor, the President of the
   85  Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on or
   86  before December 1, 2017.
   87         (2) The task force shall consist of the following members:
   88         (a) The Secretary of the Department of Children and
   89  Families, or his or her designee, who shall chair the task
   90  force.
   91         (b) The Commissioner of the Department of Education, or his
   92  or her designee.
   93         (c) A representative of the Florida Public Defender
   94  Association.
   95         (d)A representative of the Florida Association of District
   96  School Superintendents.
   97         (e) A representative of the Florida Sheriffs Association.
   98         (f) A representative of the Florida Police Chiefs
   99  Association.
  100         (g) A representative of the Florida Council for Community
  101  Mental Health.
  102         (h) A representative of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse
  103  Association.
  104         (i) A representative of the Behavioral Health Care Council
  105  of the Florida Hospital Association.
  106         (j) A representative of the Florida Psychiatric Society.
  107         (k) A representative of the National Alliance on Mental
  108  Illness.
  109         (l) One individual who is a family member of a minor who
  110  has been subject to an involuntary examination.
  111         (m) Other members as deemed appropriate by the Secretary of
  112  the Department of Children and Families.
  113         (3) The department shall use existing and available
  114  resources to administer and support the activities of the task
  115  force. Members of the task force shall serve without
  116  compensation and are not entitled to reimbursement for per diem
  117  or travel expense. The task force may conduct its meetings via
  118  teleconference.
  119         (4) This section expires March 31, 2018.
  120         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.

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