Title XXIX, Public Health

(1)(a) The department and the Agency for Health Care Administration shall require level 2 background screening pursuant to chapter 435 for mental health personnel. “Mental health personnel” includes all program directors, professional clinicians, staff members, and volunteers wor…

On or before December 1 of each year, the department shall submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives an assessment of the behavioral health services in this state. The assessment shall consider, at a minimum, the extent t…

(1) As used in this section, the term “mental health resident” means an individual who receives social security disability income due to a mental disorder as determined by the Social Security Administration or receives supplemental security income due to a mental disorder as dete…

(1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), in consultation with the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Education, the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, and any other identified relevant stakeholder, must …

(1)(a) Except as authorized by law or as specifically authorized by the person in charge of each hospital providing mental health services under this part, it is unlawful to introduce into or upon the grounds of such hospital, or to take or attempt to take or send therefrom, any …

(1) RIGHT TO INDIVIDUAL DIGNITY.—It is the policy of this state that the individual dignity of the patient shall be respected at all times and upon all occasions, including any occasion when the patient is taken into custody, held, or transported. Procedures, facilities, vehicles…

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Employee” includes any paid staff member, volunteer, or intern of the department; any person under contract with the department; and any person providing care or support to a client on behalf of the department or its providers.(b) “Sexua…

Any facility designated by the department as a receiving or treatment facility must allow access to any patient and the clinical and legal records of any patient admitted pursuant to the provisions of this act by members of the Florida statewide and local advocacy councils.Histor…

(1) VOLUNTARY PATIENTS.—At the time a patient is voluntarily admitted to a receiving or treatment facility, the identity and contact information of a person to be notified in case of an emergency shall be entered in the patient’s clinical record.(2) INVOLUNTARY PATIENTS.—(a) At t…

(1) The administrator may petition the court for the appointment of a guardian advocate based upon the opinion of a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practicing within the framework of an established protocol with a psychiatrist that the patient is incompetent to consent to treat…

(1) VOLUNTARY ADMISSION.—Notice of an individual’s voluntary admission shall be given only at the request of the individual, except that, in an emergency, notice shall be given as determined by the facility.(2) INVOLUNTARY ADMISSION.—(a) Whenever notice is required to be given un…

No professional referred to in this part shall be required to accept patients for treatment of mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders. Such participation shall be voluntary.History.—s. 4, ch. 73-133; s. 5, ch. 79-298; s. 8, ch. 82-212; s. 12, ch. 96-169.

The department is authorized to designate and monitor receiving facilities, treatment facilities, and receiving systems and may suspend or withdraw such designation for failure to comply with this part and rules adopted under this part. The department may issue a conditional desi…

(1) The Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation with the Department of Children and Families, may license facilities that integrate services provided in an adult mental health crisis stabilization unit with services provided in an adult addictions receiving facilit…

(1) A clinical record shall be maintained for each patient. The record shall include data pertaining to admission and such other information as may be required under rules of the department. A clinical record is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1). Unless …

A transportation plan shall be developed and implemented by each county in collaboration with the managing entity in accordance with this section. A county may enter into a memorandum of understanding with the governing boards of nearby counties to establish a shared transportati…

(1) AUTHORITY TO RECEIVE PATIENTS.—(a) A facility may receive for observation, diagnosis, or treatment any adult who applies by express and informed consent for admission or any minor whose parent or legal guardian applies for admission. Such person may be admitted to the facilit…

(1) CRITERIA.—A person may be taken to a receiving facility for involuntary examination if there is reason to believe that the person has a mental illness and because of his or her mental illness:(a)1. The person has refused voluntary examination after conscientious explanation a…

(1) All petitions for voluntary and involuntary admission for mental health treatment, court orders, and related records that are filed with or by a court under this part are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Pleadings and o…

(1) As used in this section, the term “involuntary outpatient placement” means involuntary outpatient services as defined in s. 394.467.(2) A court or a county court may order an individual to involuntary outpatient placement in accordance with the criteria for ordering a person …

(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:(a) “Court” means a circuit court or, for commitments only to involuntary outpatient services as defined in paragraph (c), a county court.(b) “Involuntary inpatient placement” means placement in a secure receiving or treatment fa…

The department may adopt rules to administer this part.History.—s. 10, ch. 2004-385; s. 84, ch. 2014-19; s. 14, ch. 2016-241.

(1) Whenever it is determined by the court that a person meets the criteria for involuntary placement and it appears that such person is eligible for care or treatment by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or other agency of the United States Government, the court, …

(1) Admission and discharge procedures and treatment policies of the department are governed solely by this part. Such procedures and policies shall not be subject to control by court procedure rules. The matters within the purview of this part are deemed to be substantive, not p…

(1) TRANSFER BETWEEN PUBLIC FACILITIES.—(a) A patient who has been admitted to a public receiving facility, or the family member, guardian, or guardian advocate of such patient, may request the transfer of the patient to another public receiving facility. A patient who has been a…

(1) POWER TO DISCHARGE.—At any time a patient is found to no longer meet the criteria for involuntary placement, the administrator shall:(a) Discharge the patient, unless the patient is under a criminal charge, in which case the patient shall be transferred to the custody of the …

(1) In the case of an indigent person for whom an attorney is appointed pursuant to the provisions of this part, the attorney shall be compensated by the state pursuant to s. 27.5304. In the case of an indigent person, the court may appoint a public defender. The public defender …

(1) Upon the request of the state mental health authority of another state, the department is authorized to accept as a patient, for a period of not more than 15 days, a person who is and has been a bona fide resident of this state for a period of not less than 1 year.(2) Any per…

(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:(a) “Department” means the Department of Children and Families.(b) “Psychotic or severely emotionally disturbed child” means a child so diagnosed by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist with at least 3 years of clinical expe…

For the purposes of this section, the disability of nonage is removed for any minor age 13 years or older to access services under the following circumstances:(1) OUTPATIENT DIAGNOSTIC AND EVALUATION SERVICES.—When any minor age 13 years or older experiences an emotional crisis t…

(1) A child or adolescent as defined in s. 394.492 may not be admitted to a state-owned or state-operated mental health treatment facility. A child may be admitted pursuant to s. 394.4625 or s. 394.467 to a crisis stabilization unit or a residential treatment center licensed unde…

(1) The Legislature intends that all hospitals, excluding hospitals owned and operated by the department or the Department of Corrections, be assessed on a continuing basis an amount equal to 1.5 percent of the hospital’s annual net operating revenues and that the assessments be …

(1) The Department of Children and Families shall, through a request for proposals, privatize South Florida State Hospital. The department shall plan to begin implementation of this privatization initiative by July 1, 1998.(a) Notwithstanding s. 287.057(14), the department may en…

As used in this section and ss. 394.4786, 394.4788, and 394.4789:(1) “Acute mental health services” means mental health services provided through inpatient hospitalization.(2) “Agency” means the Agency for Health Care Administration.(3) “Charity care” means that portion of hospit…

(1) A hospital may be eligible to be reimbursed an amount no greater than the hospital’s previous year contribution to the PMATF for acute mental health services provided to indigent mentally ill persons who have been determined by the agency or its agent to require such treatmen…

(1) It is the intent of the Legislature that a hospital which seeks payment under s. 394.4788 shall accept referrals from the department. However, a hospital shall have the right to refuse the admission of a patient due to lack of functional bed space or lack of services appropri…

(1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.—It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage and support the judicial circuits of the state and other agencies, local governments, interested public and private entities, and individuals to create and maintain a veterans treatment court program in each…

(1) Each county may fund a mental health court program under which a defendant in the justice system assessed with a mental illness shall be processed in such a manner as to appropriately address the severity of the identified mental illness through treatment services tailored to…

The Interstate Compact on Mental Health is hereby enacted into law and entered into by this state with all other states legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows:INTERSTATE COMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTHThe contracting states solemnly agree that:ARTICLE IThe party st…

Pursuant to said compact, the Secretary of Children and Families shall be the compact administrator who, acting jointly with like officers of other party states, shall have power to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out more effectively the terms of the compact. The compa…

The compact administrator is hereby authorized and empowered to enter into supplementary agreements with appropriate officials of other states pursuant to Articles VII and XI of the compact. In the event that such supplementary agreements shall require or contemplate the use of a…

The compact administrator, subject to the approval of the Chief Financial Officer, may make or arrange for any payments necessary to discharge any financial obligations imposed upon this state by the compact or by any supplementary agreement entered into thereunder.History.—s. 4,…

The compact administrator is hereby directed to consult with the immediate family representatives or guardian of any proposed transferee and, in the case of a proposed transferee from an institution in this state to an institution in another party state, to take no final action w…

Copies of this act shall upon its approval be transmitted by the Department of State to the governor of each state, the Attorney General and the Administrator of General Services of the United States, and the Council of State Governments.History.—s. 6, ch. 71-219.

Sections 394.490-394.497 may be cited as the “Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Act.”History.—s. 1, ch. 98-5.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the following principles guide the development and implementation of the publicly funded child and adolescent mental health treatment and support system:(1) The system should be centered on the child, adolescent, and family, with the needs…