HB 893 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to residential treatment programs; 2
amending s. 39.407, F.S.; authorizing the Department 3
of Children and Families, under certain circumstances, 4
to place children in its custody in therapeutic group 5
homes for residential mental health treatment without 6
prior court approval; revising definitions; defining 7
the term "therapeutic group home"; providing that the 8
department, rather than the Agency for Heal th Care 9
Administration, shall appoint qualified evaluators to 10
conduct suitability assessments of certain children in 11
the department's custody; specifying qualifications 12
for evaluators conducting suitability assessments for 13
placement in a therapeutic group home; revising 14
requirements for suitability assessments; specifying 15
when the department must provide a copy of the 16
assessment to the guardian ad litem and the court; 17
revising the department's and the agency's rulemaking 18
authority; providing an effective da te. 19
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21
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Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 39.407, Florida 23
Statutes, is amended to read: 24
39.407 Medical, psychiatric, and psychological examination 25
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and treatment of child; physical, ment al, or substance abuse 26
examination of person with or requesting child custody. — 27
(6) Children who are in the legal custody of the 28
department may be placed by the department, without prior 29
approval of the court, in a residential treatment center 30
licensed under s. 394.875, a therapeutic group home, or a 31
hospital licensed under chapter 395 for residential mental 32
health treatment only pursuant to this section or may be placed 33
by the court in accordance with an order of involuntary 34
examination or involuntary pl acement entered pursuant to s. 35
394.463 or s. 394.467. All children placed in a residential 36
treatment program under this subsection must have a guardian ad 37
litem appointed. 38
(a) As used in this subsection, the term: 39
2.1. "Residential treatment" or "residential treatment 40
program" means a placement for observation, diagnosis, or 41
treatment of an emotional disturbance in a residential treatment 42
center licensed under s. 394.875 , a therapeutic group home, or a 43
hospital licensed under chapter 395. 44
1.2. "Least restrictive alternative" means the treatment 45
and conditions of treatment that, separately and in combination, 46
are no more intrusive or restrictive of freedom than reasonably 47
necessary to achieve a substantial therapeutic benefit or to 48
protect the child or adolescent or others from physical injury. 49
3. "Suitable for residential treatment" or "suitability" 50
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means a determination concerning a child or adolescent with an 51
emotional disturbance as defined in s. 394.492(5) or a serious 52
emotional disturbance as def ined in s. 394.492(6) that each of 53
the following criteria is met: 54
a. The child requires residential treatment. 55
b. The child is in need of a residential treatment program 56
and is expected to benefit from mental , emotional, or behavioral 57
health treatment. 58
c. An appropriate, less restrictive alternative to 59
residential treatment is unavailable. 60
4. "Therapeutic group home" means a 24 -hour residential 61
program providing community -based mental health treatment and 62
mental health support services to children w ho meet the criteria 63
in s. 394.492(5) or (6) in a nonsecure, homelike setting that 64
meets the requirements of a single -family unit or a community 65
residential home as defined in s. 419.001(1). Notwithstanding s. 66
419.001(1)(a), a therapeutic group home may pr ovide a living 67
environment for up to 16 unrelated residents. 68
(b) Whenever the department believes that a child in its 69
legal custody is emotionally disturbed and may need residential 70
treatment, an examination and suitability assessment must be 71
conducted by a qualified evaluator who is appointed by the 72
department Agency for Health Care Administration . This 73
suitability assessment must be completed before the placement of 74
the child in a residential treatment program center for 75
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emotionally disturbed children a nd adolescents or a hospital . 76
1. The qualified evaluator for placement in a residential 77
treatment center or a hospital must be a psychiatrist or a 78
psychologist licensed in this state Florida who has at least 3 79
years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of serious 80
emotional disturbances in children and adolescents and who has 81
no actual or perceived conflict of interest with any inpatient 82
facility or residential treatment center or prog ram. 83
2. The qualified evaluator for placement in a therapeutic 84
group home must be a psychiatrist licensed under chapter 458, a 85
psychologist licensed under chapter 490, or a mental health 86
counselor licensed under chapter 491 who has at least 2 years of 87
experience in the diagnosis and treatment of serious emotional 88
or behavioral disturbance in children and adolescents and who 89
has no actual or perceived conflict of interest with any 90
residential treatment center or program. 91
(c) Consistent with the requireme nts of this section 92
Before a child is admitted under this subsection , the child 93
shall be assessed for suitability for residential treatment by a 94
qualified evaluator who has conducted an a personal examination 95
and assessment of the child and has made writte n findings that: 96
1. The child appears to have an emotional disturbance 97
serious enough to require treatment in a residential treatment 98
program and is reasonably likely to benefit from the treatment. 99
2. The child has been provided with a clinically 100
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appropriate explanation of the nature and purpose of the 101
treatment. 102
3. All available modalities of treatment less restrictive 103
than residential treatment have been considered, and a less 104
restrictive alternative that would offer comparable benefits to 105
the child is unavailable. 106
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A copy of the written findings of the evaluation and suitability 108
assessment must be provided to the department, to the guardian 109
ad litem, and, if the child is a member of a Medicaid managed 110
care plan, to the plan that is financially respo nsible for the 111
child's care in residential treatment, all of whom must be 112
provided with the opportunity to discuss the findings with the 113
evaluator. 114
(d) Immediately upon placing a child in a residential 115
treatment program under this section, the department must notify 116
the guardian ad litem and the court having jurisdiction over the 117
child. Within 5 days after the department's receipt of the 118
assessment, the department shall and must provide the guardian 119
ad litem and the court with a copy of the assessment by the 120
qualified evaluator. 121
(e) Within 10 days after the admission of a child to a 122
residential treatment program, the director of the residential 123
treatment program or the director's designee must ensure that an 124
individualized plan of treatment has been prep ared by the 125
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program and has been explained to the child, to the department, 126
and to the guardian ad litem, and submitted to the department. 127
The child must be involved in the preparation of the plan to the 128
maximum feasible extent consistent with his or her a bility to 129
understand and participate, and the guardian ad litem and the 130
child's foster parents must be involved to the maximum extent 131
consistent with the child's treatment needs. The plan must 132
include a preliminary plan for residential treatment and 133
aftercare upon completion of residential treatment. The plan 134
must include specific behavioral and emotional goals against 135
which the success of the residential treatment may be measured. 136
A copy of the plan must be provided to the child, to the 137
guardian ad litem, and to the department. 138
(f) Within 30 days after admission, the residential 139
treatment program must review the appropriateness and 140
suitability of the child's placement in the program. The 141
residential treatment program must determine whether the child 142
is receiving benefit toward the treatment goals and whether the 143
child could be treated in a less restrictive treatment program. 144
The residential treatment program shall prepare a written report 145
of its findings and submit the report to the guardian ad litem 146
and to the department. The department must submit the report to 147
the court. The report must include a discharge plan for the 148
child. The residential treatment program must continue to 149
evaluate the child's treatment progress every 30 days thereafter 150
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and must include its findings in a written report submitted to 151
the department. The department may not reimburse a facility 152
until the facility has submitted every written report that is 153
due. 154
(g)1. The department must submit, at the beginning of each 155
month, to the court having jurisdiction over the child, a 156
written report regarding the child's progress toward achieving 157
the goals specified in the individualized plan of treatment. 158
2. The court must conduct a hearing to review the status 159
of the child's residential treatme nt plan no later than 60 days 160
after the child's admission to the residential treatment 161
program. An independent review of the child's progress toward 162
achieving the goals and objectives of the treatment plan must be 163
completed by a qualified evaluator and sub mitted to the court 164
before its 60-day review. 165
3. For any child in residential treatment at the time a 166
judicial review is held pursuant to s. 39.701, the child's 167
continued placement in residential treatment must be a subject 168
of the judicial review. 169
4. If at any time the court determines that the child is 170
not suitable for continued residential treatment, the court 171
shall order the department to place the child in the least 172
restrictive setting that is best suited to meet his or her 173
needs. 174
(h) After the initial 60-day review, the court must 175
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conduct a review of the child's residential treatment plan every 176
90 days. 177
(i) The department may adopt rules to administer this 178
subsection must adopt rules for implementing timeframes for the 179
completion of suitability assessments by qualified evaluators 180
and a procedure that includes timeframes for completing the 60 -181
day independent review by the qualified evaluators of the 182
child's progress toward achieving the goals and objectives of 183
the treatment plan which review must be submitted to the court. 184
The Agency for Health Care Administration must adopt rules for 185
the registration of qualified evaluators, the procedure for 186
selecting the evaluators to conduct the reviews required under 187
this section, and a reasonable, cost -efficient fee schedule for 188
qualified evaluators . 189
Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 190