CS/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
20
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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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
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. 64
(b) Whenever the department believes that a child in its 65
legal custody is emotionally disturbed and may need residential 66
treatment, an examination and suitability assessment m ust be 67
conducted by a qualified evaluator who is appointed by the 68
department Agency for Health Care Administration . This 69
suitability assessment must be completed before the placement of 70
the child in a residential treatment program center for 71
emotionally disturbed children and adolescents or a hospital . 72
1. The qualified evaluator for placement in a residential 73
treatment center or a hospital must be a psychiatrist or a 74
psychologist licensed in this state Florida who has at least 3 75
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years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of serious 76
emotional disturbances in children and adolescents and who has 77
no actual or perceived conflict of interest with any inpatient 78
facility or residential treatment center or program. 79
2. The qualified evaluator for placemen t in a therapeutic 80
group home must be a psychiatrist licensed under chapter 458 or 81
chapter 459, a psychologist licensed under chapter 490, or a 82
mental health counselor licensed under chapter 491 who has at 83
least 2 years of experience in the diagnosis and t reatment of 84
serious emotional or behavioral disturbance in children and 85
adolescents and who has no actual or perceived conflict of 86
interest with any residential treatment center or program. 87
(c) Consistent with the requirements of this section 88
Before a child is admitted under this subsection , the child 89
shall be assessed for suitability for residential treatment by a 90
qualified evaluator who has conducted an a personal examination 91
and assessment of the child and has made written findings that: 92
1. The child appears to have an emotional disturbance 93
serious enough to require treatment in a residential treatment 94
program and is reasonably likely to benefit from the treatment. 95
2. The child has been provided with a clinically 96
appropriate explanation of the natur e and purpose of the 97
treatment. 98
3. All available modalities of treatment less restrictive 99
than residential treatment have been considered, and a less 100
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restrictive alternative that would offer comparable benefits to 101
the child is unavailable. 102
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A copy of the written findings of the evaluation and suitability 104
assessment must be provided to the department, to the guardian 105
ad litem, and, if the child is a member of a Medicaid managed 106
care plan, to the plan that is financially responsible for the 107
child's care in residential treatment, all of whom must be 108
provided with the opportunity to discuss the findings with the 109
evaluator. 110
(d) Immediately upon placing a child in a residential 111
treatment program under this section, the department must notify 112
the guardian ad litem and the court having jurisdiction over the 113
child. Within 5 days after the department's receipt of the 114
assessment, the department shall and must provide the guardian 115
ad litem and the court with a copy of the assessment by the 116
qualified evaluator. 117
(e) Within 10 days after the admission of a child to a 118
residential treatment program, the director of the residential 119
treatment program or the director's designee must ensure that an 120
individualized plan of treatment has been prepared by the 121
program and has been explained to the child, to the department, 122
and to the guardian ad litem, and submitted to the department. 123
The child must be involved in the preparation of the plan to the 124
maximum feasible extent consistent with his or her ability to 125
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understand and partic ipate, and the guardian ad litem and the 126
child's foster parents must be involved to the maximum extent 127
consistent with the child's treatment needs. The plan must 128
include a preliminary plan for residential treatment and 129
aftercare upon completion of resident ial treatment. The plan 130
must include specific behavioral and emotional goals against 131
which the success of the residential treatment may be measured. 132
A copy of the plan must be provided to the child, to the 133
guardian ad litem, and to the department. 134
(f) Within 30 days after admission, the residential 135
treatment program must review the appropriateness and 136
suitability of the child's placement in the program. The 137
residential treatment program must determine whether the child 138
is receiving benefit toward the trea tment goals and whether the 139
child could be treated in a less restrictive treatment program. 140
The residential treatment program shall prepare a written report 141
of its findings and submit the report to the guardian ad litem 142
and to the department. The departmen t must submit the report to 143
the court. The report must include a discharge plan for the 144
child. The residential treatment program must continue to 145
evaluate the child's treatment progress every 30 days thereafter 146
and must include its findings in a written re port submitted to 147
the department. The department may not reimburse a facility 148
until the facility has submitted every written report that is 149
due. 150
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(g)1. The department must submit, at the beginning of each 151
month, to the court having jurisdiction over the c hild, a 152
written report regarding the child's progress toward achieving 153
the goals specified in the individualized plan of treatment. 154
2. The court must conduct a hearing to review the status 155
of the child's residential treatment plan no later than 60 days 156
after the child's admission to the residential treatment 157
program. An independent review of the child's progress toward 158
achieving the goals and objectives of the treatment plan must be 159
completed by a qualified evaluator and submitted to the court 160
before its 60-day review. 161
3. For any child in residential treatment at the time a 162
judicial review is held pursuant to s. 39.701, the child's 163
continued placement in residential treatment must be a subject 164
of the judicial review. 165
4. If at any time the court determi nes that the child is 166
not suitable for continued residential treatment, the court 167
shall order the department to place the child in the least 168
restrictive setting that is best suited to meet his or her 169
needs. 170
(h) After the initial 60 -day review, the court must 171
conduct a review of the child's residential treatment plan every 172
90 days. 173
(i) The department may adopt rules to administer this 174
subsection must adopt rules for implementing timeframes for the 175
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completion of suitability assessments by qualified evalua tors 176
and a procedure that includes timeframes for completing the 60 -177
day independent review by the qualified evaluators of the 178
child's progress toward achieving the goals and objectives of 179
the treatment plan which review must be submitted to the court. 180
The Agency for Health Care Administration must adopt rules for 181
the registration of qualified evaluators, the procedure for 182
selecting the evaluators to conduct the reviews required under 183
this section, and a reasonable, cost -efficient fee schedule for 184
qualified evaluators. 185
Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 186