CS/HB 987 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 in -person visitation by essential 2
caregivers; creating ss. 393.131, 400.026, and 3
429.276, F.S.; defining the term "essential 4
caregiver"; providing that a resident or client of a 5
residential facility, a developmental disabilities 6
center, a direct service provider, a nursing home 7
facility, or an assisted living facility has the right 8
to designate an essential caregiver; prohibiting such 9
facilities, centers, and providers from prohibiting 10
in-person visitation by a designated essential 11
caregiver; requiring the Agency for Persons with 12
Disabilities and the Agency for Health Care 13
Administration, as applicable, to develop guidelines 14
to assist facilities, centers, and providers in 15
establishing certain visitation policies and 16
procedures; providing r equirements for such 17
guidelines; authorizing facilities, centers, and 18
providers to revoke an individual's designation as an 19
essential caregiver under certain circumstances; 20
prohibiting safety protocols adopted for essential 21
caregivers from being more strin gent than safety 22
protocols established for staff of a facility, center, 23
or provider; authorizing facilities, centers, and 24
providers to suspend visits by essential caregivers 25
CS/HB 987 2022
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once for a specified period under certain 26
circumstances; requiring visitation poli cies to allow 27
for in-person visitation by essential caregivers 28
during a suspension on a case -by-case basis under 29
certain circumstances; requiring the applicable agency 30
to dedicate a webpage containing specified information 31
on its website; providing for con struction, 32
preemption, and rulemaking; providing an effective 33
date. 34
35
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 36
37
Section 1. Section 393.131, Florida Statutes, is created 38
to read: 39
393.131 Essential caregivers; in -person visitation.— 40
(1) As used in this section, the term "essential 41
caregiver" means a family member, friend, guardian, or other 42
individual designated by a resident or client of a residential 43
facility, including, but not limited to, an intermediate care 44
facility for the developmentally disabled; a developmental 45
disabilities center; or a direct service provider for in -person 46
visits. 47
(2)(a) A resident or client of a residential facility, a 48
developmental disabilities center, or a direct service provider, 49
or his or her guardian or legal representative, has the right to 50
CS/HB 987 2022
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designate an essential caregiver. A facility, center, or 51
provider may not prohibit in -person visitation by a resident's 52
or client's designated essential caregiver. 53
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the agenc y shall, by 54
rule, develop guidelines to assist residential facilities, 55
developmental disabilities centers, and direct service providers 56
in establishing essential caregiver visitation policies and 57
procedures. The guidelines must require facilities, centers, and 58
providers to do all of the following: 59
1. Allow a resident or client, or his or her guardian or 60
legal representative, to designate an essential caregiver for 61
in-person visitation in the same manner that a resident or 62
client would designate a power of attorney. 63
2. Establish a visitation schedule allowing the essential 64
caregiver to visit the resident or client for at least 2 hours 65
each day. 66
3. Establish procedures to enable physical contact between 67
the resident or client and essential caregiver. 68
4. Obtain the signature of the essential caregiver 69
certifying that the caregiver agrees to follow the facility's, 70
center's, or provider's safety protocols, as applicable, and any 71
other rules adopted under this section. 72
5. Establish a visitor's log. 73
(c) A residential facility, developmental disabilities 74
center, or direct service provider may revoke an individual's 75
CS/HB 987 2022
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designation as an essential caregiver if the caregiver violates 76
the facility's, center's, or provider's safety protocols or 77
rules adopted under this section. The safety protocols adopted 78
by the facility, center, or provider for an essential caregiver 79
may not be more stringent than the safety protocols established 80
for the staff of the facility, center, or provider. 81
(d) A residential facility, de velopmental disabilities 82
center, or direct service provider may suspend in -person visits 83
by essential caregivers once for no more than 7 days if in -84
person visitation poses a serious health risk to the residents 85
or clients of the facility, center, or provid er. In the event of 86
a suspension, the visitation policy required by this section 87
must allow for in-person visitation by an essential caregiver on 88
a case-by-case basis during the suspension in all of the 89
following circumstances: 90
1. End-of-life situations. 91
2. A resident or client who was living with his or her 92
family before recently being admitted to the facility or center 93
is struggling with the change in environment and lack of 94
physical family support. 95
3. A resident or client is grieving the loss of a friend 96
or family member who recently died. 97
4. A resident or client needs cueing or encouragement to 98
eat or drink which was previously provided by a family member or 99
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caregiver, and the resident or client is experiencing weight 100
loss or dehydration. 101
5. A resident or client who used to talk and interact with 102
others is experiencing emotional distress, is seldom speaking, 103
or is crying more frequently than he or she did previously. 104
6. Any other circumstance the agency deems appropriate. 105
(3) The agency must dedicate a webpage on its website to 106
explain visitation rights authorized under this section. 107
(4) This section does not require an essential caregiver 108
to provide necessary care to a resident or client of a 109
residential facility, developmental disabilitie s center, or 110
direct service provider and such facility, center, or provider 111
may not require an essential caregiver to provide necessary care 112
to the resident or client. 113
(5) This section prevails over any conflicting or 114
inconsistent provisions of law. 115
(6) The agency shall adopt rules to implement this 116
section. 117
Section 2. Section 400.026, Florida Statutes, is created 118
to read: 119
400.026 Essential caregivers; in -person visitation.— 120
(1) As used in this section, the term "essential 121
caregiver" means a fam ily member, friend, guardian, or other 122
individual designated by a resident for in -person visits. 123
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(2)(a) A resident of a nursing home facility, or his or 124
her guardian or legal representative, has the right to designate 125
an essential caregiver. A facility m ay not prohibit in-person 126
visitation by a resident's designated essential caregiver. 127
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the agency shall, by 128
rule, develop guidelines to assist nursing home facilities in 129
establishing essential caregiver visitation policie s and 130
procedures. The guidelines must require the facilities to do all 131
of the following: 132
1. Allow a resident, or his or her guardian or legal 133
representative, to designate an essential caregiver for in -134
person visitation in the same manner that a resident would 135
designate a power of attorney. 136
2. Establish a visitation schedule allowing the essential 137
caregiver to visit the resident for at least 2 hours each day. 138
3. Establish procedures to enable physical contact between 139
the resident and essential caregive r. 140
4. Obtain the signature of the essential caregiver 141
certifying that the caregiver agrees to follow the facility's 142
safety protocols and any other rules adopted under this section. 143
5. Establish a visitor's log. 144
(c) A nursing home facility may revoke an individual's 145
designation as an essential caregiver if the caregiver violates 146
the facility's safety protocols or rules adopted under this 147
section. The safety protocols adopted by a nursing home facility 148
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for an essential caregiver may not be more stringen t than safety 149
protocols established for the facility's staff. 150
(d) A nursing home facility may suspend in -person visits 151
by essential caregivers once for no more than 7 days if in -152
person visitation poses a serious health risk to the residents 153
of the facility. In the event of a suspension, the visitation 154
policy required by this section must allow for in -person 155
visitation by an essential caregiver on a case -by-case basis 156
during the suspension in all of the following circumstances: 157
1. End-of-life situations. 158
2. A resident who was living with his or her family before 159
recently being admitted to the facility is struggling with the 160
change in environment and lack of physical family support. 161
3. A resident is grieving the loss of a friend or family 162
member who recently died. 163
4. A resident needs cueing or encouragement to eat or 164
drink which was previously provided by a family member or 165
caregiver, and the resident is experiencing weight loss or 166
dehydration. 167
5. A resident who used to talk and interact with others is 168
experiencing emotional distress, is seldom speaking, or is 169
crying more frequently than he or she did previously. 170
6. Any other circumstance the agency deems appropriate. 171
(3) The agency must dedicate a webpage on its website to 172
explain visitation rights authorized under this section. 173
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(4) This section does not require an essential caregiver 174
to provide necessary care to a resident and a nursing home 175
facility may not require an essential caregiver to provide 176
necessary care to the resident. 177
(5) This section prevails over any conflicting or 178
inconsistent provisions of law. 179
(6) The agency shall adopt rules to implement this 180
section. 181
Section 3. Section 429.276, Florida Statutes, is created 182
to read: 183
429.276 Essential caregivers; in -person visitation.— 184
(1) As used in this section, the term "essential 185
caregiver" means a family member, friend, guardian, or other 186
individual designated by a resident for in -person visits. 187
(2)(a) A resident of an assisted living facility, or his 188
or her guardian or legal representative, has the right to 189
designate an essential caregiver. A facility may not prohibit 190
in-person visitation by the resident's designated essential 191
caregiver. 192
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the agency shall, by 193
rule, develop guidelines to assist assisted living facilities in 194
establishing essential caregiver visitation policies and 195
procedures. The guidelines must require the facilities to do all 196
of the following: 197
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1. Allow a resident, or his or her guardian or legal 198
representative, to de signate an essential caregiver for in -199
person visitation in the same manner that a resident would 200
designate a power of attorney. 201
2. Establish a visitation schedule allowing the essential 202
caregiver to visit the resident for at least 2 hours each day. 203
3. Establish procedures to enable physical contact between 204
the resident and essential caregiver. 205
4. Obtain the signature of the essential caregiver 206
certifying that the caregiver agrees to follow the facility's 207
safety protocols and any other rules adopted un der this section. 208
5. Establish a visitor's log. 209
(c) An assisted living facility may revoke an individual's 210
designation as an essential caregiver if the caregiver violates 211
the facility's safety protocols or rules adopted under this 212
section. The safety p rotocols adopted by an assisted living 213
facility for an essential caregiver may not be more stringent 214
than safety protocols established for the facility's staff. 215
(d) An assisted living facility may suspend in -person 216
visits by essential caregivers once for no more than 7 days if 217
in-person visitation poses a serious health risk to the 218
residents of the facility. In the event of a suspension, the 219
visitation policy required by this section must allow for in -220
person visitation by an essential caregiver on a case -by-case 221
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basis during the suspension in all of the following 222
circumstances: 223
1. End-of-life situations. 224
2. A resident who was living with his or her family before 225
recently being admitted to the facility is struggling with the 226
change in environment and la ck of physical family support. 227
3. A resident is grieving the loss of a friend or family 228
member who recently died. 229
4. A resident needs cueing or encouragement to eat or 230
drink which was previously provided by a family member or 231
caregiver, and the residen t is experiencing weight loss or 232
dehydration. 233
5. A resident who used to talk and interact with others is 234
experiencing emotional distress, is seldom speaking, or is 235
crying more frequently than he or she did previously. 236
6. Any other circumstance the agen cy deems appropriate. 237
(3) The agency must dedicate a webpage on its website to 238
explain visitation rights authorized under this section. 239
(4) This section does not require an essential caregiver 240
to provide necessary care to a resident and an assisted liv ing 241
facility may not require an essential caregiver to provide 242
necessary care to the resident. 243
(5) This section prevails over any conflicting or 244
inconsistent provisions of law. 245
(6) The agency shall adopt rules to implement this 246
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section. 247
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 248