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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 elder and vulnerable adult abuse 2
fatality review teams; amending s. 415.1103, F.S.; 3
authorizing the establishment of elder and vulnerable 4
adult abuse fatality review teams for certain 5
purposes; authorizing certain persons and entities to 6
initiate a review team; requiring the initiating 7
entity to determine the geographic area to be served 8
by the review team; providing a requirement for such 9
geographic area; revising the definition of the term 10
"elder and vulnerable adult"; revising review t eam 11
membership; authorizing continuance for review teams 12
in existence on a certain date; requiring the entity 13
that initiated the review team to call its first 14
meeting; specifying certain members to be co -chairs of 15
the review team; authorizing a review team to 16
determine the number and types of incidents to review; 17
removing provisions relating to state attorney 18
requirements; requiring members of a review team to 19
sign a written acknowledgment of public records 20
requirements; requiring such acknowledgment to 21
reference applicable criminal penalties for certain 22
disclosures; requiring the initiating entity to 23
provide the acknowledgment form and certain training; 24
revising review team requirements to conform to 25
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changes made by the act; modifying the prohibition 26
from contacting, interviewing, or obtaining 27
information from the family of a victim; expanding 28
immunity from monetary liability to certain persons; 29
providing construction; providing that communications, 30
information, and records produced or acquired by a 31
review team are not subject to discovery or 32
introduction into evidence in certain proceedings 33
under certain circumstances; providing that a person 34
who attends a meeting or other authorized activity of 35
a review team may not testify in certain proceedings 36
as to certain records or information; providing 37
exceptions; providing an effective date. 38
39
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40
41
Section 1. Section 415.1103, Florida Statutes, is amended 42
to read: 43
415.1103 Elder and vulnerable adult abuse fatality review 44
teams.— 45
(1)(a) A state attorney, or his or her designee, may 46
initiate An elder and vulnerable adult abuse fatality review 47
team may be established in his or her judicial circuit to review 48
incidents of deaths of elderly persons caused by, or related to, 49
abuse, exploitation, or neglect which are believed to have 50
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caused or contributed to the death of an elderly person or 51
vulnerable adult. 52
(b) An elder and vulnerable adult abuse fatality review 53
team may be initiated by any of the following: 54
1. A state attorney. 55
2. A law enforcement agency. 56
3. The Department of Children and Families. 57
4. The Office of the Attorney General. 58
5. The Agency for Persons with Disabilities. 59
(c) The initiating entity shall determine the geographic 60
area that the review team will serve. The geographic area served 61
by the review team must be within the jurisdiction or service 62
area of the initiating entity. 63
(d) The purpose of a review team is to learn how to 64
prevent elder and vulnerable adult abuse and abuse -related 65
deaths by intervening early and improving the system response to 66
elder and vulnerable adult abuse, exploitation, and neglect. 67
(2) For purposes of this section and s. 415.1104, the term 68
"elder and vulnerable adult" refers to a person who meets the 69
criteria for any of the following terms: 70
(a) Vulnerable adult as defined in s. 415.102. 71
(b) Disabled adult as defined in s. 825.101. 72
(c) Elderly person as defined in s. 825.101. 73
(3) A An elder abuse fatality review team may include , but 74
is not limited to, representatives from any of the entities 75
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listed under paragraph (1)(b) and any of the following persons 76
or entities or persons located in the review team's judicial 77
circuit: 78
1. Law enforcement agencies. 79
2. The state attorney. 80
1.3. The medical examiner. 81
2.4. A county court judge. 82
5. Adult protective services. 83
3.6. The area agency on aging. 84
4.7. The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. 85
5.8. The Agency for Health Care Administration. 86
9. The Office of the Attorney General. 87
6.10. The Office of the State Courts Administrator. 88
7.11. The clerk of the court. 89
8.12. A victim services program. 90
9.13. An elder law or disability rights attorney. 91
10.14. Emergency services personnel. 92
11.15. A certified domestic violence center. 93
12.16. An advocacy organization for victims of sexual 94
violence. 95
13.17. A funeral home director. 96
14.18. A forensic pathologist. 97
15.19. A geriatrician. 98
16.20. A geriatric nurse. 99
17.21. A geriatric psychiatrist or other individual 100
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licensed to offer behavioral health services. 101
18.22. A hospital discharge planner. 102
19.23. A public guardian. 103
20.24. Any other persons who are identified and invited by 104
the review team and who have knowledge regarding fatal incidents 105
of elder abuse, vulnerable adult abuse, domestic violence, or 106
sexual violence, or suicide, including knowledge of research, 107
policy, law, and other matters connected with such incidents 108
involving elders and vulnerable adults , or who are recommended 109
for inclusion by the review team . 110
(4)(a)(c) Participation in a review team is voluntary. 111
Members of a review team shall serve without compensation and 112
may not be reimbursed for per diem or travel expenses. A review 113
team in existence on July 1, 2023, may continue to exist and 114
must comply with the requirements of this section Members shall 115
serve for terms of 2 years, to be staggered as determined by the 116
co-chairs. 117
(b)1.(d) The entity initiating the review team shall state 118
attorney may call the first organizational meeting of the team. 119
2. A representative of the entity initiating the review 120
team, who is chosen by that entity, shall serve as a co -chair of 121
the review team. At the initial meeting, members of a review 122
team shall elect a member choose two members to serve as an 123
additional co-chair. The co-chair elected by the review team 124
shall serve a 2-year term and co-chairs. Chairs may be reelected 125
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by a majority vote of a review team for not more than two 126
consecutive terms. 127
3. At the initial meeting, members of a review team shall 128
establish a schedule for future meetings. Each review team shall 129
meet at least once each fiscal year. 130
(c)(e) Except as provided in subsection (1) and paragraph 131
(4)(b), each review team shall determine its structure, local 132
operations, and including, but not limited to, the process for 133
case selection, including, but not limited to, the number and 134
type of incidents it chooses to review . The state attorney shall 135
refer cases to be reviewed by each team. Reviews must be limited 136
to closed cases in which an elderly person's death was caused 137
by, or related to, abuse or neglect. All identifying information 138
concerning the elderly person must be redacted by the state 139
attorney in documents received for review. As used in this 140
paragraph, the term "closed case" means a case that do es not 141
involve information considered active as defined in s. 142
119.011(3)(d). 143
(d)(f) Administrative costs of operating the review team 144
must be borne by the team members or entities they represent. 145
(e)1. Each member of a review team shall sign a written 146
acknowledgement that the member is obligated to comply with the 147
applicable provisions of chapter 119 and s. 24(a), Art. I of the 148
State Constitution and may not knowingly disclose or reveal 149
information or records produced, acquired, or discussed by the 150
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review team which are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) 151
and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. The written 152
acknowledgment must reference applicable criminal penalties for 153
such disclosures and clearly identify the records for which such 154
penalties apply. 155
2. The entity initiating the review team shall provide the 156
acknowledgment form to be signed by each review team member and 157
shall provide training to review team members on the 158
requirements regarding records that are exempt or confidential 159
and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 160
Constitution. 161
(2) An elder abuse fatality review team in existence on 162
July 1, 2020, may continue to exist and must comply with the 163
requirements of this section. 164
(5)(3) A An elder abuse fatality review team must shall do 165
all of the following: 166
(a) Review incidents deaths of abuse, exploitation, or 167
neglect of elders and vulnerable adults in the review team's 168
geographic service area elderly persons in its judicial circuit 169
which are believed found to have been caused or contributed to 170
the death of such person by, or related to, abuse or neglect . 171
(b) Take into consideration the events leading up to a 172
fatal incident, available community resources, current law and 173
policies, and the actions taken by sy stems or individuals 174
related to the fatal incident , and any information considered 175
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relevant by the team, including, but not limited to, a review of 176
public records and records for which a public records exemption 177
is granted. 178
(c) Identify potential gaps, d eficiencies, or problems in 179
the delivery of services to elders and vulnerable adults elderly 180
persons by public and private agencies which may be related to 181
incidents deaths reviewed by the team. 182
(d) Whenever possible, develop communitywide approaches to 183
address the causes of, and contributing factors to, incidents 184
deaths reviewed by the team. 185
(e) Develop recommendations and potential changes in law, 186
rules, and policies to support the care of elders and vulnerable 187
adults elderly persons and to prevent abuse of such persons 188
elder abuse deaths. 189
(6)(a)(4)(a) A review team may share with other review 190
teams in this state any relevant information that pertains to 191
incidents identified or reviewed by the team the review of the 192
death of an elderly person . 193
(b)1. A review team member may not contact, interview, or 194
obtain information by request directly from a family member of a 195
person whose case is subject to review by the review team as 196
part of the review unless: 197
a. the deceased elder's family as part of the r eview 198
unless A team member is authorized to do so in the course of his 199
or her employment duties ; or 200
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b. Such contact, interview, or request is necessary for 201
the review team to complete its review and determine findings 202
and such information is not obtainab le through any other means . 203
2. A family member of a person whose case is subject to 204
review by the review team the deceased elder's family may 205
voluntarily provide information or any record to a review team 206
but must be informed that such information or any record is 207
subject to public disclosure unless a public records exemption 208
applies. 209
(7)(a)(5)(a) Annually by September 1, each elder abuse 210
fatality review team shall submit a summary report to the 211
Department of Elderly Affairs which includes, but is not limited 212
to: 213
1. Descriptive statistics regarding cases reviewed by the 214
team, including, at a minimum, demographic information on 215
victims, and the causes and nature of their deaths , and the 216
incidents of abuse, exploitation, or neglect associated with 217
their deaths.; 218
2. Current policies, procedures, rules, or statutes the 219
review team has identified as contributing to the incidence of 220
elder and vulnerable adult abuse and abuse-related elder deaths, 221
and recommendations for system improvements and needed 222
resources, training, or information dissemination to address 223
such identified issues .; and 224
3. Any other recommendations to prevent fatal incidents of 225
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deaths from elder abuse, exploitation, or neglect of elders and 226
vulnerable adults, based on an analysis of the data and 227
information presented in the report. 228
(b) Annually by November 1, the Department of Elderly 229
Affairs shall prepare a summary repor t of the review team 230
information submitted under paragraph (a). The department shall 231
submit its summary report to the Governor, the President of the 232
Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the 233
Department of Children and Families. 234
(8)(a)(6) There is no monetary liability on the part of, 235
and a cause of action for damages may not arise against, any 236
member of a an elder abuse fatality review team, or any person 237
acting as a witness to, incident reporter to, or investigator 238
for a review team, f or any act or proceeding taken or performed 239
within the scope and functions of the team, due to the 240
performance of his or her duties as a review team member in 241
regard to any discussions by, or deliberations or 242
recommendations of, the team or the member unless such person 243
member acted in bad faith, with wanton and willful disregard of 244
human rights, safety, or property. 245
(b) This subsection does not affect the requirements of s. 246
768.28. 247
(9)(a) Oral or written communications, information, and 248
records produced or acquired by the review team are not subject 249
to discovery and may not be introduced into evidence in any 250
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civil, criminal, administrative, or disciplinary proceeding if 251
the communications, information, or records arose out of matters 252
that are the subject of evaluation and review by the review 253
team. Information, documents, and records otherwise available 254
from sources other than the review team are not immune from 255
discovery or introduction into evidence solely because the 256
information, documents, or records were presented to or reviewed 257
by a review team. 258
(b) A person who attends a meeting or other authorized 259
activity of a review team may not testify in any civil, 260
criminal, administrative, or disciplinary proceedings as to any 261
communications, records, or in formation produced or presented to 262
the review team during its meetings or other activities 263
authorized by this section. 264
(c) This subsection does not prohibit: 265
1. A person who testifies before a review team or is a 266
member of a review team from testifying in a civil, criminal, 267
administrative, or disciplinary proceeding to matters otherwise 268
within his or her knowledge; or 269
2. A member of a review team from testifying in a policy -270
related hearing or matter, as long as the member of the review 271
team does not disclose communications, records, or information 272
that would identify the victim or victim's family or any other 273
confidential or exempt records or information pertaining to a 274
matter reviewed by the review team. 275
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Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 276