CS/CS/HB 531 2025
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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 public education of background 2
screening requirements; amending s. 435.12, F.S.; 3
requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration, 4
in conjunction with specified agencies, to develop and 5
maintain a care provider background screening 6
education and awareness webpage; providing 7
requirements for resources provided on the webpage; 8
requiring that specified agencies provide a link to 9
the webpage on their respective websites and promote 10
the inclusion of the link in certain media ; requiring 11
that the webpage be active by a specified date and 12
reviewed and updated annually; providing an effective 13
date. 14
15
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16
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Section 1. Subsection (4) is added to section 435.12, 18
Florida Statutes, to read: 19
435.12 Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse. — 20
(4)(a) As part of the Care Provider Background Screening 21
Clearinghouse, the Agency for Health Care Administration, in 22
consultation with all specified agencies as defined in s. 23
435.02(7), that are required by law to use the clearinghouse for 24
employment screening, must develop and maintain a publicly 25
CS/CS/HB 531 2025
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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
available webpage which provides a central source for care 26
provider background screening education and awareness. The 27
webpage may be part of the curre nt web-based clearinghouse 28
system. The resources available on the webpage must be written 29
in nontechnical and accessible language, tailored to qualified 30
entities as defined in s. 943.0542(1), and include, but need not 31
be limited to: 32
1. Information and ed ucation related to employment 33
screening requirements of qualified entities, to include: 34
a. The Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse. 35
b. Level 2 screening standards under s. 435.04. 36
c. Live-scan fingerprinting or other third -party systems, 37
including information on process, vendors, locations, and 38
potential costs. 39
2. A searchable catalog, by specified agency, of qualified 40
entity employment classes and positions required by law to 41
undergo employment screening through the clearinghouse, to 42
include: 43
a. Disqualifying offenses. 44
b. Exemption requirements and process. 45
3. A downloadable checklist detailing the process, 46
timelines, and contact information for employment screening 47
process support, tailored to qualified entities. 48
(b) Each specified agency must include a clear and 49
conspicuous link to the webpage on its website and provide the 50
CS/CS/HB 531 2025
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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
link in all job vacancy advertisements and posts by the 51
qualified entity. 52
(c) The webpage must be active by January 1, 2026, and 53
reviewed and updated by October 1, 2026, and by October 1 each 54
year thereafter, to incorporate any changes to law, the 55
clearinghouse, or the employment screening process. 56
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 57