STORAGE NAME: h0723f.HHS
DATE: 3/25/2025
1
FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
BILL ANALYSIS
This bill analysis was prepared by nonpartisan committee staff and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 723
TITLE: Type 1 Diabetes Early Detection Program
SPONSOR(S): Tant
COMPANION BILL: None
LINKED BILLS: None
RELATED BILLS: CS/SB 958 (Bernard)
Committee References
Health Professions & Programs
18 Y, 0 N
Education Administration
17 Y, 0 N, As CS
Health & Human Services
26 Y, 0 N, As CS
SUMMARY
Effect of the Bill:
The bill requires the Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with school districts, to develop informational
material regarding early detection of Type 1 diabetes for parents and guardians of students. The bill requires DOH
to develop the material within 90 days after July 1, 2025, and to make the information available to each early
learning coalition, school district, and charter school within the state through the agency’s website. The bill also
requires DOH to develop a standardize methodology for each early learning coalition, school district, and charter
school to notify parents and guardians of voluntary prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade students, by
September 30, 2025, and annually thereafter, of the availability of Type 1 diabetes early detection materials.
Fiscal or Economic Impact:
None
JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
ANALYSIS
EFFECT OF THE BILL:
Current law requires public schools to provide various diabetic management services, but does not require schools
to make available or provide parents and guardians with information related to the early detection signs for Type
1 diabetes in children. The bill requires the Department of Health (DOH), in collaboration with school districts
throughout the state, to develop informational material regarding early detection of Type 1 diabetes for parents
and guardians of students. DOH must develop the informational material within 90 days after July 1, 2025, and
make the information available to every early learning coalition, school district, and charter school through the
agency’s website. (Section 1)
The bill requires DOH to develop a standardize methodology for each early learning coalition, school district, and
charter school for notifying the parents and guardians of voluntary prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade
students, by September 30, 2025, an annually thereafter, of the availability of the Type 1 diabetes early detection
materials. The information provided to the parents and guardians must include, but is not limited to:
A description of Type 1 diabetes;
A description of the risk factors and warning signs associated with Type 1 diabetes;
A description of the process for screening students for early detection of Type 1 diabetes using a blood
autoantibody test; and
A recommendation for further evaluation for students displaying warning signs associated with Type 1
diabetes or positive early detection screening results. (Section 1)
JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
2
Current law requires the early learning coalition to provide parents enrolling children in the Voluntary
Prekindergarten Education Program with certain information, but does not require parental notification of the
availability of information on early detection of Type 1 diabetes. The bill requires the early learning coalitions to
annually notify parents and guardians enrolling children in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program of
the availability of informational materials for the early detection of Type 1 diabetes. (Section 2)
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2025. (Section 3)
RELEVANT INFORMATION
SUBJECT OVERVIEW:
Diabetes
Diabetes occurs when blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high.
1 Blood glucose is the body’s main source
of energy and comes mainly from one’s diet. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps the glucose in the
blood get into the cells to be used for energy. Another hormone, glucagon, works with insulin to control blood
glucose levels. There are two primary types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1 Diabetes
In most people with Type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system, which normally fights infection, attacks and
destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin.
2 As a result, the pancreas stops making insulin. Without
insulin, glucose cannot get into the cells and blood glucose rises above normal.
3 People with Type 1 diabetes need
to take insulin every day to stay alive.
Type 1 diabetes typically occurs in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age.
4 In children, Type
1 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed, between ages 4 to 7 and ages 10 to 14.
5 Having a parent or sibling with the
disease may increase the chance of developing Type 1 diabetes. In the United States, about approximately 1.24
million people have Type 1 diabetes.
6 This number is expected to grow to five million by 2050.
7
Symptoms of Type 1 diabetes are serious and usually happen quickly, over a few days to weeks, and can include:
Increased thirst and urination
Increased hunger
Blurred vision
Fatigue
Unexplained weight loss
8
Irritability or behavioral changes
9
Fruity-smelling breath
10
1 Cleveland Clinic, Diabetes, available at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7104-diabetes, (last visited March 6, 2025).
2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases, Type 1 Diabetes, available at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/type-1-
diabetes/ (last visited March 6, 2025).
3 Id.
4 Id.
5 Mayo Clinic, Type 1 Diabetes, available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-1-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-
20353011#:~:text=Type%201%20diabetes%20can%20appear%20at%20any%20age%2C%20but%20it,10%20and%2014%20years%20
old., and Cleveland Clinic, Type 1 Diabetes, available at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21500-type-1-diabetes, (last visited
March 6, 2025).
6
Cleveland Clinic, Type 1 Diabetes, available at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21500-type-1-diabetes, (last visited March
6, 2025).
7 Id.
8 Supra, FN 2.
9 Mayo Clinic, Type 1 Diabetes in Children, available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-1-diabetes-in-
children/symptoms-causes/syc-20355306, (last visited March 1, 2025).
10 Id. JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
3
Sometimes the first symptoms of Type 1 diabetes are signs of a life-threatening condition called diabetic
ketoacidosis (DKA). The condition develops when the body cannot produce enough insulin.
11 Without enough
insulin, the body begins to break down fat as fuel.
12 This causes a buildup of acids in the bloodstream called
ketones; if left untreated, the buildup can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis.
13 Symptoms of DKA include, among others:
Breath that smells fruity
Dry or flushed skin
Nausea or vomiting
Stomach pain
Trouble breathing
Trouble paying attention or feeling confused
14
Over time, high blood glucose leads to problems such as:
Heart disease
Stroke
Kidney disease
Eye problems
Dental disease
Nerve damage
Foot problems
Depression
Sleep apnea
15
Type 1 diabetics must take insulin because the body no longer makes it on its own. Different types of insulin start
to work at different speeds, and the effects of each last a different length of time. Insulin can be taken in several
ways; common options include a needle and syringe, insulin pen, or insulin pump.
16
People who have trouble reaching their blood glucose targets with insulin alone also may need to take another
type of diabetes medicine that works in conjunction with insulin, such as pramlintide. Pramlintide, given by
injection, helps keep blood glucose levels from going too high after eating.
17 Metformin is another diabetes
medication that may help decrease the amount of insulin necessary.
18
Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases that affects children in the United States.
19 As of 2021,
352,000 children and adolescents younger than age 20 in the U.S. were diagnosed with diabetes, this includes
304,000 with Type 1 diabetes.
20
Diabetic Management Services in Public Schools
11 Mayo Clinic, Patient Care & Health Information, Disease & Conditions, Diabetic Ketoacidosis, available at
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-ketoacidosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20371551 (last visited on March 1, 2025).
12 Id.
13 Id.
14 Id.
15 Id.
16 Supra, FN 2.
17 Id.
18 Id.
19 Cleveland Clinic, Type 1 Diabetes, available at https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21500-type-1-diabetes, (last visited March
6, 2025).
20 Florida Diabetes Advisory Council Legislative Report, January 2025, at 15, available at https://www.floridahealth.gov/%5C/provider-and-
partner-resources/dac/_documents/2025-dac-report.pdf, (last visited March 6, 2025). JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
4
In Florida, students with diabetes, with written consent from their healthcare provider and parent, are permitted
to self-manage their medication, supplies, and equipment based on the student’s diabetes medical management
plan
21 without additional assistance or supervision.
22 Students may manage and care for their diabetes while in
school, participating in school-sponsored activities, or in transit to or from school or school sponsored activities to
the extent authorized by the parent and physician.
23
School districts are required to have personnel, whether licensed nurses or trained school staff, assigned to each
school a student with diabetes would otherwise attend if he or she did not have diabetes. These personnel must be
available to provide necessary diabetes care throughout the school day and during school-sponsored activities.
24
The Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health, is required to develop technical
assistance regarding the care of students with diabetes. This includes identifying and providing sources to school
districts for training school personnel to ensure proper management and care of diabetic students in schools.
25
In Florida’s public schools, 7,006 students were reported to have Type 1 diabetes during the 2020-2021 school
year.
26 In 2022-2023, in a population of 2,851,846 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, there were 6,568
students with Type 1 diabetes (0.23 percent) in Florida public schools.
27
Early Learning Coalition and Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
The Division of Early (DEL) provides accessible, affordable, and quality early learning services for Florida’s
children and families in partnership with 30 early learning coalitions.
28 DEL delivers three programs, the School
Readiness Program, Child Care Resources and Referral, and the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Program.
29 The
early learning coalitions administer these programs at the county and regional level.
30
Florida’s VPK Program is a free, state-funded educational program designed to prepare four-year-olds for
kindergarten and beyond. Each child who resides in Florida who will have attained the age of four years old on or
before September 1 of the school year is eligible for the VPK Program during either that school year or the
following school year.
31 Parents can choose to enroll their child in VPK Programs provided by private child care
centers or public schools and school-year or summer programs.
32
Current law specifies the eligibility and enrollment criteria for the VPK Program, as well as the duties and
responsibilities of the early learning coalitions.
33 Under current law, early learning coalitions must provide parents
enrolling a child in the VPK Program with certain information, including a profile of every private prekindergarten
provider and public school delivering the program within the county where the child is being enrolled.
34 Current
21 A Diabetes Medical Management Plan is a medical authorization for diabetes treatment that includes medication orders from student’s
healthcare provider for routine and emergency care.
22 Rule 6A-6.0253(3), F.A.C.
23 S. 1002.20(3)(j), F.S.
24 Rule 6A-6.0253(2), F.A.C.
25 Rule 6A-6.0253(4), F.A.C.
26 Florida Diabetes Advisory Council, 2023 Florida Diabetes Report, at 17, available at https://www.floridahealth.gov/provider-and-partner-
resources/dac/_documents/2023-dac-report.pdf, (last visited March 6, 2025).
27 Florida Diabetes Advisory Council Legislative Report, January 2025, at 15, available at https://www.floridahealth.gov/%5C/provider-and-
partner-resources/dac/_documents/2025-dac-report.pdf, (last visited March 6, 2025).
28
Florida Department of Education, Early Learning, available at https://www.fldoe.org/schools/early-learning/, (last visited March 24,
2025).
29 Id.
30 Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida, Our History, available at https://elcofswfl.org/about-us/our-history/, (last visited March
24, 2025).
31 S. 1002.53(2), F.S. Parents of eligible four-year-olds with special needs have the option to enroll their child in VPK Specialized
Instructional Services Education Program. Also see Florida Department of Education, What is Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education
Program (VPK)?, available at https://www.fldoe.org/schools/early-learning/parents/vpk-parents.stml, (last visited March 24, 2025).
32
Florida Department of Education, What is Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK)?, available at
https://www.fldoe.org/schools/early-learning/parents/vpk-parents.stml, (last visited March 24, 2025).
33 S. 1002.53, F.S., and s. 1002.83, F.S.
34 S. 1002.53(5), F.S. JUMP TO SUMMARY ANALYSIS RELEVANT INFORMATION BILL HISTORY
5
law does not require early learning coalitions to notify parents about the availability of information regarding early
detection of Type 1 diabetes.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Florida Department of Education School Health Services
Florida Department of Health
BILL HISTORY
COMMITTEE REFERENCE ACTION DATE
STAFF
DIRECTOR/
POLICY CHIEF
ANALYSIS
PREPARED BY
Health Professions & Programs
Subcommittee
18 Y, 0 N 3/5/2025 McElroy Curry
Education Administration
Subcommittee
17 Y, 0 N, As CS 3/11/2025 Sleap Dixon
THE CHANGES ADOPTED BY THE
COMMITTEE:
Expanded notification requirements to require the notification of parents and
guardians of public school voluntary prekindergarten and kindergarten.
Health & Human Services
Committee
26 Y, 0 N, As CS 3/24/2025 Calamas Curry
THE CHANGES ADOPTED BY THE
COMMITTEE:
Required DOH to make information on early detection of Type 1diabetes
available to early learning coalitions, instead of school boards, through the
agency’s website.
Required DOH to develop a standardize methodology for each early
learning coalition to notify parents and guardians of certain students about
the availability of the Type 1 diabetes early detection materials.
Required early learning coalitions to annually notify all parents and
guardians enrolling a child in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education
Program of the availability of informational material for the early detection
of Type 1 diabetes.
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THIS BILL ANALYSIS HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCORPORATE ALL OF THE CHANGES DESCRIBED ABOVE.
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