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
HB 959 2024
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to health care for inmates; amending
3 s. 945.41, F.S.; revising and providing legislative
4 intent; providing construction; providing for
5 individual dignity and treatment; providing for
6 express and informed consent and emergency medical
7 treatment; amending s. 945.42, F.S.; defining,
8 revising, and deleting terms; amending s. 945.43,
9 F.S.; substantially rewording provisions concerning
10 involuntary examinations of inmates and providing
11 requirements therefor; amending s. 945.44, F.S.;
12 substantially rewording provisions relating to
13 placement and treatment of an inmate in a mental
14 health treatment facility and providing requirements
15 therefor; repealing s. 945.45, F.S., relating to
16 continued placement of inmates in mental health
17 treatment facilities; amending s. 945.46, F.S.;
18 providing requirements for filing petitions for
19 involuntary inpatient placement for certain inmates;
20 authorizing the court to order alternative means and
21 venues for certain hearings; requiring, rather than
22 authorizing, inmates to be transported to the nearest
23 receiving facility in certain circumstances; amending
24 s. 945.47, F.S.; specifying purposes for which an
25 inmate's mental health treatment records may be
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HB 959 2024
26 provided to the Florida Commission on Offender Review
27 and the Department of Children and Families;
28 authorizing such records to be provided to certain
29 facilities upon request; amending s. 945.48, F.S.;
30 substantially rewording provisions relating to
31 emergency treatment orders and use of force and
32 providing requirements therefor; providing
33 requirements for emergency and psychotropic
34 medications and use of force; creating s. 945.485,
35 F.S.; providing requirements for management and
36 treatment for self-injurious behaviors; providing
37 legislative findings; requiring facility wardens to
38 consult with an inmate's treating physician in certain
39 circumstances and make certain determinations;
40 providing for petitions to compel an inmate to submit
41 to medical treatment in certain circumstances;
42 providing construction; amending s. 945.49, F.S.;
43 deleting a requirement that the Department of
44 Corrections adopt certain rules in cooperation with
45 the Mental Health Program Office of the Department of
46 Children and Families; creating s. 945.6042, F.S.;
47 providing definitions; providing legislative findings
48 and intent; providing requirements for inmate
49 capacity, health care advance directives, and proxies;
50 authorizing use of force on incapacitated inmates in
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51 certain circumstances; providing immunity from
52 liability for certain persons in certain
53 circumstances; providing an effective date.
54
55 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
56
57 Section 1. Section 945.41, Florida Statutes, is amended to
58 read:
59 945.41 Mental health treatment for inmates; legislative
60 intent of ss. 945.40-945.49.—
61 (1) INTENT.—It is the intent of the Legislature that:
62 (a) mentally ill Inmates in the custody of the department
63 who have a mental illness of Corrections receive an evaluation
64 and appropriate treatment for their mental illness through a
65 continuum of outpatient and inpatient mental health treatment
66 and services.
67 (b) The department is authorized to purchase treatment
68 materials and equipment to support inmate rehabilitation; to
69 ameliorate disabling mental symptoms associated with impairment
70 in behavioral functioning, sensory and motor skills, and impulse
71 control; and to improve adaptive coping skills consistent with
72 the department's jurisdiction as defined in s. 945.025.
73 (c) Sections 945.40-945.49 do not supplement, amend, or
74 change the responsibilities of the Department of Children and
75 Families pursuant to chapter 916, the Forensic Client Services
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76 Act, which governs forensic services for persons who are
77 incompetent to proceed as defined in s. 916.106.
78 (2) INDIVIDUAL DIGNITY AND TREATMENT.—
79 (a) An inmate in the custody of the department shall be
80 offered treatment that is suited to his or her needs as
81 determined by health care staff and that is provided in a humane
82 psychological environment. Such treatment shall be administered
83 skillfully, safely, and humanely with respect for the inmate's
84 dignity and personal integrity.
85 (b) The department shall provide mental health treatment
86 and services to inmates and may contract with any entities,
87 persons, or agencies qualified to provide such treatment and
88 services.
89 (c) Inmates receiving mental health treatment and services
90 shall be offered the opportunity to participate in the
91 development of a written individualized treatment plan and
92 provided a copy of such plan before its implementation. It is
93 further the intent of the Legislature that:
94 (d)(1) Inmates in the custody of the department who have
95 mental illnesses that require hospitalization and intensive
96 mental health psychiatric inpatient treatment and services or
97 care shall be offered receive appropriate treatment or care in
98 an inpatient setting Department of Corrections mental health
99 treatment facilities designated for that purpose. Inmates who
100 have mental illnesses that require intensive hospitalization -
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101 level mental health inpatient treatment and services shall be
102 transferred to a department mental health treatment facility
103 designated for that purpose The Department of Corrections shall
104 provide mental health services to inmates committed to it and
105 may contract with any entities, persons, or agencies qualified
106 to provide such services.
107 (e)(2) Mental health treatment facilities shall be secure
108 and adequately equipped and staffed for the provision of mental
109 health treatment and services. Inmates shall be offered the
110 least restrictive appropriate available treatment and se rvices
111 based on their assessed needs and best interests and consistent
112 with improvement of their condition for facilitation of
113 appropriate adjustment within the correctional environment and
114 that, to the extent possible, such services be provided in the
115 least restrictive manner consistent with optimum improvement of
116 the inmate's condition.
117 (3) EXPRESS AND INFORMED CONSENT.—
118 (a) A mentally competent inmate offered mental health
119 treatment within the department shall give his or her express
120 and informed consent for such treatment. Before giving such
121 consent, the following information shall be provided and
122 explained in plain language to the inmate:
123 1. The reason for treatment.
124 2. The proposed treatment.
125 3. The purpose of the treatment.
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126 4. The common risks, benefits, and side effects of the
127 treatment and the specific dosage range for a medication, if
128 applicable.
129 5. Alternative treatment modalities.
130 6. The approximate length of treatment.
131 7. The potential effects of stopping treatment.
132 8. How treatment will be monitored.
133 9. That any consent given for treatment may be revoked
134 orally or in writing before or during the treatment period by
135 the inmate or by a person legally authorized to make health care
136 decisions on behalf of the inmate.
137 (b) Inmates who are determined to be incompetent to
138 consent to treatment shall receive treatment deemed to be
139 necessary for their appropriate care and for the safety of the
140 inmate or others in accordance with the procedures established
141 in ss. 945.40-945.49.
142 (4)(3) PAROLE.—Inmates who are transferred to any facility
143 for the purpose of mental health treatment and services shall be
144 given consideration for parole and be eligible for release by
145 reason of gain-time allowances as provided in s. 944.291 and
146 release by expiration of sentence, consistent with guidelines
147 established for that purpose by the department.
148 (5)(4) YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS.—Any inmate sentenced as a
149 youthful offender, or designated as a youthful offender by the
150 department under chapter 958, who is transferred pursuant to
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151 this act to a mental health treatment facility shall be
152 separated from other inmates, if necessary, as determined by the
153 warden of the mental health treatment facility.
154 (6)(5) TREATMENT FACILITIES.—The department may designate
155 mental health treatment facilities for adult, youthful, and
156 female offenders or may contract with other appropriate
157 entities, persons, or agencies for such services.
158 (7) EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT.—Notwithstanding any other
159 provision of this section, when the express and informed consent
160 of an inmate placed in a mental health treatment facility in
161 accordance with s. 945.44 cannot be obtained or the inmate is
162 incompetent to consent to treatment, the warden of a mental
163 health treatment facility, or his or her designated
164 representative, under the direction of the inmate's attending
165 physician, may authorize nonpsychiatric, emergency surgical
166 treatment or other routine medical treatment if such treatment
167 is deemed lifesaving or there is a situation threatenin g serious
168 bodily harm to the inmate.
169 Section 2. Section 945.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to
170 read:
171 945.42 Definitions; ss. 945.40-945.49.—As used in ss.
172 945.40-945.49, the following terms shall have the meanings
173 ascribed to them, unless the context shall clearly indicate
174 otherwise:
175 (1) "Chief" means the Chief of Mental Health Services of
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176 the Department of Corrections or his or her designee.
177 (2)(1) "Court" means the circuit court.
178 (3)(2) "Crisis stabilization care" means an inpatient a
179 level of care that is less restrictive and intensive intense
180 than care provided in a mental health treatment facility, that
181 includes a broad range of evaluation and treatment and services
182 provided within a secure and highly structured residential
183 setting or locked residential setting, and that is intended for
184 inmates who are experiencing acute psychological emotional
185 distress and who cannot be adequately evaluated and treated in a
186 transitional care unit or infirmary isolation management room.
187 Such treatment and services are is also more intense than
188 treatment and services provided in a transitional care unit and
189 are is devoted principally toward rapid stabilization of acute
190 symptoms and conditions.
191 (4)(3) "Department" means the Department of Corrections.
192 (5) "Express and informed consent" means consent
193 voluntarily given in writing, by a competent inmate, after
194 sufficient explanation and disclosure of the subject matter
195 involved, to enable the inmate to make a knowing and willful
196 decision without any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or
197 other form of constraint or coercion.
198 (6) "Gravely disabled" means a condition in which an
199 inmate, as a result of a diagnosed mental illness, is:
200 (a) In danger of serious physical harm resulting from the
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201 inmate's failure to provide for his or her essential physical
202 needs of food, clothing, hygiene, health, or safety without the
203 assistance of others; or
204 (b) Experiencing a substantial deterioration in behavioral
205 functioning evidenced by the inmate's unremitting decline in
206 volitional control over his or her actions.
207 (7)(6) "In need of care and treatment" means that an
208 inmate has a mental illness for which inpatient services in a
209 mental health treatment facility are necessary and that, but for
210 being isolated in a more restrictive and secure housing
211 environment, because of the mental illness:
212 (a) But for being isolated in a more restrictive and
213 secure housing environment:
214 1. The inmate is demonstr