Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1674
       
       
        
       By Senator Powell
       
       
       
       
       
       24-00894-24                                           20241674__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to the restrictive confinement of
       inmates; providing a short title; creating s. 944.022,
       F.S.; providing legislative findings and intent;
       defining terms; specifying requirements for and
       limitations and restrictions on the use of restrictive
       housing; providing documentation requirements for
       staff members directly involved in using restrictive
       housing for an individual; specifying conditions
       required in restrictive housing; requiring that an
       explanation of the restrictive confinement policy be
       provided by facility staff to each individual placed
       in custody; providing an effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Cautia Spencer End
Solitary Confinement Act.”
       Section 2. Section 944.022, Florida Statutes, is created to
read:
       944.022 Restrictive confinement of inmates; limitations;
required documentation; required minimum conditions during
restrictive confinement.—
       (1) FINDINGS; INTENT.—The American Psychiatric Association
advises against the isolation of juveniles and persons with
mental illness. In an investigation of conditions at a detention
center, the United States Department of Justice found that
incarcerated juveniles subjected to restrictive housing,
including for short periods of time, experienced symptoms of
paranoia, anxiety, and depression. According to Juvenile Suicide
in Confinement: A National Survey by the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, individuals in restrictive
housing attempt and die by suicide at a much higher rate than
individuals in the general prison population. The survey found
that among the incarcerated youth who die by suicide, half were
in isolation when they committed suicide, and 62 percent had
been in restrictive housing at some point. According to the 2006
report by the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s
Prisons, restrictive housing was related to higher-than-average
recidivism rates, especially when individuals were released into
the community directly from restrictive housing. The United
Nations declared that restrictive housing is considered a form
of torture. Under The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for
the Treatment of Prisoners, restrictive housing must be banned
for all vulnerable groups, including children. It is the intent
of the Legislature to limit the use of any restrictive housing
for all incarcerated individuals to a maximum of 8 hours.
       (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
       (a) “Individual” refers to both incarcerated adults and
juveniles in the custody of the department or of the Department
of Juvenile Justice.
       (b) “Juvenile” means any individual 21 years of age or
younger.
       (c) “Mental health practitioner” means a licensed
psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health counselor, or clinical
social worker.
       (d) “Restrictive confinement” or “restrictive housing”
means the involuntary placement of an individual in a cell,
room, or other area except during regular sleeping hours. The
term includes, but is not limited to, any behavioral
intervention, seclusion, or room confinement in response to a
rule violation, a staffing shortage, or any other circumstance
that is not an emergency response to behavior that poses a
serious and immediate threat of physical harm to the individual.
Forms of restrictive housing include, but are not limited to,
maximum management, close management I, II, and III,
administrative confinement, and disciplinary confinement.
       (e) “Therapeutic and restorative justice program” means any
program that focuses on the rehabilitation of the individual and
addresses the underlying causes of his or her negative behavior.
       (3) REQUIREMENTS; LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ON USE.—
       (a) An individual may not be placed in any form of
restrictive housing for any reason other than as a temporary
response to behavior that poses a serious and immediate threat
of physical harm to the individual or to others.
       (b) Restrictive housing may not be used without prior
approval, and such confinement lasting more than 1 hour requires
the approval of the facility director, deputy director, or the
supervisor with the highest level of authority who is present at
the facility at the time, and may be initiated only after
consultation with and with the approval of and oversight by a
mental health practitioner. Approval must be reaffirmed every
hour that an individual is in restrictive housing.
       (c) Restrictive housing may only be imposed under the
following circumstances:
       1. If using progressive protocols, beginning with verbal
calming and other de-escalation techniques attempted by facility
staff, has proven unsuccessful at resolving the imminent threat
of physical harm to the individual or to others;
       2. If there is a need to eliminate the serious and
immediate risk of physical harm to the individual or to others;
or
       3. If no less restrictive intervention has been, or is
likely to be, effective in averting the imminent threat of
physical harm to the individual or to others.
       (d) An individual must be allowed telephone calls with
legal counsel before being placed and while being housed in
restrictive housing.
       (e) An individual may only be held in restrictive housing
for a period that does not compromise or harm his or her
physical health or mental health, as determined by a mental
health practitioner. Under no circumstances may a period of
restrictive housing exceed 8 hours, and the use of consecutive
periods of restrictive housing is prohibited. Upon reaching 8
hours in restrictive housing, the individual must be returned to
the general population. If a mental health practitioner
determines that the individual, after the 8 hours in restrictive
housing, continues to pose a serious and immediate threat of
physical harm to himself or herself or to others, the individual
must be referred to a mental health practitioner who must assess
and assist the individual with an individualized therapeutic and
restorative justice program. The program may include, but is not
limited to:
       1. An individual counseling plan;
       2. Medication management;
       3. Mentoring; or
       4. Scheduled time for outdoor activities.
       (f) If, after meeting with the mental health practitioner,
the individual continues to pose a serious and immediate threat
of physical harm to himself or herself or others and meets the
criteria for involuntary examination or placement pursuant to
the Florida Mental Health Act under chapter 394, the individual
may be referred to a mental health facility. The individual must
be allowed to participate in meaningful programming
opportunities and privileges consistent with those available to
the general population.
       (g) Restrictive housing may never be used for coercion,
retaliation, humiliation, as a threat of punishment, or as a
form of discipline; in lieu of adequate staffing; or for staff
convenience.
       (h) If the individual is a juvenile, each occurrence of the
use of restrictive confinement must be reported to the parents
or guardians as soon as possible, but in no case later than 24
hours after such restrictive confinement.
       (i) An individual in restrictive housing must be evaluated
in person by a mental health practitioner within 1 hour after
placement in restrictive housing to ensure that the restrictive
confinement is not detrimental to the mental or physical health
of the individual. After the initial in-person evaluation, a
mental health practitioner must engage in continued crisis
intervention and de-escalation techniques and make visual and
verbal contact with the individual in restrictive housing at
intervals of no more than every 2 hours and must document the
time and nature of the observation and interventions. The intent
and purpose of this intervention is to help de-escalate the
individual’s behavior so that he or she may rejoin the general
population as soon as possible.
       (j) In preparation for the individual’s release from
restrictive confinement, a mental health practitioner shall
evaluate the individual and assist with creating a plan that
uses techniques for self-de-escalation and crisis management to
successfully reintegrate the individual to the general
population.
       (k) If an individual is placed in administrative
confinement, he or she must be placed in a more permanent inmate
management program within a maximum of 3 hours after having been
placed in administrative confinement.
       (l) The number of hours the individual is placed in
administrative confinement counts toward the 8-hour maximum that
an individual is allowed to be housed in any form of restrictive
housing.
       (4) DOCUMENTATION.—Staff members directly involved in using
restrictive housing for an individual shall document each
occurrence of the use of restrictive housing as soon as
possible, but in no case later than 24 hours after such use.
Deidentified data on the frequency and length of time that an
individual spends in disciplinary confinement must be available
upon request as a public record. The documentation of each use
of disciplinary confinement must include an incident report
written by the staff members which includes all of the
following:
       (a) The name, age, height, gender, and race of the
individual.
       (b) The date and the beginning and ending time for such
use.
       (c) A description of the events of the inciting incident,
including the activity the individual was engaged in before the
escalation and the precipitating event.
       (d) A description of de-escalation and less intrusive
methods of intervention used and the reasons for their use.
       (e) Each supervisory, clinical, or administrative
notification and approval, as applicable.
       (f) A list of all staff involved, including their full
names, titles, and relationship to the individual and whether a
restraint was used. If a restraint was used, the date of the
most recent formal de-escalation and restraint training of each
individual must be included.
       (g) Whether there were any witnesses to the inciting
incident and subsequent restraint or seclusion.
       (h) The name of the person making the report.
       (i) A detailed description of any injury to the individual.
       (j) A detailed description of any injury to staff members.
       (k) Any action taken by the program as a result of any
injury.
       (l) Any incidents of self-harm, suicide attempts, or
suicide committed by the individual while the individual was
confined and where the individual was placed after leaving
disciplinary confinement.
       (5) CONDITIONS IN RESTRICTIVE HOUSING.—
       (a) At a minimum, a room used for restrictive housing must:
       1. Be free of objects and fixtures with which an individual
could self-inflict bodily harm;
       2. Provide the mental health or developmental disabilities
professional an adequate and continuous view of the individual
from an adjacent area; and
       3. Provide adequate lighting and ventilation.
       (b) Individuals in restrictive housing must have daily
access to all of the following:
       1. If the individual is a juvenile, the same meals and
drinking water, clothing, medical and mental health treatment,
educational services, correspondence privileges, contact with
parents and legal guardians, and legal assistance as is provided
to juveniles in the general population.
       2. Sunlight.
       3. Proper ventilation.
       4. Toilet facilities.
       5. Working showers.
       6. Hygiene supplies.
       7. Reading materials.
       8. Vocational programs.
       (c) All agency staff must be trained on the appropriate use
of restrictive housing during their initial training and
subsequently at regular intervals. Staff must demonstrate
proficiency with decisions regarding when and how to use
restrictive housing before completing their initial training and
ongoing throughout their employment.
       (d) The restriction of property is prohibited. As used in
this paragraph, the term “property” includes, but is not limited
to, uniforms and t-shirts, bed linens, reading and writing
materials, hygiene products, and a mattress.
       (e) Every individual placed in custody must receive an
explanation on the restrictive confinement policy by staff
promptly upon arrival at a facility. If the individual is a
juvenile, information on this policy must also be communicated
to the juvenile’s parents or legal guardians through the most
direct means possible, with in-person communication as the
preferred means.
       Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.