No. HB 897
Community Rehabilitation Programs; Provides minimum standards community rehabilitation program must meet to qualify to enter into cooperative agreements with Division of Blind Services to provide certain services; authorizes director of division to temporarily waive certain requirements for certain purposes; provides that community rehabilitation programs that meet specified requirements are considered priority service providers for program funding; authorizes division to enter into cooperative agreements with noncommunity rehabilitation program private vendor; provides requirements for such cooperative agreements; requires Florida Association of Agencies Serving Blind, Inc., to coordinate with division to ensure annual cooperative agreements meet certain needs.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDThis bill sets minimum standards a nonprofit or state college program must meet before the Division of Blind Services will contract with it: accreditation, staff certification, and a required list of services.
Programs that meet these standards become priority service providers and get priority for funding, with payments due within 45 days of a qualified invoice and monthly after that.
If a nonprofit program cannot take a client, even for something as routine as capacity or scheduling, the division may instead contract with a private vendor, as long as that vendor meets the same standards.
The division's director can also temporarily waive these accreditation and certification requirements to help brand-new programs get approved, though the bill never says for how long a waiver may last.
AIA community rehabilitation program must be a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit or an approved college program, hold current national accreditation, employ certified staff, and provide a defined list of services to enter a cooperative agreement with the division.
AIIf a community rehabilitation program cannot serve a specific client, the division may contract instead with a noncommunity rehabilitation program private vendor that meets the same standards imposed on nonprofit providers.
AIA community rehabilitation program that meets the new minimum standards becomes a priority service provider for program funding, but must additionally show accredited, certified, evidence-supported outcomes aligned with federal performance indicators.
AIThe division's director may temporarily waive the staff-certification and program requirements so that new community rehabilitation organizations can be approved, without the bill setting a time limit or a standard for the decision.
AIWhen the division contracts with a private vendor because a program could not serve a client, it must notify the community rehabilitation program that normally serves that geographic area of the vendor's name.
AIOnce a program qualifies as a priority service provider, the division must pay it within 45 days of receiving a qualified invoice, with monthly payments after that.