Three large health bills supported by the Florida Mental Health Advocacy Coalition were signed
into law by Governor DeSantis in 2024. They all received overwhelming bipartisan support by
the Florida legislature. In addition, for the first time, $2.6 million of recurring funds were
included in the state budget for 988 Florida Lifeline call centers.
- CS/SB 330: Behavioral Health Teaching Hospitals
- CS/CS/HB 7021: Mental Health and Substance Abuse (Baker and Marchman Acts)
- CS/SB 7016: Health Care ("Live Healthy Act")
1. CS/SB 330: Behavioral Health Teaching Hospitals
- Creates partnerships between community hospitals and local university medical schools to produce more behavioral health professionals
- Establishes the Florida Center for Behavioral Health Workforce within the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute
- Establishes “Behavioral Health Teaching Hospitals” affiliated with universities
- Tampa General Hospital, in affiliation with the University of South Florida
- UF Health Shands Hospital, in affiliation with the University of Florida
- UF Health Jacksonville, in affiliation with the University of Florida
- Jackson Memorial Hospital, in affiliation with the University of Miami
- Requires the Center to do a Gap Analysis of Florida’s Behavioral Health System
- Establishes the Florida Behavioral Health Professions Scholarship and Grants Program
- The Slots for Doctors Program is expanded to Behavioral Health Teaching Hospitals to address the physician shortage by creating new resident positions.
- AHCA will allocate $150,000 for each newly created resident position (up to 10
- positions).
- Appropriates $313,000,000 ($300M for the hospitals over 3 years
2. CS/CS/HB 7021: Mental Health and Substance Abuse (Baker and Marchman Acts)
- Requires the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute to prepare and publish annual Baker/Marchman Act reports on its website.
- Creates the Behavioral Health Interagency Collaboration with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).
- Removes the 30-bed cap for crisis stabilization units.
- Virtual court appearances and electronic signatures are allowed in most cases.
- This Update to the Baker Act criteria states that the family members or friends offering help must also be able and responsible.
- Authorizes a county to include cost-sharing arrangements for transporting individuals to a Baker-Act facility.
- Law enforcement, like judges and behavioral health professionals, are not required to initiate a Baker Act but may use discretion.
- Prohibits courts from ordering an individual with a developmental disability who lacks a co-occurring mental illness to a state mental health treatment facility.
3. Improved Discharge Planning that includes:
- Referral to care coordination services.
- Coordination with patient to a less-restrictive community behavioral health provider, a peer specialist, a case manager, or a care coordination service.
- Development of a personalized crisis prevention plan for the patient.
- Engagement of a family member, legal guardian, legal representative, or a natural support of the patient’s in discharge planning.
- Referral to an appropriate provider to continue care for instances where certain levels of care are not immediately available at discharge.
- Specifies that the 72-hour examination period begins when a patient arrives at the facility and prohibits the facility from releasing a patient outside of the facility’s ordinary business hours if the 72-hour period ends on a weekend or holiday.
- Removes the involuntary outpatient services requirement that the person must have
- been committed to a receiving or treatment facility or received mental health services in a forensic or correctional facility within the preceding 36-month period
- Judges may order involuntary outpatient treatment for up to 6 months; they may also
- order a combination of involuntary inpatient and outpatient treatment.
- Behavioral health providers must report involuntary outpatient non-adherence to the court.
New Requirements for Patient Communication Protocols:
- Requires treatment facility staff to record any restriction on communication and its reasons in the patient’s clinical file within 24 hours and to immediately serve the document of record to the patient, the patient's attorney, and the patient's guardian, guardian advocate, or representative.
- To ensure continuity of care, the bill grants the patient’s legal custodian access to their appropriate information and clinical records and allows them to authorize the release of these records to the appropriate persons.
Changes Related to Minors:
- Revises the voluntariness provision under the Baker Act to allow a minor’s voluntary admission after a clinical review, rather than requiring a court hearing.
- Requires law enforcement, when transporting a minor for involuntary examination, to provide the parent or legal guardian with the name, address, and contact information for the receiving facility to which the officer is transporting the minor to before departing, if the minor’s parent or legal guardian is present, subject to any safety and welfare concerns.
- Creates the Office of Children’s Behavioral Health Ombudsman within DCF to be a central point to receive complaints on behalf of children and adolescents with behavioral health disorders receiving state-funded services and to use this information to improve their support system.
Changes to the Marchman Act:
- One petition is sufficient to initiate “involuntary treatment services.” Previously, there was a requirement for two separate petitions to the court, one for involuntary assessment and one for involuntary treatment.
- Criteria changed from “meets criteria” to “reasonably appears to meet criteria,” which creates a lower threshold to meet for court-ordered substance-use services.
- At discharge from involuntary treatment services, a person must receive a follow up behavioral health appointment, information on how to obtain prescription medication, information and referral for services such as housing, transportation, and recovery support which may include connection to a peer specialist (aligns with Baker Act requirements).
- The 72-hour period may be extended if there is medical necessity for detoxing, or if the discharge would fall on a weekend or holiday.
- The person must be assigned a case manager or social worker or "responsible advocate" to provide support.
- Appropriates $50 million to the DCF to implement.
CS/SB 7016: Health Care ("Live Healthy Act")
Behavioral Health Initiatives within the Bill
- Creates minimum standards for mobile crisis response teams to divert crises and reduce involuntary commitment.
- Triage and rapid crisis intervention within 60 minutes.
- Referral to evidence-based services responsive to individual’s and family’s needs
- Screening, assessment, early identification, care coordination.
- Confirmation that person was connected to a provider and medication, as needed.
- Requires AHCA to seek federal approval for coverage and reimbursement authority for mobile crisis response services for children, youth, and young adults.
- Appropriates $11,525,152 in recurring funds to enhance crisis diversion through Mobile
- Response by expanding existing teams and/or establishing new teams.
- Creates a loan payment program for students in health care professions, including mental health to help build the workforce.