Title: Certification of Developmental Disabilities Services Personnel

Summary: Beginning on a specified date, requiring that all support coordinators and certain direct service providers obtain and maintain certification by a third-party credentialing entity; requiring the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to approve one or more third-party credentialing entities; providing for the review and appeal of decisions made by third-party credentialing entities, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to the certification of developmental disabilities services personnel; creating s. 393.0659, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining the terms  certification  and  third-party credentialing entity ; beginning on a specified date, requiring that all support coordinators and certain direct service providers obtain and maintain certification by a third-party credentialing entity; specifying that certification of direct service providers is subject to certain appropriations; requiring the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to approve one or more third-party credentialing entities; specifying criteria for approval of third-party credentialing entities; requiring the agency to approve certain third-party credentialing entities under certain circumstances; requiring the agency to approve at least one third-party credentialing entity by a specified date; providing that the agency must require employers of support coordinators and direct service providers to report certain information to the third party credentialing entity for a specified purpose; providing for the review and appeal of decisions made by third-party credentialing entities; authorizing the agency to adopt rules; providing effective dates. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 393.0659, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 393.0659  Certification of support coordinators and certain direct service providers; agency duties; rulemaking.  (1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT. To enable the state to provide a systematic approach to staff development for persons providing care to individuals with developmental disabilities, it is the intent of the Legislature that the agency work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to ensure that staff have the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to competently provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities by requiring all support coordinators and direct service providers who work in residential facilities and are not otherwise licensed or certified pursuant to state law to earn and maintain a professional certification issued by a third party credentialing entity approved by the agency. (2) DEFINITIONS. As used in this section, the term: (a) Certification  means a professional credential awarded by an approved third-party credentialing entity to individuals demonstrating core competency in providing services to persons with developmental disabilities and adherence to established standards of professional ethics in the performance of their duties. (b) Third-party credentialing entity  means an agency approved nonprofit organization that develops and administers professional, facility, or organization certification programs according to applicable nationally recognized certification or psychometric standards. (3) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR SUPPORT COORDINATORS AND CERTAIN DIRECT SERVICE PROVIDERS. Effective July 1, 2021: (a) All support coordinators shall earn and maintain certification issued by a third-party credentialing entity. (b) All direct service providers who are not otherwise licensed or certified pursuant to state law shall earn and maintain certification issued by a third-party credentialing entity. (c) The requirement for direct service providers to earn and maintain certification as provided in paragraph (b) is subject to appropriations sufficient to develop and operate the certification program for direct service providers. (4) THIRD-PARTY CREDENTIALING ENTITIES.  (a)   The agency shall approve one or more third-party credentialing entities for the purposes of developing and administering certification programs for individuals who provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities as support coordinators or direct service providers.To obtain approval, a third-party credentialing entity must: 1. Demonstrate compliance with nationally recognized standards for developing and administering professional certification programs to certify individuals who provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities as support coordinators or direct service providers;2.   Establish professional requirements and standards that applicants for certification must achieve to obtain and maintain certification; 3. Develop core competencies and examination instruments according to nationally recognized certification or psychometric standards; 4. Maintain a professional code of ethics and a disciplinary process that apply to all certificateholders under this section;5. Maintain a publicly accessible database of all certificateholders under this section,including any history of ethical or disciplinary violations; 6. Require bienni al continuing education for certificateholders under this section;7. Administer a continuing education provider program to ensure that only qualified providers offer continuing education opportunities for certificateholders;and 8. Maintain an advisory committee, including representatives from the agency, agency-recognized service providers, and other relevant stakeholders. The third-party credentialing entity may appoint additional members to the advisory committee. (b) The agency shall approve a third-party credentialing entity that has been approved pursuant to s. 402.40(3) or s. 397.321(15) and that meets the requirements of this section. (5) DUTIES OF THE AGENCY.  (a)   By October 1, 2020, the agency must approve at least one third-party credentialing entity for the purposes of developing and administering certification programs for support coordinators and direct service providers. (b)   The agency shall require all employers of support coordinators and direct service providers to report any violation of ethical or professional conduct to the third-party credentialing entity to ensure that certificateholders comply with the professional code of ethics and disciplinary process established under paragraph (4)(a). (6) DUE PROCESS. Any decision by an approved third-party credentialing entity to deny, revoke, or suspend a certification, or otherwise impose sanctions on a certificateholder,is reviewable by the agency. Upon receiving an adverse determination, the certificateholder may request an administrative hearing pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 120.57(1) within days after completing any appeals process offered by the third-party credentialing entity or the agency, as applicable. (7) RULEMAKING. The agency may adopt rules to implement this section. Section 2. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2020.