Title: Substance Abuse and Recovery Fraudulent Business Practices Pilot Project

Summary: Provides legislative findings; establishes Substance Abuse & Recovery Fraudulent Business Practices Pilot Project within Office of State Attorney for Fifteenth Judicial Circuit; provides for appointment & terms of members & establishes duties of an advisory panel; authorizes state attorney to terminate project; requires report to Governor & Legislature.

Full Text:
An act relating to the Substance Abuse and Recovery Fraudulent Business Practices Pilot Pro ject; creating s. 16.619, F.S.; providing legislative findings; establishing the Substance Abuse and Recovery Fraudulent Business Practices Pilot Pro ject within the Office of the State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit; authorizing the state attorney to terminate the project; providing for appointment and terms of members of an advisory panel; establishing duties of the advisory panel; requiring an annual report to the Governor and Legislature; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 6.619, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 16.619 Substance Abuse and Recovery Fraudulent Business Practices Pilot Pro ject.-(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.-The Legislature finds that there is a need to develop and implement a local pilot project to coordinate state and local agencies, law enforcement entities, and investigative units for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of programs and initiatives relating to the regulation, prevention, detection, and prosecution of unethical CS/HB 2016 and fraudulent busi ness practices within the substance abuse industry. (2) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Substance Abuse and Recovery Fraudulent Business Practices Pilot Pro ject is created within the Office of the State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit to coordinate and fu rther state and local efforts to address entities that use unethical and fraudulent business practices to prey on vulnerable individuals with substance use disorders and their families. The pilot project shall identify and implement those strategies possib le within current resources and existing law to address fraudulent business and unethical marketing practices in the provision of substance abuse services. The State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit may terminate the pilot project after its work is complete. (3) MEMBERSHIP.-The pilot project shall be developed by the State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in consultation with an advisory panel. The state attorney shall serve as chair of the advisory panel. The advisory panel shall include at a minimum the following nine members, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the state attorney, unless otherwise specified: (a) A representative of the Department of Children and Families, appointed by the Secretary of Children and Famili es. (b) The Sheriff of Palm Beach County or his or her designee. (c) A representative from a local business organization. CS/HB 2016 (d) A representative from the health insurance industry. (e) A representative from the substance abuse treatment industry. (f) The executive director of the Florida Association of Recovery Residences or his or her designee.(g) The executive director of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association or his or her designee. (h) A county official. (i) An official representi ng one of the municipalities within Palm Beach County. (4) TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP; COMPENSATION.-(a) The State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit shall call meetings of the advisory panel as necessary to guide the pilot project. (b) The Legislature finds that the advisory panel serves a legitimate state, county, and municipal purpose and that service on the advisory panel is consistent with a member's principal service in a public office or public employment. Therefore, membership on the advisory panel does not disqualify a member from holding any other public office or from being employed by a public entity, except that a member of the Legislature may not serve on the advisory panel. (c) Members of the advisory panel shall serve without compensation. CS/HB 2016 (5) DUTIES.-In developing and implementing the pilot project, the State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, in collaboration with the advisory panel, shall: (a) Identify the types of fraudulent business and unethical marketing practices engaged in by providers of substance abuse services and recovery residences. (b) Collect and organize data concerning marketing and business practices by the substance abuse treatment industry and recovery residences which are unethical or fraud ulent. (c) Conduct a census of local, state, and federal efforts to address patient brokering, unfair and deceptive trade practices in this state, including fraud detection, prevention, and prosecution, in order to discern overlapping missions, maximize existing resources, and strengthen current programs. (d) Review the adequacy of laws addressing such practices. (e) Develop a range of strategies to address such practices and evaluate their effectiveness and cost. (f) Plan for and implement in colla boration with relevant entities such strategies as are possible within current resources and existing law. Such strategies may include, but are not limited to, communication with providers about practices which are fraudulent, communication to individuals and families about fraudulent practices to which they may be subject, increased enforcement through the Department of Children and Families' current regulatory authority, a local warm line for CS/HB 2016 receiving information about fraudulent practices, and better coordination of state and local resources for enforcement. (g) Recommend to the Department of Children and Families and the Legislature revisions to law and state agency practices that may enhance the effectiveness of state and local efforts. (6) ANNUAL REPORTS.-The State Attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit shall submit an annual report on the progress of the pilot project by October 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Rep resentatives. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.