Florida Statutes
Part IV - Community Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (Ss. 394.65-394.9087)
394.75 - State and district substance abuse and mental health plans.

(1)(a) Every 3 years, beginning in 2001, the department, in consultation with the Medicaid program in the Agency for Health Care Administration, shall prepare a state master plan for the delivery and financing of a system of publicly funded, community-based substance abuse and mental health services throughout the state.
(b) The initial plan must include an assessment of the clinical practice guidelines and standards for community-based mental health and substance abuse services delivered by persons or agencies under contract with the Department of Children and Families. The assessment must include an inventory of current clinical guidelines and standards used by persons and agencies under contract with the department, and by nationally recognized accreditation organizations, to address the quality of care and must specify additional clinical practice standards and guidelines for new or existing services and programs.
(c) The plan must propose changes in department policy or statutory revisions to strengthen the quality of mental health and substance abuse treatment and support services.
(d) The plan must identify strategies for meeting the treatment and support needs of children, adolescents, adults, and older adults who have, or are at risk of having, mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems as defined in this chapter or chapter 397.
(e) The plan must include input from persons who represent local communities; local government entities that contribute funds to the local substance abuse and mental health treatment systems; consumers of publicly funded substance abuse and mental health services, and their families; and stakeholders interested in mental health and substance abuse services. The plan must describe the means by which this local input occurred. The plan shall be updated annually.
(f) The plan must include statewide policies and planning parameters that will be used by the 1health and human services boards in preparing the district substance abuse and mental health plans.
(g) The district plans shall be one component of the state master plan.

(2) The state master plan shall also include:
(a) A proposal for the development of a data system that will evaluate the effectiveness of programs and services provided to clients of the substance abuse and mental health service system.
(b) A proposal to resolve the funding discrepancies between districts.
(c) A methodology for the allocation of resources available from federal, state, and local sources and a description of the current level of funding available from each source.
(d) A description of the statewide priorities for clients and services, and each district’s priorities for clients and services.
(e) Recommendations for methods of enhancing local participation in the planning, organization, and financing of substance abuse and mental health services.
(f) A description of the current methods of contracting for services, an assessment of the efficiency of these methods in providing accountability for contracted funds, and recommendations for improvements to the system of contracting.
(g) Recommendations for improving access to services by clients and their families.
(h) Guidelines and formats for the development of district plans.
(i) Recommendations for future directions for the substance abuse and mental health service delivery system.
A schedule, format, and procedure for development and review of the state master plan shall be adopted by the department by June of each year. The plan and annual updates must be submitted to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1 of each year.

(3) The district 1health and human services board shall prepare an integrated district substance abuse and mental health plan. The plan shall be prepared and updated on a schedule established by the 2Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Program Office. The plan shall reflect the needs and program priorities established by the department and the needs of the district established under ss. 394.4573 and 394.674. The plan must list in order of priority the mental health and the substance abuse treatment needs of the district and must rank each program separately. The plan shall include:
(a) A record of the total amount of money available in the district for mental health and substance abuse services.
(b) A description of each service that will be purchased with state funds.
(c) A record of the amount of money allocated for each service identified in the plan as being purchased with state funds.
(d) A record of the total funds allocated to each provider.
(e) A record of the total funds allocated to each provider by type of service to be purchased with state funds.
(f) Input from community-based persons, organizations, and agencies interested in substance abuse and mental health treatment services; local government entities that contribute funds to the public substance abuse and mental health treatment systems; and consumers of publicly funded substance abuse and mental health services, and their family members. The plan must describe the means by which this local input occurred.
The plan shall be submitted by the district 1board to the district administrator and to the governing bodies for review, comment, and approval.

(4) The district plan shall:
(a) Describe the publicly funded, community-based substance abuse and mental health system of care, and identify statutorily defined populations, their service needs, and the resources available and required to meet their needs.
(b) Provide the means for meeting the needs of the district’s eligible clients, specified in ss. 394.4573 and 394.674, for substance abuse and mental health services.
(c) Provide a process for coordinating the delivery of services within a community-based system of care to eligible clients. Such process must involve service providers, clients, and other stakeholders. The process must also provide a means by which providers will coordinate and cooperate to strengthen linkages, achieve maximum integration of services, foster efficiencies in service delivery and administration, and designate responsibility for outcomes for eligible clients.
(d) Provide a projection of district program and fiscal needs for the next fiscal year, provide for the orderly and economical development of needed services, and indicate priorities and resources for each population served, performance outcomes, and anticipated expenditures and revenues.
(e) Include a summary budget request for the total district substance abuse and mental health program, which must include the funding priorities established by the district planning process.
(f) Provide a basis for the district legislative budget request.
(g) Include a policy and procedure for allocation of funds.
(h) Include a procedure for securing local matching funds. Such a procedure shall be developed in consultation with governing bodies and service providers.
(i) Provide for the integration of substance abuse and mental health services with the other departmental programs and with the criminal justice, juvenile justice, child protection, school, and health care systems within the district.
(j) Provide a plan for the coordination of services in such manner as to ensure effectiveness and avoid duplication, fragmentation of services, and unnecessary expenditures.
(k) Provide for continuity of client care between state treatment facilities and community programs to assure that discharge planning results in the rapid application for all benefits for which a client is eligible, including Medicaid coverage for persons leaving state treatment facilities and returning to community-based programs.
(l) Provide for the most appropriate and economical use of all existing public and private agencies and personnel.
(m) Provide for the fullest possible and most appropriate participation by existing programs; state hospitals and other hospitals; city, county, and state health and family service agencies; drug abuse and alcoholism programs; probation departments; physicians; psychologists; social workers; marriage and family therapists; mental health counselors; clinical social workers; public health nurses; school systems; and all other public and private agencies and personnel that are required to, or may agree to, participate in the plan.
(n) Include an inventory of all public and private substance abuse and mental health resources within the district, including consumer advocacy groups and self-help groups known to the department.

(5) The district plan shall address how substance abuse and mental health services will be provided and how a system of care for target populations will be provided given the resources available in the service district. The plan must include provisions for maximizing client access to the most recently developed psychiatric medications approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, for developing independent housing units through participation in the Section 811 program operated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, for developing supported employment services through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, for providing treatment services to persons with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse problems which are integrated across treatment systems, and for providing services to adults who have a serious mental illness, as defined in s. 394.67, and who reside in assisted living facilities.
(6) The district plan shall provide the means by which the needs of the population groups specified pursuant to s. 394.674 will be addressed in the district.
(7) In developing the district plan, optimum use shall be made of any federal, state, and local funds that may be available for substance abuse and mental health service planning. However, the department must provide these services within legislative appropriations.
(8) The district 1health and human services board shall establish a subcommittee to prepare the portion of the district plan relating to children and adolescents. The subcommittee shall include representative membership of any committee organized or established by the district to review placement of children and adolescents in residential treatment programs. The 1board shall establish a subcommittee to prepare the portion of the district plan which relates to adult mental health and substance abuse. The subcommittee must include representatives from the community who have an interest in mental health and substance abuse treatment for adults.
(9) All departments of state government and all local public agencies shall cooperate with officials to assist them in service planning. Each district administrator shall, upon request and the availability of staff, provide consultative services to the local agency directors and governing bodies.
(10) The district administrator shall ensure that the district plan:
(a) Conforms to the priorities in the state plan, the requirements of this part, and the standards adopted under this part;
(b) Ensures that the most effective and economical use will be made of available public and private substance abuse and mental health resources in the service district; and
(c) Has adequate provisions made for review and evaluation of the services provided in the service district.

(11) The district administrator shall require such modifications in the district plan as he or she deems necessary to bring the plan into conformance with the provisions of this part. If the district 1board and the district administrator cannot agree on the plan, including the projected budget, the issues under dispute shall be submitted directly to the secretary of the department for immediate resolution.
(12) Each governing body that provides local funds has the authority to require necessary modification to only that portion of the district plan which affects substance abuse and mental health programs and services within the jurisdiction of that governing body.
(13) The district administrator shall report annually to the district 1board the status of funding for priorities established in the district plan. Each report must include:
(a) A description of the district plan priorities that were included in the district legislative budget request.
(b) A description of the district plan priorities that were included in the departmental budget request.
(c) A description of the programs and services included in the district plan priorities that were appropriated funds by the Legislature in the legislative session that preceded the report.

History.—s. 11, ch. 70-109; s. 1, ch. 70-439; s. 10, ch. 76-221; s. 2, ch. 77-372; s. 4, ch. 82-223; s. 17, ch. 84-285; s. 18, ch. 88-398; s. 60, ch. 91-221; s. 6, ch. 92-174; s. 13, ch. 93-200; s. 7, ch. 93-267; s. 722, ch. 95-148; s. 51, ch. 2000-139; s. 11, ch. 2000-349; s. 20, ch. 2002-22; s. 98, ch. 2014-19; s. 8, ch. 2016-241; s. 45, ch. 2018-110.
1Note.—Health and human services boards were abolished by s. 2, ch. 2000-139, which substantially reworded s. 20.19.
2Note.—Section 2, ch. 2000-139, amended s. 20.19, relating to the structure of the Department of Children and Families; separate program offices are established for mental health and for substance abuse.