Florida Statutes 397.4073 – Background checks of service provider personnel
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(1) PERSONNEL BACKGROUND CHECKS; REQUIREMENTS AND EXCEPTIONS.–
(a) For all individuals screened on or after July 1, 2022, background checks shall apply as follows:
1. All owners, directors, chief financial officers, and clinical supervisors of service providers are subject to level 2 background screening as provided under s. 408.809 and chapter 435. Inmate substance abuse programs operated directly or under contract with the Department of Corrections are exempt from this requirement.
2. All service provider personnel who have direct contact with children receiving services or with adults who are developmentally disabled receiving services are subject to level 2 background screening as provided under s. 408.809 and chapter 435.
3. All peer specialists who have direct contact with individuals receiving services are subject to a background screening as provided in s. 397.417(4).
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 397.4073
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Court: means the court of legal jurisdiction in the context in which the term is used in this chapter. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Department: means the Department of Children and Families. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Director: means the chief administrative or executive officer of a service provider or recovery residence. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Individual: means a person who receives alcohol or other drug abuse treatment services delivered by a service provider. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
- Peer specialist: means a person who has been in recovery from a substance use disorder or mental illness for at least 2 years who uses his or her personal experience to provide services in behavioral health settings to support others in their recovery, or a person who has at least 2 years of experience as a family member or caregiver of an individual who has a substance use disorder or mental illness. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- personnel: includes all owners, directors, chief financial officers, staff, and volunteers, including foster parents, of a service provider. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- provider: means a public agency, a private for-profit or not-for-profit agency, a person who is a private practitioner, or a hospital licensed under this chapter or exempt from licensure under this chapter. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Recovery: means a process of personal change through which individuals achieve abstinence from alcohol or drug use and improve health, wellness, and quality of life. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Screening: means the gathering of initial information to be used in determining a person's need for assessment, services, or referral. See Florida Statutes 397.311
- Substance abuse: means the misuse or abuse of, or dependence on alcohol, illicit drugs, or prescription medications. See Florida Statutes 397.311
(b) Members of a foster family and persons residing with the foster family who are between 12 and 18 years of age are not required to be fingerprinted but must have their backgrounds checked for delinquency records. Members of the foster family and persons residing with the foster family over 18 years of age are subject to full background checks.
(c) A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for fewer than 40 hours per month and is under direct and constant supervision by persons who meet all personnel requirements of this chapter is exempt from fingerprinting and background check requirements.
(d) Service providers that are exempt from licensing provisions of this chapter are exempt from personnel fingerprinting and background check requirements, except as otherwise provided in this section. A church or nonprofit religious organization exempt from licensure under this chapter is required to comply with personnel fingerprinting and background check requirements.
(e) Personnel employed directly or under contract with the Department of Corrections in an inmate substance abuse program are exempt from the fingerprinting and background check requirements of this section unless they have direct contact with unmarried inmates under the age of 18 or with inmates who are developmentally disabled.
(f) Service provider personnel who request an exemption from disqualification must submit the request within 30 days after being notified of the disqualification. The department shall grant or deny the request within 60 days after receipt of a complete application.
(g) If 5 years or more, or 3 years or more in the case of a certified peer specialist or an individual seeking certification as a peer specialist pursuant to s. 397.417, have elapsed since an applicant for an exemption from disqualification has completed or has been lawfully released from confinement, supervision, or a nonmonetary condition imposed by a court for the applicant’s most recent disqualifying offense, the applicant may work with adults with substance use disorders, mental health disorders, or co-occurring disorders under the supervision of persons who meet all personnel requirements of this chapter for up to 180 days after being notified of his or her disqualification or until the department makes a final determination regarding his or her request for an exemption from disqualification, whichever is earlier.
(h) The department may not issue a regular license to any service provider that fails to provide proof that background screening information has been submitted in accordance with chapter 435.
(2) EMPLOYMENT HISTORY CHECKS; CHECKS OF REFERENCES.–The department shall assess employment history checks and checks of references for all owners, directors, chief financial officers, and clinical supervisors, and the directors shall assess employment history checks and checks of references for each employee who has direct contact with children receiving services or adults who are developmentally disabled receiving services.
(3) PERSONNEL EXEMPT FROM BEING REFINGERPRINTED OR RECHECKED.–
(a) Service provider personnel who have been fingerprinted or had their backgrounds checked pursuant to chapter 393, chapter 394, chapter 402, or chapter 409, or this section, and teachers who have been fingerprinted pursuant to chapter 1012, who have not been unemployed for more than 90 days thereafter and who, under the penalty of perjury, attest to the completion of such fingerprinting or background checks and to compliance with the provisions of this section and the standards contained in chapter 435 and this section, are not required to be refingerprinted or rechecked.
(b) Service provider owners, directors, chief financial officers, or clinical supervisors who are not covered by paragraph (a) who provide proof of compliance with the level 2 background screening requirements which has been submitted within the previous 5 years in compliance with any other state health care licensure requirements are not required to be refingerprinted or rechecked.
(4) EXEMPTIONS FROM DISQUALIFICATION.–
(a) The department may grant to any service provider personnel an exemption from disqualification as provided in s. 435.07.
(b) For service providers that treat adolescents 13 years of age and older, service provider personnel whose background checks indicate crimes under s. 796.07(2)(e), s. 810.02(4), s. 812.014(2)(c), s. 817.563, s. 831.01, s. 831.02, s. 893.13, or s. 893.147, and any related criminal attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy under s. 777.04:
1. Shall be exempted from disqualification from employment for such offenses pursuant to this paragraph if:
a. At least 5 years, or at least 3 years in the case of an individual seeking certification as a peer specialist under s. 397.417, have elapsed since the applicant requesting an exemption has completed or has been lawfully released from any confinement, supervision, or nonmonetary condition imposed by a court for the applicant’s most recent disqualifying offense under this paragraph.
b. The applicant for an exemption has not been arrested for any offense during the 5 years, or 3 years in the case of a peer specialist, before the request for exemption.
2. May be exempted from disqualification from employment for such offenses without a waiting period as provided under s. 435.07(2).
(c) The department may grant exemptions from disqualification for service provider personnel to work solely in substance use disorder treatment programs, facilities, or recovery residences or in programs or facilities that treat co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. The department may further limit such exemptions from disqualification to working with adults in substance abuse treatment facilities.
(5) PAYMENT FOR PROCESSING OF FINGERPRINTS AND STATE CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS.–The employing service provider or the personnel who are having their backgrounds checked are responsible for paying the costs of processing fingerprints and criminal records checks.
(6) DISQUALIFICATION FROM RECEIVING STATE FUNDS.–State funds may not be disseminated to any service provider owned or operated by an owner, director, or chief financial officer who has been convicted of, has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, or has had adjudication withheld for, a violation of s. 893.135 pertaining to trafficking in controlled substances, or a violation of the law of another state, the District of Columbia, the United States or any possession or territory thereof, or any foreign jurisdiction which is substantially similar in elements and penalties to a trafficking offense in this state, unless the owner’s or director’s civil rights have been restored.