Text of FL H 1349 (2022)

HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 1 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S A bill to be entitled 1 An act relating to guardianship data transparency; 2 amending s. 744.2001, F.S.; authorizing a monitoring 3 tool to include a financial audit under certain 4 circumstances; creating s. 744.20012, F.S.; creating 5 the Guardianship Data Commission; providing the 6 purpose of the commission; requiring the Department of 7 Elderly Affairs to provide administrative and staff 8 support to the commission; providing for the 9 composition and chair of the commission; providing 10 meeting requirements; providing duties; requiring an 11 annual report to the Governor and Legislature; 12 authorizing the commission to contract or consult with 13 third parties; creating s. 744.2112, F.S.; requiring 14 the department to collect, maintain, and update 15 certain information when a guardianship case is 16 opened; requiring the department to make publicly 17 accessible on the department's website certain 18 information relating to professional guardians; 19 requiring the department to create and maintain a 20 real-time statewide dashboard on the department's 21 website and include certain information on the 22 dashboard, while maintaining certain confidentiality; 23 requiring the department to adopt rules; amending ss. 24 744.362 and 744.367, F.S.; requiring guardians to 25 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 2 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S submit certain information to the clerk of the circuit 26 court when filing certain reports; amending s. 27 744.368, F.S.; providing additional responsibilities 28 of the clerk of the circuit court; amending s. 29 744.3701, F.S.; authorizing the clerk of the circuit 30 court to disclose certain confidential information to 31 the department and the Office of Public and 32 Professional Guardians; providing that information 33 obtained from the clerk remains exempt or confidential 34 and exempt; providing an effective date. 35 36 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 37 38 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 39 744.2001, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 40 744.2001 Office of Public and Professional Guardians.— 41 There is created the Office of Public and Professional Guardians 42 within the Department of Elderly Affairs. 43 (3) The executive director's oversight responsibilities of 44 professional guardians must be finalized by October 1, 2016, and 45 shall include, but are not limited to: 46 (a) Developing and implementing a monitoring tool to 47 ensure compliance of professional guardians with the standards 48 of practice established by the Office of Public and Professional 49 Guardians. This monitoring tool may not include a financial 50 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 3 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S audit as required by the clerk of the circuit court under s. 51 744.368, unless the monitoring tool is primarily used by the 52 clerk of the circuit court for auditing and reviewing purposes 53 and the Department of Elderly Affairs collects the data derived 54 by the monitoring tool in compliance with s. 744.2112. 55 Section 2. Section 744.20012, Florida Statutes, is created 56 to read: 57 744.20012 Guardianship Data Commission.— 58 (1) The Guardianship Data Commission, a commission as 59 defined in s. 20.03(10), is created within the Department of 60 Elderly Affairs to facilitate the collection of reliable and 61 consistent guardianship data at the local and state levels, to 62 identify barriers or deficiencies in the collection of such 63 data, and to recommend changes to existing laws, rules, and 64 policies in order to implement the commission's recommendations. 65 The Department of Elderly Affairs shall provide administrative 66 and staff support services for the commission. Except as 67 otherwise provided in this section, the commission shall operate 68 in a manner consistent with s. 20.052. 69 (2) The commission shall be composed of the following 70 members, appointed by the Secretary of Elderly Affairs: 71 (a) A circuit court judge. 72 (b) A clerk of court. 73 (c) The administrative coordinator of the Statewide 74 Investigation Alliance. 75 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 4 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S (d) A member in good standing of The Florida Bar. 76 (e) A professional guardian registered under s. 744.2002. 77 (f) A public guardian appointed by or contracted with the 78 executive director of the Office of Public and Professional 79 Guardians. 80 (g) A child and family advocate. 81 (h) A representative from Disability Rights Florida or the 82 Florida Statewide Advocacy Council. 83 (i) A member who has a career in academia with an 84 expertise in statistics. 85 (j) A member representing the news media. 86 (3) The executive director of the Office of Public and 87 Professional Guardians is the chair of the commission, but is 88 not a voting member of the commission. 89 (4) The commission must meet at least twice per year. 90 (5) The commission shall develop data elements and 91 definitions to ensure uniformity and consistency of guardianship 92 data collection throughout the state. The commission shall make 93 recommendations to the Department of Elderly Affairs for data 94 collection requirements. 95 (6) By December 1 of each year, the commission shall 96 submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 97 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the actions 98 of the commission relative to its prescribed duties and any 99 recommendations for improvements to data collection of 100 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 5 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S guardianship information. 101 (7) The commission may contract or consult with 102 appropriate third parties as needed in the discharge of its 103 duties. 104 Section 3. Section 744.2112, Florida Statutes, is created 105 to read: 106 744.2112 Guardianship data collection and transparency.— 107 (1) DATA COLLECTION.—When a petition to determine 108 incapacity is filed in a circuit court of the state, the 109 Department of Elderly Affairs shall collect and maintain the 110 following information and update such information as 111 appropriate: 112 (a) The type of guardianship case. 113 (b) The current case status. 114 (c) Once a case is closed, the reason for its closure. 115 (d) The following information on the alleged incapacitated 116 person: 117 1. Legal name. 118 2. Date of birth. 119 3. Residential and mailing addresses. 120 4. Race and biological sex assigned at birth. 121 5. Residential status. 122 6. Marital status. 123 7. Indigent status. 124 8. The name and Florida Bar number of the attorney for the 125 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 6 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S alleged incapacitated person. 126 9. Date of the death of the alleged incapacitated person, 127 if applicable. 128 (e) The following information on the appointed guardian: 129 1. Legal name. 130 2. Residential and mailing addresses. 131 3. The guardian's relationship to the ward. 132 4. The name of the representative payee. 133 5. The name and Florida Bar number of the attorney for the 134 guardian, if applicable, and whether the attorney for the 135 guardian withdrew from the case. 136 (f) The date and type of initial pleading, the name of the 137 petitioner, and the reason the petitioner believes the alleged 138 incapacitated person is incapacitated. 139 (g) A copy of the court's order determining incapacity. 140 (h) A copy of the letters of guardianship. 141 (i) Whether the ward executed an advance directive, a 142 power of attorney, or a trust instrument before incapacity. If 143 so, what powers are retained by the surrogate guardian, agent, 144 or trustee and what powers are given to the guardian. 145 (j) If the guardian is not a professional guardian, 146 whether the guardian completed the education requirements under 147 s. 744.3145 or whether the court waived such requirements. 148 (k) Whether the guardian has undergone a credit history 149 investigation and level 2 background screening as required under 150 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 7 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S s. 744.3135 or whether the court waived such requirements. 151 (2) PROFESSIONAL GUARDIAN TRANSPARENCY.—The Department of 152 Elderly Affairs must make the following information about 153 professional guardians publicly accessible on the department's 154 website: 155 (a) Legal name. 156 (b) Registration number and year the professional guardian 157 first registered. 158 (c) Eligibility status to be a professional guardian. 159 (d) Mailing address. 160 (e) E-mail address. 161 (f) Counties in which the professional guardian is 162 registered to practice. 163 (g) Education. 164 (h) Agency or firm name. 165 (i) Any complaints against the professional guardian that 166 have been substantiated by the Statewide Investigation Alliance. 167 (j) The professional guardian's 10-year discipline 168 history. 169 (3)(a) GUARDIANSHIP DASHBOARD.—The Department of Elderly 170 Affairs must create and maintain a real-time statewide dashboard 171 that is available for viewing by the public on the department's 172 website that provides the following information, while 173 maintaining the confidentiality required under ss. 744.21031 and 174 744.2111: 175 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 8 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S 1. The number of open, active, and ongoing guardianship 176 cases in the state. 177 2. The number of guardianship cases closed in the 178 preceding fiscal year. 179 3. The number of guardianship cases opened in the 180 preceding fiscal year. 181 4. The percentage of cases with a nonprofessional guardian 182 or a family member acting as the guardian. 183 5. The average age of an adult ward. 184 6. The percentage of cases in which there is a guardian of 185 the person but not a guardian of the property. 186 7. The percentage of cases that involve a plenary 187 guardian. 188 8. The percentage of adult wards who have had their rights 189 restored. 190 9. The percentage of cases that have been closed due to 191 the death of the ward. 192 10. The percentage of cases in which the petitioner who 193 filed the petition alleging incapacity was a family member of 194 the ward. 195 11. The percentage of cases in which there were 196 allegations of exploitation by a family member before the 197 appointment of a guardian. 198 12. The number of legally sufficient complaints about the 199 conduct of professional guardians which are investigated by the 200 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 9 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S Statewide Investigation Alliance. 201 13. The percentage of substantiated complaints and the 202 number of unsubstantiated complaints submitted to the Statewide 203 Investigation Alliance. 204 14. The primary deficiencies of professional guardians 205 alleged in the complaints submitted to the Statewide 206 Investigation Alliance, broken down by subject matter. 207 15. The number and type of disciplinary actions taken 208 against a professional guardian. 209 (b) The Guardianship Data Commission may require 210 additional information be reported on the dashboard. 211 (4) RULEMAKING.—The Department of Elderly Affairs shall 212 adopt rules to implement and administer this section. 213 Section 4. Subsection (3) is added to section 744.362, 214 Florida Statutes, to read: 215 744.362 Initial guardianship report.— 216 (3) When a guardian files an initial guardianship report 217 with the court, the guardian must also submit to the clerk of 218 the circuit court the information required under s. 744.2112 in 219 an electronic format approved by the Department of Elderly 220 Affairs. 221 Section 5. Subsection (7) is added to section 744.367, 222 Florida Statutes, to read: 223 744.367 Duty to file annual guardianship report.— 224 (7) When a guardian files an annual guardianship report 225 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 10 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S with the court, the guardian must also submit to the clerk of 226 the circuit court the information required under s. 744.2112 in 227 an electronic format approved by the Department of Elderly 228 Affairs. 229 Section 6. Subsection (8) is added to section 744.368, 230 Florida Statutes, to read: 231 744.368 Responsibilities of the clerk of the circuit 232 court.— 233 (8)(a) The clerk is responsible for ensuring that the 234 guardian has submitted to the clerk's office the information 235 required under s. 744.2112 in an electronic format approved by 236 the Department of Elderly Affairs. 237 (b) Once the clerk receives the information required under 238 s. 744.2112 from a guardian, he or she must submit the 239 information to the Department of Elderly Affairs in an 240 electronic format approved by the department. 241 Section 7. Subsection (5) is added to section 744.3701, 242 Florida Statutes, to read: 243 744.3701 Confidentiality.— 244 (5) The clerk may disclose confidential information to the 245 Department of Elderly Affairs and the Office of Public and 246 Professional Guardians to the extent required under s. 247 744.2112(1). Any information obtained by the Department of 248 Elderly Affairs or the Office of Public and Professional 249 Guardians from the clerk which is confidential and exempt from 250 HB 1349 2022 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1349-00 Page 11 of 11 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S s. 119.07(1) or s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution shall 251 retain its confidential and exempt status. 252 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 253