SB 422 — Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams

(o) A6. The certifiedarea domesticagency violenceon center.aging;

(p) An7. The advocacyState organizationLong-Term forCare victimsOmbudsman ofProgram; sexual violence.

(q) A8. The funeralAgency homefor director.Health Care Administration;

(r) A9. The forensicOffice pathologist.of the Attorney General;

(s) A10. The geriatrician.Office of the State Courts Administrator;

(t) A11. The geriatricclerk nurse.of the court;

(u) A12. A geriatricvictim psychiatristservices orprogram; other individual licensed to offer behavioral health services.

(v) A13. An hospitalelder dischargelaw planner.attorney;

(w) A14. Emergency publicservices guardian.personnel;

(x) Other15. A personscertified who have knowledge regarding fatal incidents of elder abuse, domestic violence,violence orcenter; sexual violence, including knowledge of research, policy, law, and other matters connected with such incidents or who are recommended for inclusion by the review team.

(4) Each16. An elderadvocacy abuseorganization fatalityfor reviewvictims team shall do all of thesexual following:violence;

(a) Limit17. A itsfuneral reviewhome todirector; cases that have been closed, to avoid interference with or influencing the outcome of an ongoing criminal investigation or prosecution.

(b) Determine18. A theforensic numberpathologist; of cases it will review in which an elderly person’s death is verified to have been caused by abuse or neglect.

(c) After19. A reviewinggeriatrician; those cases, make policy and other recommendations as to how incidents of abuse-related fatalities may be prevented.

(d) Submit20. A itsgeriatric recommendationsnurse; to the Office of the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Elder Affairs.

(5)(a) The21. A eldergeriatric abusepsychiatrist fatality review teams must be provided access to any information or recordsother containedindividual inlicensed a closed file that pertains to anoffer elderbehavioral whosehealth deathservices; is subject to review by a team, including information or records from a law enforcement agency, which are determined necessary for the team to carry out its duties.

(b) The22. A reviewhospital teamsdischarge shallplanner; review the events leading up to a fatal incident, available community resources, the actions taken by systems and individuals related to the fatal incident, and any other information deemed relevant by the team.

(6) There23. A ispublic noguardian; monetary liability on the part of, and a cause of action for damages may not arise against, any member of an elder abuse fatality review team in the performance of his or her duties as a review team member.

(7) Elderor abuse24. Any fatalityother reviewpersons teamswho have knowledge regarding fatal incidents of elder abuse, domestic violence, or sexual violence, including knowledge of research, policy, law, and theirother membersmatters mayconnected notwith disclosesuch anyincidents informationinvolving thatelders isor notwho otherwiseare arecommended publicfor record.inclusion by the review team.

(8) Information(c) A andperson recordseligible acquiredunder byparagraph an(b) eldermay abuseinitiate fatalitythe reviewestablishment teamof area notteam subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in anyhis civil or criminalher actionjudicial orcircuit administrativeand orcall disciplinary proceeding by any department or employing agency if the informationfirst ororganizational recordsmeeting arose out of matters that are the subject of evaluation and review by the elder abuse fatality review team.

However,At information,the documents,initial andmeeting, recordsmembers thatof are available from other sources are not immune from discovery or introduction into evidence solely because the information,team documents,shall orchoose recordstwo weremembers presented to orserve reviewedas byco-chairs. a review team.

A(d) Participation personin who has attended a meeting of an elder abuse fatality review team mayis notvoluntary. be required to testify in any civil, criminal, administrative, or disciplinary proceedings as to any records or information produced or presented to the team during meetings or other activities authorized by this section.

However,Members of the review team membersshall mayserve bewithout requiredcompensation toand testifymay asnot tobe mattersreimbursed otherwisefor withinper theirdiem personalor knowledge.travel expenses.

(9) The(e) Members chief judge or his or her representative from each judicial circuit shall provideserve publicfor noticeterms of the2 initialyears, meetingto ofbe thestaggered reviewas teamdetermined inby itsthe circuit.co-chairs.

AtChairs themay initialbe meeting,reelected theby volunteersa shallmajority chooseof twothe membersreview whoteam shallbut servenot asfor co-chairsmore ofthan the2 reviewconsecutive team.terms.

The(f) A co-chairsreview team shall determine the frequencylocal operations of the meetingsteam, inincluding, but not limited to, the circuitprocess andfor submitcase selection, which must be limited to closed cases in which an elderly person’s death is verified to have been caused by abuse or neglect, and the team’smeeting recommendationsschedule, asto providedinclude at least one meeting in paragrapheach (4)(d).fiscal year.

Section(g) Administrative 2. Thiscosts actof operating the review team shall takebe effectborne Julyby 1,the 2018.team members or entities whom they represent.

(2) An elder abuse fatality review team must do all of the following:

(a) Review deaths of elderly persons in its judicial circuit alleged or found to have been caused by, or related to, abuse or neglect.

(b) Consider the events leading up to a fatal incident, available community resources, current law and policies, and the actions taken by systems and individuals related to the fatal incident.

(c) Identify gaps, deficiencies, or problems in the delivery of services to elderly persons by public and private agencies which may be related to deaths reviewed by the team.

(d) Whenever possible, develop a communitywide approach to address causes of, and contributing factors to, deaths reviewed by the team.

(e) Develop practice standards and recommend changes in law, rules, and policies to support the care of elderly persons and prevent elder abuse deaths.

(3)(a) Upon written request from a co-chair of a review team, the following information or records pertaining to an elderly person whose death is being reviewed by the team shall be disclosed:

1. Information and records held by a criminal justice agency, as defined in s.

119.011(4), not including active criminal intelligence or investigative information, as defined in s.

119.011(3).

2. Information and records from Adult Protective Services pursuant to s.

415.107(3)(m).

3. An autopsy report from the Medical Examiner’s Office, not including materials protected under s.

406.135.

(b) Review teams may share with each other any relevant information that pertains to the review of the death of an elderly person.

(c) A team member may not contact, interview, or obtain information by request directly from a member of the deceased elder’s family as part of the review, unless a team member is authorized to do so in the course of his or her employment duties.

A member of the deceased elder’s family may voluntarily provide records or information to a review team.

(4)(a) By September 1 of each year, each review team shall submit a report to the Department of Elderly Affairs, including, but not limited to:

1. Descriptive statistics regarding cases reviewed by the review team, including demographic information regarding victims and caregivers, and the causes and nature of deaths;

2. Current policies, procedures, rules, or statutes that the review team identified as contributing to the incidence of elder abuse and elder deaths, and recommendations for system improvement and needed resources, training, or information dissemination to address those identified issues;

3. Any other recommendations to prevent deaths from elder abuse, based on an analysis of the data and information presented in the report;

and 4. Any steps taken by the review team and public and private agencies to implement necessary changes and improve the coordination of services and reviews.

(b) By November 1 of each year, the Department of Elderly Affairs shall prepare a summary report of the information required by paragraph (a), which shall be provided to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Department of Children and Families.

(5) Information and records acquired by an elder abuse fatality review team are not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal action or administrative or disciplinary proceeding by any state or local government department or agency if the information or records arose out of the matters that are the subject of review by a review team, unless the information and records are not discoverable from any other source.

Information and records that are available from other sources are not immune from discovery or introduction into evidence solely because the information, documents, or records were presented to or reviewed by a review team.

(6) A person who has attended a meeting of the review team or who has otherwise participated in the activities authorized by this section may not be allowed or required to testify in any civil, criminal, administrative, or disciplinary proceeding as to any records or information produced or presented to a team during a meeting or other activity authorized by this section, unless such testimony is necessary to determine the records or information that was available to the fatality review team.

However, this paragraph does not prevent any person who testifies before the team or who is a member of the team from testifying as to matters otherwise within his or her knowledge.

(7) There is no monetary liability on the part of, and a cause of action for damages may not arise against, any member of an elder abuse fatality review team in the performance of his or her duties as a review team member in regard to any discussions by, or deliberations or recommendations of, the team or the member, unless such member acted in bad faith, with wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property.

(8) Elder abuse fatality review teams and their members may not disclose any information that is confidential pursuant to law.

Section 3. Paragraph (m) is added to subsection (3) of section 415.107, Florida Statutes, to read:

415.107 Confidentiality of reports and records.— (3) Access to all records, excluding the name of the reporter which shall be released only as provided in subsection (6), shall be granted only to the following persons, officials, and agencies:

(m) An elder abuse fatality review team established under s.

415.1103(1) that is reviewing the death of an elderly person.

Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.