A.G. Gancarski
Legislation (HB 1091) signed Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis makes it official, including 988 helplines in the state’s panoply of mental health services.
The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Karen Gonzalez Pittman and the Senate by Sen. Alexis Calatayud.
The nationally-accredited call line is added to mobile response teams, crisis stabilization units, addiction receiving facilities, and detoxification facilities as a qualifying function. This is under the condition that a given line is certified by the Department of Health.
Additionally, the Department of Health is charged with rulemaking to “achieve statewide interoperability with the 911 system and to provide individuals with rapid and direct access to the appropriate care.”
Rules are expected to address service delivery, quality control standards, training and certification for staff members.
The bill covers other ground as well, including requiring a guardian advocate to be discharged when a patient is discharged from involuntary outpatient services and mandating that clinical psychologists who place patients at facilities have at least three years of clinical experience.
