Read the full stored bill text
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 1 of 7
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 out-of-home placement providers and 2
treatment facilities; amending s. 39.523, F.S.; 3
requiring the Department of Children and Families, the 4
Department of Health, the Agency for Persons with 5
Disabilities, and the Agency for Health Care 6
Administration to provide certain data to community-7
based care lead agencies on a specified schedule; 8
requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and 9
Government Accountability to conduct an analysis of 10
this state's capacity to care for high-acuity children 11
in out-of-home placements and treatment facilities; 12
providing definitions; specifying requirements for the 13
analysis; requiring the office to submit to the 14
Legislature, by specified dates, interim and final 15
reports of its findings and recommendations; providing 16
an effective date. 17
18
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19
20
Section 1. Paragraph (g) is added to subsection (2) of 21
section 39.523, Florida Statutes, to read: 22
39.523 Placement in out-of-home care.— 23
(2) ASSESSMENT AND PLACEMENT.—When any child is removed 24
from a home and placed in out-of-home care, a comprehensive 25
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 2 of 7
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
placement assessment process shall be completed in accordance 26
with s. 39.4022 to determine the level of care needed by the 27
child and match the child with the most appropriate placement. 28
(g) The department, the Department of Health, the Agency 29
for Persons with Disabilities, and the Agency for Health Care 30
Administration must provide to each community-based care lead 31
agency, as defined in s. 409.986(3): 32
1. A detailed list of each licensed out-of-home placement 33
provider and treatment facility within the lead agency's 34
respective region, including, but not limited to: 35
a. Therapeutic and medical foster homes licensed under s. 36
409.175. 37
b. Residential treatment centers for children and 38
adolescents as provided in s. 394.875. 39
c. Therapeutic group homes as defined in s. 39.407(6)(a). 40
d. Qualified residential treatment programs licensed by 41
the Agency for Health Care Administration. 42
e. Behavioral qualified residential treatment programs 43
licensed by the department. 44
f. Professional foster care programs as provided in s. 45
409.996. 46
g. Group homes and foster care facilities licensed by the 47
Agency for Persons with Disabilities. 48
h. Statewide inpatient psychiatric programs licensed by 49
the Agency for Health Care Administration. 50
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 3 of 7
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
2. On a weekly basis, the current number of available beds 51
in each licensed out-of-home placement provider and treatment 52
facility listed under subparagraph 1. 53
Section 2. Out-of-home placement provider and treatment 54
facility analysis.— 55
(1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 56
Accountability shall conduct a comprehensive analysis of this 57
state's capacity to care for high-acuity children in out-of-home 58
placements and treatment facilities. 59
(2) For purposes of this multipart analysis, the term: 60
(a) "High-acuity" means a child from birth to 18 years of 61
age who presents with intensive and complex medical, 62
developmental, behavioral health, or disability needs across 63
multiple areas of functioning. 64
(b) "Specialized placement" means licensed out-of-home 65
care settings, including, but not limited to, family foster 66
homes licensed as level IV or level V, qualified residential 67
treatment programs, behavioral qualified residential treatment 68
programs, therapeutic group homes, residential treatment centers 69
for children and adolescents, and professional foster care 70
programs, as well as foster care facilities and group homes 71
licensed by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. 72
(c) "Treatment facility" means a medical facility that 73
treats a child and does not constitute an out-of-home placement, 74
including, but not limited to, the statewide inpatient 75
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 4 of 7
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
psychiatric program. 76
(3) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 77
Accountability shall review the roles and responsibilities of 78
the Department of Children and Families, the Department of 79
Health, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Agency for 80
Health Care Administration, and community-based care lead 81
agencies regarding recruitment and retention at all specialized 82
placements and treatment facilities. 83
(4) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 84
Accountability shall conduct a comprehensive review and gap 85
analysis of the use of specialized placements and treatment 86
facilities by the Department of Children and Families, the 87
Department of Health, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, 88
and the Agency for Health Care Administration for children in 89
out-of-home care who are identified as high acuity or diagnosed 90
with co-occurring disorders. Specifically, the office shall 91
compile data for the last 3 fiscal years and evaluate the 92
sufficiency of current bed capacity relative to the demonstrated 93
need across all community-based care lead agency regions, sorted 94
by community-based care lead agency, as follows: 95
(a) The total number of licensed beds, the average daily 96
census, and the percentage of capacity used each month for each 97
specialized placement and treatment facility that is reviewed; 98
any identified need for increased bed capacity in any of such 99
specialized placements and treatment facilities; and, for 100
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 5 of 7
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
specialized placements and treatment facilities that also care 101
for nonchild welfare children, data on the case mix. 102
(b) An aggregate list of referred diagnoses, ranked in 103
descending order from most common to least common, associated 104
with children referred to or placed in each specialized 105
placement or treatment facility. 106
(c) The total number of requests, orders, or referrals for 107
specialized placements and treatment facilities; the number of 108
placements made; the specific reasons placements were not made; 109
the number of alternative services provided, such as step-down 110
or in-lieu-of-services; and, for placements made in a county 111
other than the county in which the child's residence is located, 112
the distance between the placement and the child's residence. 113
(d) The number of out-of-state specialized placements, the 114
reasons for such out-of-state placements, and the community-115
based care lead agency region of origin. 116
(e) The average number of days required for qualified 117
evaluators to complete suitability assessments and whether there 118
is a shortage of qualified evaluators. 119
(f) The average number of days from the determination of 120
clinical need until the actual admission or placement of the 121
child. 122
(g) The average length of stay per specialized placement 123
and treatment facility type, sorted by the primary behavioral or 124
medical condition treated. 125
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 6 of 7
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
(h) The prevalence of courts disregarding specialized 126
placement or treatment facility recommendations made by the 127
Department of Children and Families and the reasons therefor. 128
(5) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 129
Accountability shall review the Department of Health's process 130
for establishing, screening, and placing children into medical 131
foster homes, including, but not limited to, the involvement of 132
a Child Protection Team. 133
(6) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 134
Accountability shall review the methods the Department of 135
Children and Families, the Department of Health, the Agency for 136
Persons with Disabilities, and the Agency for Health Care 137
Administration use to communicate the availability of beds in 138
specialized placements and treatment facilities to community-139
based care lead agencies. 140
(7) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 141
Accountability shall assess the quality and uniformity of 142
training provided to case managers by community-based care lead 143
agencies to support high-acuity children, specialized 144
placements, and treatment facilities and shall identify a model 145
training if one is identified through the review of existing 146
community-based care lead agency case manager trainings. 147
(8) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government 148
Accountability shall submit an interim report of its findings 149
and recommendations to the President of the Senate and the 150
CS/HB 475 2026
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb475-01-c1
Page 7 of 7
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
Speaker of the House of Representatives by October 1, 2026, and 151
a final report of its findings and recommendations by December 152
1, 2026. 153
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 154