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Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 1132
By
Senator Rouson
16-00991B-26 20261132__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to procedures for discharging persons
3 to avoid homelessness; providing a short title;
4 amending s. 420.626, F.S.; revising legislative
5 intent; encouraging certain facilities and
6 institutions, in collaboration with a continuum of
7 care lead agency, to develop and implement certain
8 procedures for when persons are discharged from
9 certain facilities or institutions; requiring the
10 Department of Children and Families to conduct a pilot
11 program in specified counties; requiring the
12 department to submit certain quarterly and, beginning
13 on a specified date, annual reports to the Governor
14 and the Legislature; revising certain procedures;
15 defining the term “client-level data”; requiring the
16 sharing of client-level data to comply with specified
17 state and federal laws and regulations; requiring a
18 continuum of care lead agency to evaluate certain
19 procedures and identify gaps and opportunities for
20 improvement in its annual continuum of care plan;
21 authorizing the State Office on Homelessness, in
22 conjunction with the Council on Homelessness, to
23 provide guidance to a continuum of care lead agency
24 for a specified purpose; providing an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1.
This act may be cited as the “Bridging Systems
29
to Housing Act.”
30 Section 2. Section 420.626, Florida Statutes, is amended to
31 read:
32 420.626 Homelessness; discharge guidelines.—
33 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature
, to encourage
34
mental health facilities or institutions under contract with,
35
operated, licensed, or regulated by the state and local
36
governments
to ensure
, to the extent practicable,
that persons
37 leaving
the
their
care or custody
of hospitals and other
38
facilities and institutions under contract with, operated by,
39
licensed by, or regulated by the state and local governments
are
40 not discharged into homelessness
without connecting such persons
41
to the continuum of care
.
42 (2) The following facilities and institutions
, in
43
collaboration with the continuum of care lead agency in the
44
facility’s or institution’s catchment area,
are encouraged to
45 develop and implement procedures
as provided under subsection
46
(4) which are
designed to reduce the discharge of persons into
47 homelessness when such persons are admitted or housed for more
48 than 24 hours at such facilities or institutions: hospitals and
49 inpatient medical facilities
not located in a county in which a
50
pilot program is conducted under subsection (3)
; crisis
51 stabilization units; residential treatment facilities; assisted
52 living facilities; and detoxification centers.
53
(3)
The department shall conduct a pilot program in
54
Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, and Pinellas Counties for the
55
development and implementation of the procedures required under
56
subsection (4) for all hospitals and inpatient medical
57
facilities located in those counties.
58
(a)
Until the pilot program is fully implemented, the
59
department must submit to the Governor, the President of the
60
Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
61
quarterly reports on the status of the pilot program in each
62
designated county.
63
(b)
By November 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, the
64
department shall assess and submit a report on the effectiveness
65
of the pilot program in each designated county to the Governor,
66
the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
67
Representatives.
68
(4)
(3)
The procedures
for persons who consent to
69
participate in services must
should
include all of the
70 following:
71 (a) Development and implementation of
an early assessment
a
72 screening process or other mechanism for identifying persons to
73 be discharged from the facility or institution who
reported
74
being homeless at the time of intake,
are at considerable risk
75 for homelessness
,
or face
an
some
imminent threat to
their
76 health and safety upon discharge.
77 (b) Development and implementation of a discharge plan
that
78
ensures
addressing how
identified persons
are offered a
79
transition from the facility or institution to the local
80
continuum of care for connection to housing or shelter
81
resources, if available, or supportive services
will secure
82
housing and other needed care and support
upon discharge.
83 (c) Communication with the entities to whom identified
84 persons may potentially be discharged to determine their
85 capability to serve such persons and their acceptance of such
86 persons into their programs, and selection of the entity
87 determined to be best equipped to provide or facilitate the
88 provision of suitable care and support.
A discharge to an entity
89
may only occur during normal operating hours when the receiving
90
entity is open to receive the discharged person.
91 (d) Coordination of effort and sharing of information with
92 entities that are expected to bear the responsibility for
93 providing care or support to identified persons upon discharge
94
through the following processes:
95
1.
Enrollment in the Homeless Management Information System
96
to collect and share client-level data in order to gain an
97
understanding of an identified person’s characteristics,
98
eligibility, and needs for housing and related services; or
99
2.
With an identified person’s consent, development and
100
implementation of a process or mechanism to share client-level
101
data regarding a person’s medical and mental health needs
102
outside of the Homeless Management Information System
.
103
104
As used in this paragraph, the term “client-level data” means
105
detailed, individual-level information regarding the housing and
106
other relevant needs, such as mental health support, of a person
107
being discharged from a facility or institution. Client-level
108
data sharing is used to ensure the timely, continuous, and
109
coordinated delivery of housing-related services and supports
110
after an identified person is stabilized and before the person
111
is released from the facility or institution. The sharing of
112
client-level data must comply with federal and state privacy and
113
confidentiality laws and regulations.
114 (e) Provision of sufficient medication, medical equipment
115 and supplies, clothing, transportation, and other basic
116 resources necessary to ensure that the health and well-being of
117 identified persons are not jeopardized upon their discharge.
118
(f)
Development and implementation of a process for
119
facilities and institutions to verify in the Homeless Management
120
Information System whether a person is registered with the
121
continuum of care and, if so, the entry of a referral in the
122
Homeless Management Information System for such person. If a
123
person is identified at intake as homeless or is at considerable
124
risk of homelessness upon discharge, but the person is not
125
registered in the Homeless Management Information System, the
126
facility or institution must ensure such person contacts the 211
127
call center or other local nonemergency service referral hotline
128
to facilitate registration in the Homeless Management
129
Information System in order to receive a referral to the
130
continuum of care’s coordinated entry system.
131
(g)
Provision of information, such as a website or other
132
resource guides if available, to identified persons regarding
133
resource availability through the 211 call center, any other
134
local nonemergency service referral hotline, or the continuum of
135
care.
136
(5)
The continuum of care lead agency shall evaluate the
137
procedures developed and implemented under subsection (4) and
138
identify gaps and opportunities for improvement in its annual
139
continuum of care plan submitted to the State Office on
140
Homelessness. The State Office on Homelessness, in conjunction
141
with the Council on Homelessness, may provide the continuum of
142
care lead agency guidance to address ongoing gaps in services to
143
strengthen local discharge planning practices.
144
(6)
(4)
This section is intended only to recommend model
145
guidelines and procedures that mental health facilities or
146
institutions under contract with or operated, licensed, or
147
regulated by the state or local governments may consider when
148
discharging persons into the community.
This section is not an
149 entitlement, and no cause of action shall arise against the
150 state, the local government entity, or any other political
151 subdivision of this state for failure to follow any of the
152 procedures or provide any of the services suggested under this
153 section.
154 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.