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Subcommittee advances pilot to centralize behavioral-health access in three Northeast Florida counties
Summary
The IT Budget and Policy Subcommittee voted 14-0 to report favorably CS/HB 783, which would create a coordinated access model pilot in Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties to centralize intake, screening and referrals for behavioral health and substance-use services, and requires reporting on outcomes and timeliness.
Representative Sapp told the IT Budget and Policy Subcommittee that CS/HB 783 would establish a coordinated access model (CAM) pilot in Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties to help people seeking mental health and substance-use services find care more quickly.
"Navigating behavioral health services can be challenging even for experienced health care consumers," Representative Sapp said, describing a centralized access point that would screen callers, connect them to appropriate providers, help schedule appointments and provide follow-up reminders. The bill envisions a contract from the Department of Children and Families with a provider that may subcontract with a university for staffing and data collection.
The bill requires the CAM provider to collect and report data on referral outcomes, timeliness of service connections and consumer experience, and to identify system gaps. Representative Sapp said the pilot is modeled on a Pinellas County program and that the data reporting requirement is intended to detect and fix bottlenecks.
Representative Young asked how the program would avoid delays if demand exceeds intake capacity, and questioned what the bill means by a "timely referral." "Because of the nature of the work ... if the department says it's 30 days, I think when you're trying to perform triage for somebody who's having a mental health crisis, 30 days isn't timely," Young said. Sapp replied the model uses clinically trained staff to triage and prioritize urgent cases and that some referrals that are less urgent could be scheduled in about two weeks, depending on need.
An amendment (barcode 23894) to speed procurement and provide contract guidance for the pilot was explained by Representative Sapp and was adopted without objection. Two proponent witnesses—Melanie Brown Wifter of the Florida Council for Behavioral Health and Caleb Hawks of the Florida Chamber of Commerce—spoke in support during public testimony.
The committee closed debate and, by roll call, recorded 14 yeas and 0 nays, with the chair announcing CS/HB 783 will be reported favorably. The bill requires the Department of Children and Families and the contract entity to seek sustainable funding sources and report pilot outcomes to the governor and the Legislature.
Next steps: CS/HB 783 will be advanced from the subcommittee for further consideration according to House procedure.
