Community care service system.

(1)(a) The department, through the area agency on aging, shall fund in each planning and service area at least one community care service system that provides case management and other in-home and community services as needed to help the older person maintain independence and prevent or delay more costly institutional care.

(b) The department shall fund, through the area agency on aging in each county as defined in s. 125.011(1), more than one community care service system that provides case management and other in-home and community services as needed to help elderly persons maintain independence and prevent or delay more costly institutional care.

(2) Core services and other support services may be furnished by public or private agencies or organizations. Each community care service system must be under the direction of a lead agency that coordinates the activities of individual contracting agencies providing community-care-for-the-elderly services. When practicable, the activities of a community care service area may be directed from a multiservice senior center, as defined in s. 430.901, and coordinated with other services offered therein.

(3) The department shall define each core service that is to be provided or coordinated within a community care service area and establish rules and minimum standards for the delivery of core services. The department may conduct or contract for demonstration projects to determine the desirability of new concepts of organization, administration, or service delivery designed to prevent the institutionalization of functionally impaired elderly persons. Evaluations shall be made of the cost-avoidance of such demonstration projects, the ability of the projects to reduce the rate of placement of functionally impaired elderly persons in institutions, and the impact of projects on the use of institutional services and facilities.

(4) A preservice and annual inservice training program for community-care-for-the-elderly service providers and staff may be designed and implemented to help assure the delivery of quality services. The department shall specify in rules the training standards and requirements for the community-care-for-the-elderly service providers and staff. Training must be sufficient to ensure that quality services are provided to clients and that appropriate skills are developed to conduct the program.

(5) Any person who has been classified as a functionally impaired elderly person is eligible to receive community-care-for-the-elderly core services.

(a) Those elderly persons who are determined by protective investigations to be high-risk vulnerable adults in need of services, pursuant to s. 415.104(3)(b), or to be high-risk victims of abuse, neglect, or exploitation who are in need of immediate services to prevent further harm and are referred by the adult protective services program, shall be given priority consideration for receiving community-care-for-the-elderly services. As used in this paragraph, “priority consideration” means that an assessment and services must commence within 72 hours after referral to the department or as established in accordance with department contracts by local protocols developed between department service providers and the adult protective services program. Regardless, a community-care-for-the-elderly services provider may dispute a referral under this paragraph by requesting that adult protective services negotiate the referral placement of, and the services to be provided to, a vulnerable adult or victim of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. If an agreement cannot be reached with adult protective services for modification of the referral decision, the determination by adult protective services shall prevail.

(b) The department shall determine an order of prioritization for all other functionally impaired elderly persons seeking community-care-for-the-elderly services which is based upon the potential recipient’s frailty level and likelihood of institutional placement without such services. After determining such frailty level and likelihood of institutional placement, should the list of potential recipients require further prioritization, another factor that must be considered is the potential recipient’s ability to pay for such services. Those who are less able to pay for such services must receive higher priority than those who are better able to pay for such services. A potential recipient’s ability to pay may be determined by the department based on the potential recipient’s self-declared statement of income and expenses.

(6) Notwithstanding other requirements of this chapter, the Department of Elderly Affairs and the Agency for Health Care Administration shall develop an integrated long-term-care delivery system. The duties of the integrated system shall include organizing and administering service delivery for the elderly, obtaining contracts for services with providers in each service area, monitoring the quality of services provided, determining levels of need and disability for payment purposes, and other activities determined by the department and the agency in order to operate an integrated system.