1. (1) The department shall provide, or cause to be provided, training and educational programs for the administrators and such other facility staff as are defined by the department to better enable them to appropriately respond to the needs of residents and to meet licensure requirements.

2. (2) The department shall also establish a core educational requirement to be used in these programs. Successful completion of the core educational requirement must include successful completion of a competency test. Programs must be provided by the department or by a provider approved by the department at least quarterly. The core educational requirement must cover at least the following topics:

   1. (a) State law and rules on assisted living facilities, including lifesafety requirements and procedures.
   2. (b) Identifying and reporting abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
   3. (c) Special needs of elderly persons, persons with mental illness, and persons with developmental disabilities and how to meet those needs.
   4. (d) Nutrition and food service, including acceptable sanitation practices for preparing, storing, and serving food.
   5. (e) Proper techniques for assisting residents with self-administered medication, including recordkeeping.
   6. (f) Firesafety requirements, including fire evacuation drills.
   7. (g) Alzheimer's disease and other related disorders.
3. (3) Such a program must be available at least quarterly in each district of the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services. The competency test must be developed by the department in conjunction with the agency and providers and must be available for use by January 1, 1997. Beginning July 1, 1997, a new facility administrator must complete the core educational requirement including the competency test within 3 months after being employed as an administrator. Failure to complete a core educational requirement specified in this subsection is a violation of this part and subjects the violator to a penalty as prescribed in s. 400.419. Administrators licensed in accordance with chapter 468, part II, are exempt from this requirement. Other licensed professionals may be exempted, as determined by the department by rule.
4. (4) Administrators are required to participate in continuing education for a minimum of 12 contact hours every 2 years as specified by rule of the department.
5. (5) Administrators and staff of facilities more than 10 percent of whose residents are mental health residents shall participate in training in the care and supervision of such residents as specified by rule of the department.

6. (6) Other facility staff shall participate in training relevant to their job duties as specified by rule of the department.

   ²(7) Any facility more than 90 percent of whose residents receive monthly optional supplementation payments is not required to pay for the training and education programs provided under this section. A facility that has one or more such residents shall pay a reduced fee that is proportional to the percentage of such residents in the facility. A facility that does not have any residents who receive monthly optional supplementation payments must pay a reasonable fee, as established by the department, for such training and education programs.

   ³(8) If the department or the agency determines that there are problems in a facility that could be reduced through specific staff training or education beyond that already required under this section, the department or the agency may require, and provide, or cause to be provided, the training or education of any personal care staff in the facility.

   ¹Note.--The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was redesignated as the Department of Children and Family Services by s. 5, ch. 96-403, and the Department of Health was created by s. 8, ch. 96-403.

   ²Note.--As redesignated from subsection (3) to subsection (7) and amended by s. 26, ch. 95-418; this subsection was also amended by s. 15, ch. 95-418. The s. 26, ch. 95-418, version is published here as the last expression of legislative will because it appears later in the enacting law. The provision, redesignated as subsection (7) pursuant to s. 26, ch. 95-418, and as amended by s. 15, ch. 95-418, only, reads:

7. (7) Any facility more than 90 percent of whose total capacity of residents receive monthly optional supplementation payments is not required to pay for the training and education programs provided under this section. A facility that has one or more such residents shall pay a reduced fee that is proportional to the percentage of such residents in the facility. A facility that does not have any residents who receive monthly optional supplementation payments must pay a reasonable fee, as established by the department, for training and education programs.

   ³Note.--As amended by s. 53, ch. 95-418, and redesignated as subsection (8) due to the amendment to this section by s. 26, ch. 95-418; this provision was also amended by ss. 15 and 26, ch. 95-418. The s. 53, ch. 95-418, version is published here as the last expression of legislative will because it appears later in the enacting law. Subsection (8), as amended by ss. 15 and 26, ch. 95-418, reads:

8. (8) If the agency determines that there are problems in a facility that could be reduced through specific staff training or education beyond that already required under this section, the agency may require the training or education of any staff in the facility. Upon request, the department shall assist a facility in locating free or reduced-cost training, but the facility is responsible for any costs associated with training required under this subsection.

History.--ss. 12, 34, ch. 80-198; s. 2, ch. 81-318; ss. 60, 75, 79, 83, ch. 83-181; s. 53, ch. 83-218; s. 3, ch. 85-251; s. 21, ch. 89-294; s. 27, ch. 91-263; ss. 33, 38, 39, ch. 93-216; s. 19, ch. 95-210; ss. 15, 26, 53, ch. 95-418; s. 16, ch. 97-82; s. 29, ch. 97-100.