First Meeting of Florida’s ALF Task Force Phase Two
In response to an in-depth series in a Miami newspaper on assisted living facility abuse, residents who died in assisted living facilities, and probes into reported assisted living facility neglect, Governor Scott created the Assisted Living Workgroup in 2011. The workgroup was directed to examine the regulation and oversight of Florida’s assisted living facilities (ALFs). After doing so, they were to develop recommendations for improvements to safety and quality assurance, as well as ways to reduce resident abuse and neglect.
After several meetings, the task force sent recommendations to the state legislature, but no laws were passed before the end of the legislative term. As a result, Governor Scott had the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) reconvene the workgroup to continue its progress on reducing mistreatment of ALF residents and improving quality of the facilities. The task force began its second phase meetings yesterday.
Yesterday’s meeting included presentations from state agencies. These presentations described ideas on how to reduce resident mistreatment and increase state regulations. Committee members also heard comments from members of the public before moving to discuss the three main issues to be addressed in phase two: enforcement, multiple regulators, and ALF information and reporting.
