DRF Focusing on Priority Disability Issues During 2021 Legislative Session

Tuesday, March 02, 2021

By Tony DePalma

As the 2021 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature begins today, Florida lawmakers will gather for the first time since the full scope and magnitude of the COVID-19 public health crisis came into focus a year ago. Each year, Disability Rights Florida publishes its legislative priorities to guide its policy education and advocacy efforts. We strive to cover a broad range of issues important to people with disabilities in our state.

Although much of the Legislature’s work is certain to center around the impacts of the COVID-19 virus, there are nonetheless many other pieces of legislation directly impacting the rights and interests of Floridians with disabilities.

Student Behavioral and Mental Health Service Coordination

The Legislature will confront a range of issues affecting students with disabilities including the need to reduce the use of student Baker Act initiations from school; the need to consider standards and prohibitions for use of restraint and seclusion; the need to explore alternatives to school resource officers (SRO’s) responding to students experiencing crisis episodes; as well as the need to safeguard against police misusing student health, abuse, treatment, and other threat assessment data.

School Choice Vouchers

As the state continues to expand school choice through voucher programs serving students with disabilities and their families, there is a need to ensure that families understand students will lose federal educational protections and entitlements when choosing private placement. In addition, the state must verify that private schools receiving state funding are not able to discriminate against students based on their disability or related educational needs.

Mental Health Policy Reform

It is imperative that the state’s investments in mental health and substance abuse recovery systems do not further stigmatize or criminalize those receiving or in need of services. Moreover, these investments should not unnecessarily place this population at an increased risk of incarceration during crisis intervention and should not require the waiver of constitutionally protected privacy rights without meaningful due process protections. This includes the potential expansion of Risk Protection Orders (“Red Flag Laws”), disability-specific missing person alert systems (“Purple Alert”), as well as review of Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission findings related to mental health service delivery, behavioral threat assessments, and educational privacy.

Supported Decision-Making

Disability Rights Florida is proud and excited to be a part of the statewide “SDM4FL” coalition that has met for over a year to help gain support for a “supported decision-making” law in Florida that would function as a less-restrictive alternative to guardianship. The coalition of partners, stakeholders, advocates, and self-advocates has generated the momentum and discussion needed to propel their “I Decide” campaign into House Bill 681 (sponsored by Representative Allison Tant) and Senate Bill 1010 (sponsored by Senator Joe Gruters). For more information on this campaign and these important efforts, materials are available on the SDM4FL coalition’s website.

Learn more about Disability Rights Florida’s full 2021 legislative priorities or follow us on our social media pages for updates.