2026 State Legislative Priorities

People with disabilities have the right to receive the services and support they need in their own chosen community. They should not have to be institutionalized to receive services or support and should be able to access all aspects of community living as desired. To ensure that Floridians with disabilities can meaningfully participate in and become integrated within their communities:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS requiring manufacturers of mobility devices to provide device owners and independent repair providers with the necessary documentation, software, parts, and tools to repair mobility devices promptly, affordably, and accessibly when they break or become defective.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS preserving issuance of disabled parking permits and the state’s finite supply of accessible parking spaces for individuals with either a long-term or temporary mobility impairment, as certified by an appropriate medical professional.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS prioritizing the accessibility needs of disabled Floridians and those with other functional needs before, during, and after disasters and emergencies. 
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS improving transportation systems to ensure people with disabilities are not discriminated against and can instead take advantage of employment opportunities, have easier access to health care services, and become and remain active in their communities as desired.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS efforts to address the state’s affordable housing crisis that are architecturally accessible and made available to those with disabilities, including individuals seeking supportive housing options.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS prohibiting guardians from restricting an adult wards’ contact with other individuals without good cause and court authorization, SUPPORTS requiring guardians to provide wards with advance notice prior to moving to a more restrictive placement, and SUPPORTS requiring guardians to notify individuals identified in an initial guardianship plan about changes such as transfers to medical facilities or the ward’s death.

People with disabilities are disproportionately represented in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. This is not because disabled Floridians are more likely to engage in criminal behavior, but because these systems are not adequately designed to understand or meet their needs. To ensure people with disabilities are not unnecessarily criminalized, incarcerated, or detained:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS necessary reforms to Florida’s Forensic Client Services Act as well as related investments and capacity development to ensure that criminal defendants found incompetent to proceed or similarly are transferred from jail to an appropriate forensic setting to begin receiving services within 15 days, as required by law. 
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS prohibiting the mandatory “direct file” of youth by requiring that all decisions to transfer children to an adult criminal justice system be made by a judge based on testimony and evidence presented in a hearing, with a presumption in law that children should remain in the juvenile justice system.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS elimination of the use of solitary confinement in all correctional, detention, and institutional settings. This practice creates and exacerbates mental health issues and is correlated with an increased likelihood of reoffending behavior.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS ensuring that all detained and incarcerated individuals can receive and respond to prison legal mail in a timely manner that ensures the confidentiality of both incoming and outgoing legal mail, and without penalty or unnecessary administrative burdening.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS increased opportunities for law enforcement agencies and officers in the state to receive comprehensive training about appropriate interactions with disabled individuals including through the provision of effective communication and reasonable accommodations so that disabled Floridians receive a non-discriminatory, safe, and equitable benefit from these services and interactions.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS allowing a parent or legal guardian to request that a child protection team consult with an appropriate medical professional when evaluating a report of medical neglect and assessing the needs of a medically complex child or when evaluating a child with a reported preexisting diagnosis of rickets, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, osteogenesis imperfecta, vitamin D deficiency, or any other medical condition known to appear to be caused by, or known to be misdiagnosed as, abuse.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS ending the death penalty for defendants with severe mental illness during commission of their crime, a position advocated for by the American Bar Association for more than two decades.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS updating Florida’s hate crime laws to reflect the broadly accepted definition of disability contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act and elsewhere so that all disabled Floridians have recourse against the commission of crimes evidencing prejudice based on disability.

In Florida’s public school system, students with disabilities are guaranteed a “free and appropriate public education.” To fulfill this mandate in the least restrictive learning environment appropriate to the varied needs and abilities of students with disabilities in Florida:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS transparency and accountability measures that facilitate meaningful, informed choice by families of students with disabilities in the state who are considering acceptance of a school voucher, such as by requiring notice and explanation of the scope and transition of special education services and supports and related accommodations available when accepting voucher placement at a private educational institution.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS prohibiting the use of corporal punishment in public schools, an outdated and widely disfavored disciplinary practice that disproportionately impacts students with disabilities.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS student-centered planning efforts that safeguard students with disabilities identified as elopement risks and prioritize training to all school personnel while ensuring the receipt of educational services in the least restrictive learning environment.

Florida’s voting laws must ensure that people with disabilities can participate in all facets of civic engagement and election administration. Voter registration opportunities for people with disabilities should be actively facilitated by state officials, and voters with disabilities must be provided with an opportunity to vote privately and independently. Safeguarding voting access for Floridians with disabilities is a nonpartisan and essential endeavor, and as such:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS developing contingencies for election emergencies such as natural disasters, pandemics, and other unexpected crises that ensure sufficient access to the ballot box by disabled voters including through providing meaningful, timely, and effective communication of information and other relevant election resources to voters with disabilities.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS preserving “no excuse” vote-by-mail balloting as a centerpiece of Florida’s election administration for more than two decades.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS expanding and promoting opportunities for in-person, supervised voting by voters in congregate and other residential settings that are unable to easily travel to a poll site, including through codification of curbside voting processes as appropriate.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS refining and promoting “accessible” vote-by-mail balloting options for voters with visual impairments and other print disabilities so these voters may vote privately and independently as required by law.

Floridians with disabilities should receive workplace accommodations and other employment services and support necessary to secure and maintain competitive, integrated employment opportunities. To benefit from the integration of workers with disabilities into the state’s general workforce:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS codification, expansion, and promotion of the “Working People with Disabilities Program” authorized through proviso in the 2019 General Appropriations Act to increase income and asset limits for workers with developmental disabilities enrolled in Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver programs without penalty. 
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS implementation of a Medicaid “Buy-in” program to allow Floridians with disabilities to take advantage of employment opportunities without fear of losing necessary medical services not covered by private insurance. Florida is currently one of only a handful of states without a “Buy-in” option for Medicaid enrollees with disabilities. 
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS paying all workers with disabilities competitive wages for work that does not unfairly or unnecessarily segregate them from their communities or other sectors of the workforce.

Everyone deserves access to health care; however, people with disabilities often face barriers when accessing this care. To ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare for disabled Floridians:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS improvements to the efficiency and administration of Florida’s Consumer Directed Care Plus (CDC+) Medicaid program through enhanced utilization of administrative fees currently collected from participating consumers, allowing authorization of an optional “support broker” service for consumers seeking professional assistance with administrative tasks often performed by volunteer representatives or consumers themselves.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS alignment of the definitions and frameworks utilized for autism and other developmental disabilities when making Medicaid waiver and service eligibility determinations with those contained in the most recent diagnostic standards issued by the American Psychiatric Association (currently DSM-5-TR, a 2022 update to DSM-5 published more than a decade ago).
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS fulfillment of legislative intent in CS/CS/HB 1103 (2024) requiring the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) to render crisis eligibility determinations within 15 calendar days of receipt of a complete application from applicants utilizing APD’s online application portal for Medicaid iBudget waiver services who indicate they are in crisis.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS ensuring that tender year applicants for Medicaid iBudget waiver services are not denied based on the faulty and speculative assumption that the severity of a young child’s condition might naturally improve in the future without services or support.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS efforts to meaningfully reform how the state provides dental and oral health access to Floridians with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Florida must incentivize provider capacity and expertise to treat and care for patients with disabilities, while also ensuring that state-accredited dental schools integrate and promote relevant training to serve these populations professionally and comprehensively.

Adequate mental health and substance use disorder services remain difficult to obtain for many, particularly those with disabilities. Despite recent reforms, more than 150,000 Floridians are still involuntarily hospitalized each year for examination and possible commitment. As such, the state must ensure that fully funded, comprehensive, community- and evidence-based mental health and substance use disorder services are available for all who wish to utilize them; prior to, at, and after a crisis point and in all areas of the state, both urban and rural. To address and safeguard this landscape:

• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS enhancing patient safety at state mental health treatment facilities to address significant safety risks and gaps in services through: (1) conducting regular comprehensive environmental safety reviews at all facilities; (2) reviewing existing procedures outlining screening for suicide risk to mirror best practices; (3) increasing the frequency of patient safety checks and staffing of units in late night and early morning hours; (4) standardizing procedures for how staff conduct patient safety checks; and (5) creating standardized quality assurance procedures to ensure patient safety checks are conducted properly and at the right frequency via video audits.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS clarifying the contingency planning required by state mental health treatment facilities when the appropriate level of care is not immediately available to an individual preparing to discharge, including through specifying available interim services and related timeframes, service frequency, and necessary coordination until such individual may begin receiving an appropriate level of follow-up care.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS investing in solutions to unsheltered homelessness that prioritize the health, wellness, and safety of unsheltered individuals and others experiencing homelessness, including through development and expansion of permanent supportive housing initiatives and community-based recovery residence options.
• Disability Rights Florida SUPPORTS expanding community-based services for children with a dual diagnosis of intellectual or developmental disability and a co-occurring mental illness, particularly those with intense behaviors who without the provision of appropriate residential options must otherwise reside in institutional settings.