Consistent with the mandate of s. 381.7395, the department shall develop and administer a multilevel treatment program for individuals who sustain brain or spinal cord injuries and who are referred to the brain and spinal cord injury program.

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   (1) Within 15 days after any report of an individual who has sustained a brain or spinal cord injury, the department shall notify the individual or the most immediate available family members of their right to assistance from the state, the services available, and the eligibility requirements.

   (2) The department shall refer individuals who have brain or spinal cord injuries to other state agencies to assure that rehabilitative services, if desired, are obtained by that individual.

   (3) The department, in consultation with emergency medical service, shall develop standards for an emergency medical evacuation system that will ensure that all individuals who sustain traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries are transported to a department-approved trauma center that meets the standards and criteria established by the emergency medical service and the acute-care standards of the brain and spinal cord injury program.

   (4) The department shall develop standards for designation of rehabilitation centers to provide rehabilitation services for individuals who have brain or spinal cord injuries.

   (5) The department shall determine the appropriate number of designated acute-care facilities, inpatient rehabilitation centers, and outpatient rehabilitation centers, needed based on incidence, volume of admissions, and other appropriate criteria.

   (6) The department shall develop standards for designation of transitional living facilities to provide individuals the opportunity to adjust to their disabilities and to develop physical and functional skills in a supported living environment.

   (a)() The Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation with the department, shall develop rules for the licensure of transitional living facilities for individuals who have brain or spinal cord injuries.

   (b)() The goal of a transitional living program for individuals who have brain or spinal cord injuries is to assist each individual who has such a disability to achieve a higher level of independent functioning and to enable that person to reenter the community. The program shall be focused on preparing participants to return to community living.

   (c)() A transitional living facility for an individual who has a brain or spinal cord injury shall provide to such individual, in a residential setting, a goal-oriented treatment program designed to improve the individual’s physical, cognitive, communicative, behavioral, psychological, and social functioning, as well as to provide necessary support and supervision. A transitional living facility shall offer at least the following therapies: physical, occupational, speech, neuropsychology, independent living skills training, behavior analysis for programs serving brain-injured individuals, health education, and recreation.

   (d)() All residents shall use the transitional living facility as a temporary measure and not as a permanent home or domicile. The transitional living facility shall develop an initial treatment plan for each resident within 3 days after the resident’s admission. The transitional living facility shall develop a comprehensive plan of treatment and a discharge plan for each resident as soon as practical, but no later than 30 days after the resident’s admission. Each comprehensive treatment plan and discharge plan must be reviewed and updated as necessary, but no less often than quarterly. This subsection does not require the discharge of an individual who continues to require any of the specialized services described in paragraph (c) or who is making measurable progress in accordance with that individual’s comprehensive treatment plan. The transitional living facility shall discharge any individual who has an appropriate discharge site and who has achieved the goals of his or her discharge plan or who is no longer making progress toward the goals established in the comprehensive treatment plan and the discharge plan. The discharge location must be the least restrictive environment in which an individual’s health, well-being, and safety is preserved.

   (7) Recipients of services, under this section, from any of the facilities referred to in this section shall pay a fee based on ability to pay.

s. 4, ch. 74-254; s. 5, ch. 87-320; s. 34, ch. 94-324; s