Florida SB 1132: Vessel Safety Inspection Decals

Bill Text

1132 
Procedures for Discharging Persons to Avoid Homelessness 
2026-01-05T11:48:28Z 
Citing this act as the “Bridging Systems to Housing Act”; encouraging certain facilities and institutions, in collaboration with a continuum of care lead agency, to develop and implement certain procedures for when persons are discharged from certain facilities or institutions; requiring the Department of Children and Families to conduct a pilot program in specified counties; defining the term “client-level data”; requiring the sharing of client-level data to comply with specified state and federal laws and regulations, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1132 

 By Senator Rouson 

 16-00991B-26 20261132__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to procedures for discharging persons 
 3 to avoid homelessness; providing a short title; 
 4 amending s. 420.626, F.S.; revising legislative 
 5 intent; encouraging certain facilities and 
 6 institutions, in collaboration with a continuum of 
 7 care lead agency, to develop and implement certain 
 8 procedures for when persons are discharged from 
 9 certain facilities or institutions; requiring the 
 10 Department of Children and Families to conduct a pilot 
 11 program in specified counties; requiring the 
 12 department to submit certain quarterly and, beginning 
 13 on a specified date, annual reports to the Governor 
 14 and the Legislature; revising certain procedures; 
 15 defining the term “client-level data”; requiring the 
 16 sharing of client-level data to comply with specified 
 17 state and federal laws and regulations; requiring a 
 18 continuum of care lead agency to evaluate certain 
 19 procedures and identify gaps and opportunities for 
 20 improvement in its annual continuum of care plan; 
 21 authorizing the State Office on Homelessness, in 
 22 conjunction with the Council on Homelessness, to 
 23 provide guidance to a continuum of care lead agency 
 24 for a specified purpose; providing an effective date. 
 25 
 26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 27 
 28 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Bridging Systems 
 29 to Housing Act.” 
 30 Section 2. Section 420.626, Florida Statutes, is amended to 
 31 read: 
 32 420.626 Homelessness; discharge guidelines.— 
 33 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature, to encourage 
 34 mental health facilities or institutions under contract with, 
 35 operated, licensed, or regulated by the state and local 
 36 governments to ensure, to the extent practicable, that persons 
 37 leaving the their care or custody of hospitals and other 
 38 facilities and institutions under contract with, operated by, 
 39 licensed by, or regulated by the state and local governments are 
 40 not discharged into homelessness without connecting such persons 
 41 to the continuum of care. 
 42 (2) The following facilities and institutions, in 
 43 collaboration with the continuum of care lead agency in the 
 44 facility’s or institution’s catchment area, are encouraged to 
 45 develop and implement procedures as provided under subsection 
 46 (4) which are designed to reduce the discharge of persons into 
 47 homelessness when such persons are admitted or housed for more 
 48 than 24 hours at such facilities or institutions: hospitals and 
 49 inpatient medical facilities not located in a county in which a 
 50 pilot program is conducted under subsection (3); crisis 
 51 stabilization units; residential treatment facilities; assisted 
 52 living facilities; and detoxification centers. 
 53 (3) The department shall conduct a pilot program in 
 54 Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, and Pinellas Counties for the 
 55 development and implementation of the procedures required under 
 56 subsection (4) for all hospitals and inpatient medical 
 57 facilities located in those counties. 
 58 (a) Until the pilot program is fully implemented, the 
 59 department must submit to the Governor, the President of the 
 60 Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
 61 quarterly reports on the status of the pilot program in each 
 62 designated county. 
 63 (b) By November 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 
 64 department shall assess and submit a report on the effectiveness 
 65 of the pilot program in each designated county to the Governor, 
 66 the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 
 67 Representatives. 
 68 (4)(3) The procedures for persons who consent to 
 69 participate in services must should include all of the 
 70 following: 
 71 (a) Development and implementation of an early assessment a 
 72 screening process or other mechanism for identifying persons to 
 73 be discharged from the facility or institution who reported 
 74 being homeless at the time of intake, are at considerable risk 
 75 for homelessness, or face an some imminent threat to their 
 76 health and safety upon discharge. 
 77 (b) Development an