(1) In order to protect the rights of the individual or other persons responsible for the welfare of a vulnerable adult, all records concerning reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the vulnerable adult, including reports made to the central abuse hotline, and all records generated as a result of such reports shall be confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and may not be disclosed except as specifically authorized by ss. 415.101-415.113.
(2) Upon the request of the committee chairperson, access to all records shall be granted to staff of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over issues and services related to vulnerable adults, or over the department. All confidentiality provisions that apply to the Department of Children and Families continue to apply to the records made available to legislative staff under this subsection.
(3) Access to all records, excluding the name of the reporter which shall be released only as provided in subsection (6), shall be granted only to the following persons, officials, and agencies:
(a) Employees or agents of the department, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration, or the Department of Elderly Affairs who are responsible for carrying out protective investigations, ongoing protective services, or licensure or approval of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, adult family-care homes, home care for the elderly, hospices, residential facilities licensed under chapter 393, or other facilities used for the placement of vulnerable adults.
(b) A criminal justice agency investigating a report of known or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
(c) The state attorney of the judicial circuit in which the vulnerable adult resides or in which the alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation occurred.
(d) Any victim, the victim’s guardian, caregiver, or legal counsel, and any person who the department has determined might be abusing, neglecting, or exploiting the victim.
(e) A court, pursuant to s. 825.1035(4)(h); or by subpoena, upon its finding that access to such records may be necessary for the determination of an issue before the court; however, such access must be limited to inspection in camera, unless the court determines that public disclosure of the information contained in such records is necessary for the resolution of an issue then pending before it.
(f) A grand jury, by subpoena, upon its determination that access to such records is necessary in the conduct of its official business.
(g) Any appropriate official of the Florida advocacy council, State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, or long-term care ombudsman council investigating a report of known or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
(h) Any appropriate official of the department, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration, or the Department of Elderly Affairs who is responsible for:
1. Administration or supervision of the programs for the prevention, investigation, or treatment of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults when carrying out an official function; or
2. Taking appropriate administrative action concerning an employee alleged to have perpetrated abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult in an institution.
(i) Any person engaged in bona fide research or auditing. However, information identifying the subjects of the report must not be made available to the researcher.
(j) Employees or agents of an agency of another state that has jurisdiction comparable to the jurisdiction described in paragraph (a).
(k) The Public Employees Relations Commission for the sole purpose of obtaining evidence for appeals filed pursuant to s. 447.207. Records may be released only after deletion of all information that specifically identifies persons other than the employee.
(l) Any person in the event of the death of a vulnerable adult determined to be a result of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Information identifying the person reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation shall not be released. Any information otherwise made confidential or exempt by law shall not be released pursuant to this paragraph.
(4) The Department of Health, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the Agency for Health Care Administration may have access to a report, excluding the name of the reporter, when considering disciplinary action against a licensee or certified nursing assistant pursuant to allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
(5) The department may release to any professional person such information as is necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of, and service delivery to, a vulnerable adult or the person perpetrating the abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
(6) The identity of any person reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult may not be released, without that person’s written consent, to any person other than employees of the department responsible for protective services, the central abuse hotline, or the appropriate state attorney or law enforcement agency. This subsection grants protection only for the person who reported the abuse, neglect, or exploitation and protects only the fact that the person is the reporter. This subsection does not prohibit the subpoena of a person reporting the abuse, neglect, or exploitation when deemed necessary by the state attorney or the department to protect a vulnerable adult who is the subject of a report, if the fact that the person made the report is not disclosed.
(7) For the purposes of this section, the term “access” means a visual inspection or copy of the hard-copy record maintained in the district.
(8) Information in the central abuse hotline may not be used for employment screening.
...es to the commission of a crime. There are several instances recognized by Florida law which allow the identity of a person reporting abuse to remain confidential. Fla. Stat. §§ 39.201 (b), 39.205(3) (reports of child abuse or neglect); Fla. Stat. § 415.107 (3), (6), 415.111(2) (reports of vulnerable adult abuse); Fla....
...sserted by Springhill Health Care Associates, LLC, in its response. Concerning the last document, although we view the assertion of privilege with some skepticism given the nature of the document, the trial court should consider the applicability of section 415.107(1), before compelling the production of the document....
...the Department’s records regarding the chapter 415 investigation. 1 *1224 The Department refused, on the ground that the personal representative and personal representative’s counsel were not among the persons entitled to access under paragraph 415.107(2)(d), Florida Statutes (1987). 2 The Department suggested that a subpoena be issued pursuant to paragraph 415.107(2)(e), Florida Statutes, but the probate court declined to do so....
...Under section 119.12, attorney’s fees may be awarded “[i]f a civil action is filed against an agency to enforce the provisions of this chapte r....” Id. § 119.12(1) (emphasis added). The records at issue in the present case are exempt from chapter 119. § 415.107(1), Fla.Stat....
...s fees and costs must be reversed. Reversed. . A wrongful death action was subsequently filed. . While the Department’s caution was appropriate and understandable, the personal representative was entitled to access to the records under paragraph 415.107(2)(d). Chapter 415 allows access to investigating records by "[a]ny aged person or disabled adult ... who is the subject of a report or the subject’s guardian, care giver, or legal counsel.” § 415.107(2)(d), Fla.Stat. (1987). Upon the demise of the aged person or disabled adult, the right of access devolves upon the personal representative. . In our view, the probate court may issue a subpoena under paragraph 415.107(2)(e) where the statutory criteria are met.
...Conroy City Attorney City of Cape Coral Post Office Box 150027 Cape Coral, Florida 33915-0027 Dear Mr. Conroy: You ask substantially the following question: Are the police arrest reports of persons charged with criminal child abuse subject to the confidentiality provisions of ss. 415.107 and 415.51, F.S. (1992 Supp.)? In sum: In light of certain statutory provisions discussed below and in accordance with the mandate that exemptions from Ch. 119 , F.S., be strictly construed, I am of the opinion that ss. 415.107 and 415.51, F.S....
...services and criminal investigations and to establish a program of protective services for all aged persons or disabled adults in need of them. Reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an aged person or disabled adult are to be made to HRS. 26 Section 415.107 , F.S....
...(1992 Supp.) The statute, however, like s. 415.51, F.S. (1992 Supp.), authorizes access to such records depending upon the classification of the report. As with child abuse or neglect records, HRS is responsible for classifying such reports, 27 and, thus, the reports referred to in s. 415.107 , F.S....
...f the aged person or disabled adult who is the subject of abuse, neglect or exploitation, in light of the similarity in language used in providing for the confidentiality of these records and in other provisions in Ch. 415, I am of the opinion that ss. 415.107 and 415.51, F.S....
...(1992 Supp.), should be read in a similar manner. While this matter is not free from doubt, 28 I am of the opinion that in light of the above statutory provisions discussed above and in accordance with the mandate that exemptions from Ch. 119 , F.S., be strictly construed, ss. 415.107 and 415.51, F.S....
...29 Accordingly, I am of the opinion that the law enforcement agency's arrest records of individuals charged with child abuse or neglect or the abuse, neglect or exploitation of aged persons or disabled adults are not encompassed by the provisions of ss. 415.107 and 415.51, F.S....
...1962) (It should never be presumed that the legislature intended to enact purposeless and therefore useless, legislation. Legislators are not children who build block playhouses for the purpose, and the gleeful anticipation, of knocking them down). 19 See, ss. 119.07 (7)(d), 415.107 (3), and 415.51(3), F.S....
