The agency supports persons with developmental disabilities in living, learning, and working in their communities.
The agency serves Floridians with developmental disabilities as defined in Ch. 393, Florida Statutes. This includes individuals with the following disabilities.
To be eligible for services, a person must have a confirmed diagnosis of a developmental disability prior to age 18 years.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) works with local communities and private providers to support people who have developmental disabilities and their families in living, learning, and working in their communities; provides assistance in identifying the service needs of people with developmental disabilities; and educates the public on disability issues while focusing attention on employment for people with disabilities.
People who have or might have a developmental disability may apply for services by completing an application for services (also available in Spanish and Haitian Creole) and hand delivering or mailing it to the agency's local area office where the applicant lives.
The agency tracks key performance measures in its Long Range Program Plan. In Fiscal Year 2018-19, the agency reported that 94.1% of people receiving services met key health, safety, and quality of life measures, exceeding the approved standard of 77.9%. The agency also reported serving 4,457 clients via supported living, which did not meet the agency's goal of serving 5,600 individuals. In addition, the agency reported that 39% of clients were employed in integrated settings, exceeding the approved standard of 27%.
Fund | Dollars | Positions | |
---|---|---|---|
AGENCY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES | |||
PROGRAM: SERVICES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES | |||
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY CENTERS - CIVIL PROGRAM |
104,937,949
|
1,598.00 |
|
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY CENTERS - FORENSIC PROGRAM |
31,304,213
|
503.50 |
|
HOME AND COMMUNITY SERVICES |
1,363,433,658
|
434.00 |
|
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND COMPLIANCE |
31,998,823
|
165.00 |
|
TOTAL |
1,531,674,643 |
2,700.50 |
Individuals with Disabilities. The 2020 Legislature enacted Ch. 2020-71, Laws of Florida, which makes operational changes to the iBudget program by eliminating the statutory criteria for authorizing supplemental funding for a client, and instead, creates a standard definition of a "significant additional need" to judge supplemental funding requests. This process will be centralized at APD headquarters. The bill also requires waiver support coordinators to be employed by qualified waiver support coordination agencies, establishes criteria for those agencies, and requires all service providers to bill for services and submit all required documentation through the agency's electronic client data management system. The bill also repeals a directive requiring APD to develop and submit a waiver redesign plan if program deficits continue in the current fiscal year and eliminates the requirement to submit a plan to address spending deficits in future.
iConnect. The agency's planned roll-out of iConnect, a centralized data management system, is progressing. The Florida Legislature appropriated over $3.5 million in FY 2019-20 to continue the implementation of this statewide system for management, reporting, and trending of data for all agency clients. The agency completed APD iConnect system training of APD staff and Waiver Support Coordinators (WSCs) in October 2018. The first rollout of APD iConnect to APD Staff and WSCs was completed in December 2018. Plans are in place for a second rollout in 2020 to providers. The system will be phased in because of the large number of users and available functions. When completed, APD expects that iConnect will house the records of more than 56,000 clients and is part of the agency’s strategy to more efficiently manage ever increasing caseloads.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities is responding to COVID-19, and as of June 2020, its response to the global pandemic has included the following.
Agency for Persons with Disabilities, 850-488-4257 or 1-866-APD-CARES (1-866-273-2273)