What Families Should Know About How Incidents and Concerns Are Handled
No one wants to think about something going wrong in their loved one's group home. But knowing how the system works when something does happen — and what protections are in place — can give you confidence that your family member is in an environment where safety is taken seriously and accountability is built in.
Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) has clear, structured requirements for how group home providers must report and respond to incidents. Here's what those requirements look like, and what they mean for you.
Two Categories: Critical Incidents and Reportable Incidents
APD defines an incident as any event or occurrence that can negatively impact a client's health, safety, or service delivery. Incidents are classified into two categories, each with its own reporting timeline.
Critical incidents are the most serious. They include:
- Unexpected death
- Sexual misconduct
- Missing child or adult (when the individual lacks decision-making capacity)
- Life-threatening injury or illness
- Media involvement
- Violent crime arrest
- Covered person arrest (including provider or staff arrest)
- Verified abuse, neglect, or exploitation investigations
When a critical incident occurs, the provider must notify APD within one hour of becoming aware of it. After-hours and holiday notifications go to APD's dedicated line at (863) 255-2695. A written incident report must then be submitted to APD's Central Region office at Central.Incidentreports@apdcares.org within one business day.
Reportable incidents are serious but not immediately life-threatening. They include:
- Altercations between residents
- Baker Act situations
- Resident or client injury
- Emergency room visits or hospitalizations
- Expected resident or client death
- Missing competent adult
- Suicide attempt
- Non-violent crime arrest
For reportable incidents, a written incident report is due within one business day of the provider becoming aware of the event. A follow-up report is due within five business days of the initial submission — even if there is no new information yet, providers are required to confirm the situation is still being addressed.
One important note: submitting an incident report only to a group home's monitoring caseworker is not sufficient. The report must be submitted directly to the APD regional office within the required timeframe.
Mandated Reporting: It's the Law
Every group home provider and staff member in Florida is a mandated reporter. If they suspect or have knowledge of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, they are legally obligated to report it. Failure to do so is a third-degree felony under Florida law.
Reports of suspected abuse go to the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-962-2873. This call must happen before any other notifications. The abuse hotline comes first. Only after that does the provider notify APD at (863) 255-2695 and submit the incident report.
For families, this is a meaningful safeguard. It means the people caring for your loved one cannot look the other way. If something happens, the system requires them to act — and there are serious legal consequences if they do not.
When a Serious Allegation Is Made Against a Staff Member
If a DCF (Department of Children and Families) allegation is made against a group home staff member — particularly one of a serious nature, such as physical abuse or sexual misconduct — APD's strong guidance to providers is to remove that staff member from shift immediately, before the investigation concludes.
This may feel at odds with the principle of innocence until proven guilty, and APD acknowledges that. But when the safety of a resident is at stake, the expectation is that providers err on the side of caution. Transferring an accused staff member to a different home or to a different group of clients is not considered an adequate response — APD has been explicit about this. The stopgap measure that matters is removing the individual from direct client contact entirely while the investigation is active.
If you ever learn that a staff member at your loved one's group home has been the subject of an allegation, you have every right to ask the provider what steps they took to protect residents during the investigation.
How You Can Raise Concerns
If you have a concern about your loved one's care, you do not have to wait for the provider to act. You can:
- Contact APD's Central Region incident team directly at Central.Incidentreports@apdcares.org
- Report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-962-2873
- Contact your loved one's Waiver Support Coordinator (WSC), who can escalate concerns through APD's waiver team
- Reach APD's Central Region Medicaid Liaison, Christine Martin, at 863-413-3374 or Christine.Martin@apdcares.org
Questions to Ask a Group Home Provider
When you're evaluating a group home for your loved one, incident reporting is a legitimate and important topic to raise. Consider asking:
- How do you handle incident reporting? Can you walk me through your process?
- How quickly do you notify families when an incident involves their loved one?
- Have you had any critical incidents in the past year? How were they resolved?
- What training do your staff receive on mandated reporting?
- What is your procedure if a DCF allegation is made against a staff member?
A provider who answers these questions openly is a provider that takes accountability seriously. At Audubon Gardens Group, we believe families deserve full transparency about how we handle incidents — because trust is built on the systems and practices that back it up, not on promises alone.
Related Articles
- What Happens When APD Monitors Visit a Group Home? — How APD conducts oversight visits and what they look for.
- What Families Should Know About APD Pre-Enrollment — The waitlist is shrinking. Here's what that means for your family.
Documentation: The Record Behind the Care
Behind the scenes, group home providers are held to detailed documentation standards. Service logs must capture the name of the person providing each service, the name of the resident receiving it, time in and out, the service type, the dates of service, a meaningful summary of what occurred, and any health or safety follow-up needed. These records are audited by Florida's Quality Improvement Organization and must align with the care that was billed.
What this means for you: the documentation trail exists to protect your loved one. It ensures that care is real, individualized, and aligned with the goals in their support plan — and that anything less is flagged.
Key Florida APD Resources
If you need help navigating the APD system, these are the direct contacts to know:
- Department of Children and Families – ACCESS: 850-300-4323 | myflorida.com
- Social Security Administration: 800-772-1213 | ssa.gov
- Florida Managed Care Choice Counseling: 877-711-3662 | flmedicaidmanagedcare.com
- Medicare: 800-633-4227 | Medicare.gov
- Medicaid Helpline: 877-254-1055
- APD Central Region Medicaid Liaison – Christine Martin: 863-413-3374 | Christine.Martin@apdcares.org
- Florida Abuse Hotline (mandated reporting): 1-800-962-2873
- APD Central Region Incident Reports: Central.Incidentreports@apdcares.org
- APD After-Hours Critical Incident Line: 863-255-2695
About Audubon Gardens Group
Audubon Gardens Group operates two licensed 24-hour nursing residential care homes in Orlando, Florida — The Garden at Bennett and The Garden at Ibis. We serve medically acute and complex adults under Florida's APD iBudget Waiver, providing not just care, but a life genuinely worth living.
To learn more about our homes or begin a conversation about placement, visit aggcares.com or contact our team directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Florida Abuse Hotline number?
1-800-962-2873 (1-800-96-ABUSE), available 24 hours a day. TDD access: 1-800-453-5145. This is the number to call when you know or suspect that a person with a developmental disability is being abused, neglected, or exploited.
How will I know if something happens to my loved one in their group home?
Providers are required to notify families and guardians when incidents occur. Ask any provider you're evaluating what their family notification process is and request to be contacted immediately for any incident involving your loved one.
What is the iBudget Waiver's Zero Tolerance policy?
The iBudget Waiver has a Zero Tolerance policy for abuse, neglect, exploitation, and sexual misconduct. Any provider found to have committed such acts, or who fails to report them, faces termination of their Medicaid Waiver Agreement in addition to criminal and administrative penalties.
Can a group home employee be fired for failing to report abuse?
Yes. Under Florida's Zero Tolerance policy and state law, a provider or staff member who fails to report known or suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation faces waiver enrollment termination and criminal penalties. The system is designed so there is no permissible path to silence.
What should I do if I suspect my loved one is being abused?
Call the Florida Abuse Hotline immediately at 1-800-962-2873. If your loved one is in immediate danger, call 911 first. You can also contact APD's Central Region at Central.Incidentreports@apdcares.org and your loved one's WSC to ensure APD is notified and the situation is being investigated.