How do I know if an APD rule has been amended?

Check the effective date on the flrules.org chapter index. A rule's number never changes when it is amended — only its effective date moves — so a bookmark or a printed copy gives no sign that anything happened.

What changed in Chapter 65G-7 in March 2026?

Eight rules were amended. The largest practical change is that insulin became a separate credential from Basic Medication Administration, with its own course, its own validation, and its own annual update course (APD Form 65G-7.004 C, dated March 2026).

Rule changes08/17/2026·7 min read

APD Changed 27 Rules in One Day. Did Anyone Tell You?

On 26 March 2026 the Agency amended 27 rules at once — including a whole new insulin credential. We found it in August, by reading the rule text. Here is everything that moved, and how to check it yourself.

Did Florida APD rules change in 2026?

Yes. On 26 March 2026 APD amended 27 rules in a single day — 19 in Rule Chapter 65G-2 (licensing and staffing) and 8 in Chapter 65G-7 (medication administration). The effective dates are published on the state rule index at flrules.org. No provider notice appears to have gone out.

Nineteen of them in Chapter 65G-2, which is the chapter a licensing inspection is run from. Eight in Chapter 65G-7, which is medication.

We found out in August. Not from a letter, not from an email, not from a provider alert — by sitting down and reading the rule text against our own compliance catalog, line by line, to check we still had it right. Five months after the fact.

If you missed it too, you are in the large majority. This post is what changed, why it is so easy to miss, and how to check any of it yourself in about two minutes.

Why a rule change is genuinely invisible

Here is the mechanical reason, and it is worth understanding because it explains why this will happen again.

Every rule has a number and an effective date. When a rule is amended, the number does not change. 65G-7.004 was 65G-7.004 before March and it is 65G-7.004 now. The only thing that moves is the effective date on the state's rule index.

So if you have the rule bookmarked, your bookmark still works. If you have a printout in a binder, it still says 65G-7.004 at the top. If you have a training matrix built from a PDF someone shared in 2023, everything in it still looks correct. Nothing anywhere turns red. The only visible difference is a date on a page nobody has a reason to check.

The one that actually changes staffing: insulin

Buried in the eight medication amendments is a change that affects who on your team can do what.

Insulin is now its own credential. It is no longer covered by Basic Medication Administration. Under 65G-7.004(4) it needs its own course, with an exam requiring 90% on course content and 100% on the APD Insulin Administration Log — a higher bar than the 85% used elsewhere. Under (5)(d) it needs its own separate validation. Under (7)(a)3. it needs its own annual update course, and completing that earns APD Form 65G-7.004 C — a certificate dated March 2026, which simply did not exist before this amendment.

Prescribed enteral formula works the same way, as its own third track. Being a MAP is not one credential any more. It is three.

And there is no safety net on insulin. For most administration routes a nurse or physician can sign a temporary validation covering someone for up to 30 days. 65G-7.004(8)(d) carves insulin out. If that validation lapses, that staff member cannot give insulin at all until they retake the course and revalidate — which has its own 180-day clock. There is no bridge.

What else moved

Chapter 65G-2 took nineteen amendments on the same day, covering licensing procedures, change of ownership, agency monitoring and oversight, staffing requirements, and more. We re-read 65G-2.008 — staffing — in full, and every staff-training deadline we track survived word for word: Core Competencies at 90 days, Zero Tolerance every three years, first aid and CPR at 90 days and classroom-only, HIV/AIDS at 90 days.

So on the training side, nothing you are doing needs to change. That is worth saying plainly, because "27 rules changed" is alarming and most of it does not touch a small provider's day-to-day.

Two things in that same rule are worth a look anyway, because almost nobody does them: 65G-2.008(4)(b)2. requires you to update your staff driving history annually — a rule, not a best practice — and 65G-2.008(4)(c) requires an annual FDLE search for registered offenders within one mile of each home, notification to staff, and a record that you notified them.

How to check any of this yourself

Do not take our word for it. The state publishes every rule against its effective date, free, and it takes two minutes:

Go to flrules.org and open the chapter index for 65G-7 (or any chapter).
Look at the effective-date column. Anything dated 3/26/2026 was amended that day.
Click into a rule and open the rule file to read the current text. The rulemaking history at the bottom shows every amendment date.

We also keep a free copy of the whole index at carewizard.ai/florida-apd-rules — every chapter, every rule, every effective date, re-read daily. And the running record of what has changed and when is at carewizard.ai/whats-changed. Both free, no account needed.

The honest caveat

We cannot tell you that APD notified nobody. We can tell you that we never received anything, and that we have not yet found a provider who did. If you got a notice about the March amendments, we would genuinely like to know — it would mean the channel exists and we were simply not on it.

What we can say for certain is that the change was live for five months before we knew, and we are the people who read rule text for a living.

Sources

F.A.C. Chapter 65G-7 rule index — effective dates for all 12 rules
F.A.C. Chapter 65G-2 rule index — effective dates for all 25 rules
Rule 65G-7.004, F.A.C. — Medication Assistance Provider Training and Validation Requirements. Rulemaking history: New 3-30-08, Amended 7-1-19, 3-26-26
Rule 65G-2.008, F.A.C. — Staffing Requirements for Residential Facilities. Rulemaking history: New 7-1-14, Amended 8-6-17, 3-26-26

This article is general information for Florida APD group-home providers, not legal advice or a guarantee of compliance. Rules change and vary by region — always confirm the current requirement with the cited source and your APD regional office.