Florida, the sunshine state, hasn’t been very sunny when it comes to the plight of its citizens with mental health issues. In fact, Florida has the dubious distinction of being the worst in the nation when it comes to funding mental illness facilities and programs.
According to published figures, the state spends only $37.28 per person on mental health programs annually. That figure puts Florida 50th in the nation in mental health spending.
The director of state policy for a concerned mental illness advocacy group, Sita Diehl, called Florida’s mental health record “a national disgrace.” Diehl added that every year, nearly 135,000 Florida residents in need of mental care treatment end up locked in Florida’s jails instead. Most of them were incarcerated for very minor misdemeanor offenses. In essence, the state has been warehousing many of its mentally ill in jail rather than in facilities that provide the care they need.
An appeal to the voters
Discouraged by the situation, the CEO of another mental health advocacy, Candice Crawford, took matters into her own hands by directly appealing to the states voters for help. Her goal was to enlist at least 100,000 voters and to bombard the state legislature with demands to fund proposed Florida mental health programs.
Crawford states it’s a game about numbers. If she could get enough voters to pick up the phone, send letters or email or visit their legislators in person and express their desire to see their tax money spent on worthwhile projects like providing good mental health care, it might make a difference in the next round of funding debates.
It’s believed this is the first time that mental health advocacy groups have joined forces with voters to demand a change to the status quo. Using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, citizens were linked to a website where they could generate email targeting legislators in Tallahassee.
The new speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Republican Steve Crisafulli, was a main target of the voter uprising. Their message to him and the other members of the state legislature was simple: “We want you to prioritize mental health funding.”
One aim of the mental health advocates was to get lawmakers to accept federal dollars to increase the state’s Medicaid eligibility. If that were to happen, it would provide insurance to an additional 228,840 people of low income with serious problems with mental illness or substance-abuse.
Until now, legislators have voted down every attempt to expand Medicaid. Before this call to arms from the voters, there were no signs the upcoming session would be any different.
Someone was listening
The appeal for public support is already paying dividends. The Senate Committee on Children, Families and Elder Affairs Bill 12 recently passed unanimously. This Mental Health and Substance Abuse legislation will improve the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services for the state. No dollar amount was announced for the cost of implementing Bill 12.
Mark Fontaine, executive director of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, thinks the Florida policymakers finally got the picture and understand the impact that mental health and substance abuse has on the entire medical and court systems.
The bill has a “no wrong door” policy. That is, for the first time, people who need mental health or substance use treatment can get it regardless of whether they entered the system due to criminal offenses or personal crises. In order to do this, a central receiving facilities must be created that will function as a single point of access to emergency care and intervention services. Patients needing substance use help will be directed to a Florida drug rehab center.