Pubdate: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 Source: News-Press (Fort Myers, FL) Copyright: 2006 The News-Press Contact: http://www.news-press.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1133 Author: David L. Miller And Joseph P. George Jr. Note: David L. Miller and Joseph P. George Jr., are the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the the Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS GROWS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM We Must Take A Comprehensive Approach To Meet The Needs Of Those Treated, Not Just Add More Beds In recent weeks, newspapers have been filled with news of the Department of Children and Families ("DCF") being sued for not having enough state hospital beds for people charged with a felony and determined to be mentally ill or insane. Florida currently has 1,416 designated forensic beds statewide within six mental health facilities. The waiting list, which now exceeds 300, is comprised of people charged with a felony and determined by the court system to be incompetent because of a mental illness, or are people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity. This has resulted in significant delays in the DCF transferring these jail inmates for court-ordered treatment. This is a crisis not just for county and state governments but also for the individual who is waiting for and dependent upon appropriate treatment. This crisis is not just in the waiting in jails for a forensic bed and commensurate appropriate treatment, but that it is much bigger and broader in scope. Florida has a growing number of adults and youth with mental illness housed in local jails, state prisons and juvenile justice facilities. The numbers and the severity of the mental health and substance abuse problems have raised concern among policymakers, advocates, and front- line criminal justice professionals. We taxpayers should not be satisfied using prisons, jails and juvenile justice detention centers as substitutes for mental health treatment. These are not good substitutes for proper treatment. Large Task Ahead The jail and prison populations are growing at a pace in Florida that exceeds available funding in county and state budgets. Despite a dramatic increase in spending on corrections both for juveniles and adults, rates of failure among children and adults released from prison and jail, especially those with mental illness, remain unacceptably high, continues to jeopardize public safety and predictably results in a cycle of recidivism that makes no sense for society or the individual. In response to the growing crisis, the Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation, created by the Legislature to advise the Governor and Legislature on the public substance abuse and mental health systems, in July convened a Select Committee on Criminal Justice. The committee was charged with developing a strategic plan for substance abuse and mental health diversion, in-custody treatment for both substance abuse and mental illness, and aftercare services for juveniles and adults involved in the criminal justice systems. We have been using a variety of sources as background information, including prior studies, needs assessments by state agencies, and research from advocacy groups such as Florida Partners in Crisis, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for Florida, and the Florida Association of Counties. Creating A Dialogue The corporation recognizes there are many initiatives currently in place in local communities and our recommendations will recognize those existing strengths in communities and systems of care. The corporation is encouraging dialogue among individuals, advocates, and agencies to find a better way of handling the criminal justice population with substance abuse and mental health treatment needs - one that would address the crisis through collaborative approaches involving both the criminal justice and the public mental health and substance abuse services delivery systems. The corporation board in its 2006 report will be recommending enhanced diversion services, enhanced in-custody treatment and enhanced aftercare substance abuse and mental health services for juveniles and adults entering and leaving the Florida criminal justice system. Florida needs a comprehensive approach, including increased funding for treatment (Florida ranks 48th in the nation in per capita in mental health funding), to address the problem at different stages of criminal justice system involvement, including prevention. Building more forensic beds, while necessary, is a narrow solution to a complex crisis that has been building for many years. The corporation has consistently stated that increased investments need to be made in the mental health and substance abuse systems to decrease the frequency of arrests and re-arrests; decrease admissions to hospitals, emergency departments and crisis stabilization units; and in the case of children reduce school failures and decrease out-of-home placements such as foster care. Finding Solutions We earnestly hope that Governor-elect Crist and the newly elected legislature will in a comprehensive fashion address the mental health and substance abuse treatment crisis. We all have to do our level best to work together to reduce the tremendous human, social and financial costs of unmet mental health and substance abuse treatment needs on all Floridians. On Dec. 4, the DCF compiled a 13-point list of forensic waitlist actions that bring greater focus, clarity, review of past actions and the promise of future forensic treatment capacity expansion to the DCF forensic waitlist problem. This is right and good. But the corporation believes that the real solution lies in our willingness to agree to a more comprehensive approach that addresses the entire scope of the problem. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman