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.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman