Warning: Constant ABSPATH already defined in /home/flanews/public_html/wp-config.php on line 34
Capitol News Service » Blog Archive » “Smarter” Mental Health Policy Coming

Welcome to

Capitol News Service

Florida's Best Political Coverage on Television

“Smarter” Mental Health Policy Coming

March 17th, 2016 by Mike Vasilinda

Funding for mental health treatment has been going down in Florida even though the economy has been improving, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, it took the case of Phoebe Jonchuck being thrown to her death off the Skyway bridge to get Florida lawmakers to reverse course.

As lawmakers delved into the death of Phoebe Jonchuck at the hands of her father.

“I’m worried he’s out of his mind” a caller told the DCF Child Abuse Hotline.

And the failure of the Department of Children and Families to act on that foreboding call,  lawmakers discovered a dysfunctional system that didn’t always communicate. State Rep. Gayle Harrell lead the charge for reform.

“We realized that mental health and substance abuse were such key drivers in child abuse.”

At the forefront is a new, no wrong door policy. Mike Hansen, the President of the FL Council for Community Mental Health says the policy says everyone should be treated, no matter where they show up.

“Something happened to someone on the street.  Police office pickup up someone, maybe drunk, or having a problem. It was n’t really clear who was supposed to take care of them” says Hansen.

Now it will be, as lawmakers  they pump 65 million new dollars into making the parts work together.

“To work with our court system, to work with our jails,  juvenile justice system. Coordinating everything is the key to seeing the improvement we want” says Harrell.

There is a seven percent increase in funding for mental health. That’s a big increase, but still just a drop in the bucket when it comes to need.

Bottom line. A minimum of at least 200 million is still needed, just to make a dent in the problem.

“This is just the first step. and we need to continue fine tuning and more importantly, we need to identify sources of revenue to fund these services” says Hansen.

While only a small step forward, its a step lawmakers weren’t willing to take before the Jonchuck and other tragedies.

Under the bills “no wrong door policy” someone with mental or substance issues must be stabilized and then sent for appropriate treatment, rather than being refused services because they were taken to a wrong facility.

 

Posted in State News | No Comments »

Comments are closed.

copyright © 2016 by Capitol News Service | Powered by Wordpress | Hosted by LyonsHost.com