Florida works to get help for people with mental illnesses outside the prison system

From the Florida Times-Union:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ­— State officials working to keep Floridians with mental illnesses out of the criminal justice system moved one step closer to winning a legislative boost for their blueprint when a key committee approved a bill March 24 backing their plan.

The measure, approved by the Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Committee, authorizes three pilot sites that supporters hope will serve as a model for how to deal with tens of thousands of state residents who are in jail or under state supervision despite their condition. It follows a 2007 report by the Florida Supreme Court that found lacking the state’s methods for dealing with mentally ill offenders.

More than 30,000 Floridians with mental illnesses are in jail and another 40,000 are under supervision, according to the Supreme Court’s report, while an overwhelming majority of the 150,000 juvenile offenders are also believed to have a mental illness.

The state also maintains 1,700 beds, at a cost of $250 million a year, for defendants who are being treated so they can be fit to stand trial. In most cases, those individuals are convicted and then sentenced to time served.

Within 10 years, the cost of those beds is expected to double.

“It is the worst money the state spends. ... It is the true definition of insanity,” said Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon.

By encouraging more community-based care for the inmates, Sheldon and other supporters say, the state can actually save money by reducing the number of times mentally ill inmates shuffle in and out of the criminal justice system and by treating the individuals before they end up in the emergency room.

Supporters also hope the measure will cut back on the amount of time police spend dealing with mentally ill offenders.

“It will enable our law enforcement officers all across our state to more effectively be able to do their jobs,” said Department of Corrections Secretary Walt McNeil. “I think you’ll find the sheriffs across our state will be delighted that we are taking this kind of step to build an infrastructure that gets our jails out of being a mental health facility.”

Miami-Dade County Judge Steven Leifman, tapped by the Supreme Court to work on mental health issues, said only nonviolent criminals would be eligible for the community services instead of jail.

“This is not a bill to get people out of the system that should be in the system,” Leifman said. “This is to keep people out that shouldn’t’ be there and get them the kind of treatment so they don’t come back.”

The measure, which passed the House last year, still has to gain the chamber’s approval and pass the Senate.