TREATMENT, NOT JAIL: Investing in Rational System Change Floridas New Reinvestment Act

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TREATMENT, NOT JAIL Investing in Rational
System Change Floridas New Reinvestment Act

• Presented by
• Michele Saunders, LCSW
• Judge Mark Speiser

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Focus of Presentation

• Floridas Landscape the crisis
• Development of the Reinvestment Act to address
  the crisis
• Effective advocacy strategies
• Components of the Criminal Justice, Mental Health
  and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Act
• How this new Act is providing necessary resources
  to local communities to Create more Effective
  Services

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Floridas Landscape

• Funding for community based services flat for
  over 10 years
• Rank 48th in Nation per capita for mental health
  and substance abuse funding
• Rank 12th in Forensic spending
• Over 125,000 people with serious mental illnesses
  booked into jail annually
• Roughly 150,000 children and adolescents are
  involved with the Juvenile Justice System

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Floridas Landscape

• Jail budgets increasing to cover costs
• Increased liability
• The Last Straw Lawsuit brought against DCF
  Administrator for failing to comply with the law
  to move people deemed incompetent to stand trial
  to a forensic bed within 15 days people
  lingering in jails

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Definition of Crisis

• A Time of great danger or trouble, often one
  which threatens to result in unpleasant
  consequences
• A Turning point in the course of anything,
  decisive or crucial time, stage or event.

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Crisis in Mandarin Chinese
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Comprehensive Approach vs. Quick Fixes

• Align state policy making and budgets with what
  works
• Increase use of best practices and evidenced
  based practices
• Allow local flexibility
• Build State, local, public, private partnerships

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Comprehensive Approach vs. Quick Fixes

• Increase cross system collaboration
• Increase capacity of community based services
• Decrease jail expenditures
• Reinvest savings or cost avoidance spending back
  into the community based system

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Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Reinvestment Act

• Modeled after the Federal Mentally Ill Offender
  Treatment and Crime Reduction Act
• Similar format as the BJA Matching Grant Program

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Advocacy A Necessary Component for Creating
Effective Programs
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The Power of One Voice The Key Partners for
Advocacy

• Florida Partners In Crisis
• Criminal Justice, behavioral healthcare and
  consumer advocacy leaders
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corporation
  
• Legislatively created corporation to review and
  provide recommendations to the legislature about
  needs for the system
• Board members appointed by Governor, Senate
  President and Speaker of the House
• The Florida Association of Counties
• Trade Association for Florida Counties
• Sheriffs in local counties run the jail

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Our Advocacy Strategies

• THE FORGOTTEN FLOOR

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Our Advocacy Strategies
Treatment, Not Jail Investing in Community
Solutions to Floridas Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Crisis
Florida Partners in Crisis 2007 Legislative
Agenda
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Our Advocacy Strategies

• Organized Op Ed pieces from key members
• Organized testimony at committee meetings
• Created various handouts
• Developed a Button SB 542
• Members met with local legislators
• High profile members met with key legislators
  role of judiciary and law enforcement
• Calls, emails and letter campaign

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Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Reinvestment Act

• The components of the ACT
• How it works
• The awards
• Local county projects

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Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Reinvestment Act

• Jointly funded by Healthcare and Criminal Justice
  Appropriations Committees
• 3.8 million appropriated 1 year planning or 3
  year implementation/expansion grants
• Funds are matched dollar for dollar by the local
  counties
• Established local planning councils
• Oversight by a state Policy Council
• Create a Technical Assistance Center at the
  Florida Mental Health Institute

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Significance

• Begins a county and state partnership to reduce
  the number of individuals with substance abuse
  and/or mental health disorders in local jails and
  state prisons.
• Provides Florida with the necessary tools to
  redesign our fragmented mental health system.

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General Purpose

• Provide matching grant funding dollars to
  counties that will
• increase public safety
• avert increase spending on criminal justice
• improve the accessibility and effectiveness of
  treatment services for adults and juveniles who
  have mental illness, substance abuse disorders,
  or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse
  disorders.

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Policy Councils Role

• Work in conjunction with grantee counties
• Ensure that effective strategies developed are
  disseminated statewide
• Establish a state-local dialogue for policy and
  budget development and for system change and
  improvements
• Coordinate its work with the newly created
  Technical Assistance Center
• Prepare an annual report to the legislature

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Technical Assistance Center

• The Reinvestment Act created the Criminal
  Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse
  Technical Assistance Center at the Louis de la
  Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the
  University of South Florida. Its primary
  functions are
• To provide technical assistance to counties for
  the preparation and implementation of grants
• Assesses the impact of grant awards on county
  criminal justice systems
• To serve as a clearinghouse for information about
  criminal justice, mental health and substance
  abuse issues, including best practices.

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Awards and Description of Local Programs
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Types of Programs

• CIT Programs
• Outreach
• Housing
• Mental Health Courts
• Forensic Case Managers
• Forensic Probation
• Increase use of Peer Specialists

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BROWARD COUNTY
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Next Steps

• Work with counties who received grants for
  successful implementation
• Work with Legislature to sustain funding and
  expand funding
• Build on this legislation with additional
  legislation for effectively invest in rational
  system change away from the justice system
• Use this legislation to help Create More
  Effective Services

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Contact information

• Michele Saunders, LCSW
• Executive Director
• Florida Partners in Crisis
• 407/574-7182
• Michele.fpic_at_comcast.net
• Judge Mark Speiser
• 17th Judicial Circuit Court
• Felony Mental Health Court
• 954/831-7805
• mspeiser_at_17th.flcourts.org