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RESOLUTION URGING PASSAGE OF THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH & SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT & CRIME REDUCTION ACT

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WHEREAS, the cost to provide mental health services in Florida�s prisons and forensic treatment facilities currently exceeds a half billion dollars annually; and
WHEREAS, based on recent rates of growth, state expenditures are projected to increase by as much as a billion dollars per year over the next decade; and
WHEREAS, on any given day in Florida, there are more than 17,000 prison inmates, 15,000 local jail detainees and 40,000 individuals under correctional supervision in the community who experience mental illnesses; and
WHEREAS, each year, roughly 125,000 people experiencing acute mental illnesses are booked into Florida jails; and
WHEREAS, Florida currently spends more than $200 million annually on 1,700 beds serving roughly 3,000 individuals under forensic commitment, which accounts for one-third of all adult mental health dollars and two-thirds of all state mental health hospital dollars; and
WHEREAS, Florida currently admits about 1,500 people per year to state hospitals under forensic commitment; and
WHEREAS, if nothing changes, the number of commitments is projected to exceed 3,000 admissions per year in the next decade, at a cost of more than a half billion dollars annually; and
WHEREAS, a recent evaluation by researchers at the Harvard Medical School found that two-thirds of prisoners with mental illnesses in local jails and state and federal prisons across the U.S. were not taking medication at the time of arrest; and
WHEREAS, between 1996 and 2007, the average annual rate of growth among Florida prison inmates with mental illnesses was more than two and a half times that of the general prison population; and
WHEREAS, the number of state prison beds serving inmates with mental illnesses is projected to more than double in the next decade from 17,000 to over 35,000, an increase of nearly 1,900 beds each year, at a cost of over $3.6 billion just for new beds and services; and
WHEREAS, the Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment & Crime Reduction Act is targeted at addressing these issues; and
WHEREAS, key elements of the Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment & Crime Reduction Act include:
? Creation of a comprehensive continuum of specialized home and community-based services designed to address the needs of people with histories of incarceration, homelessness, trauma, and addiction.
? Implementation of strategies that improve access to federal entitlement benefits such as Social Security and Medicaid to help offset treatment costs that are currently funded entirely by state tax dollars.
? Amendment to the Medicaid state plan that will create mechanisms to control growth by capping enrollment under the proposed legislation and limiting initial implementation to areas of the state where larger numbers of people involved in the prison and forensic mental health systems reside.
? Creation of performance standards and accountability measures for providers and communities.
? Implementation and outcomes will be monitored by a statewide leadership group created within the existing Florida Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporation Policy Council; and

WHEREAS, passage of the Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment & Crime Reduction Act would close the revolving door of recidivism, devastation of our families and communities, the breakdown of our criminal justice system, and wasteful spending; and
WHEREAS, passage of the Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment & Crime Reduction Act also would decrease crime, improve public safety, improve public health, decrease injuries to law enforcement officers and people with mental illnesses, decrease demand for costly acute care services in jails, prisons, forensic mental health treatment facilities, emergency rooms, and other crisis settings and decrease rates of chronic homelessness,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urging the passage of the Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment & Crime Reduction Act or similar legislation that would create a safe, effective and cost efficient system of care for people with severe and persistent mental illnesses who are involved in or at risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the Governor, Senate President, House Speaker, and the Chair and Members of the Miami-Dade County State Legislative Delegation.
Section 3. Directs the County's state lobbyists to advocate for the passage of legislation as set forth in Section 1 above, and authorizes and directs that the 2010 State Legislative Package be amended to include this item.