Florida Partners in Crisis

2008 Legislative Priorities Summary

Collaborative multi-system planning at the local level to create and expand effective programs for diverting people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders from the criminal justice system is a major focus of the Partners in Crisis 2008 legislative action agenda.

Partners is recommending that limited state funds be maximized by being invested in a range of “front-end” community-based services, funded in part by savings achieved from reducing the number people who are admitted to the state’s more costly forensic treatment facilities.

Through early intervention and diversion, individuals with mental health and substance abuse treatment needs can be more effectively treated and avoid being caught up in a cycle of repeated arrests and incarceration. Such programs are a key element to the system transformation envisioned by the recent Florida Supreme Court report on transforming the state’s fragmented system of care.

The Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grant program enacted in 2007 provides a mechanism to fund the community efforts necessary to plan and implement effective intervention and diversion programs, according to Partners Board Chairman Judge Mark Speiser of Broward County.

Expansion of this matching grant program — which drew applications from 26 Florida counties its first year — was included in the Supreme Court’s recommendations. Combined with funding to implement the Supreme Court’s recommendations, the reinvestment grants will give communities the tools for system change, Speiser said.

To learn more about Partners in Crisis’ priority issues, download a copy of the 2008 legislative packet, “Treatment Not Jail: Cost-Effective Alternatives.” The first page in the packet is a brief overview designed to give a quick look at Partners’ priorities and to be used as a handout. Additional information about the priority funding items and background statistics are contained in the following pages.