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Florida Times-Union
February 4, 2004
Reprinted with permission of the author. All rights reserved.
EDITORIAL
Mental health reform now
Under current law, people can be held against their will for psychiatric evaluations. Unlike most states, however, Florida does not allow judges to order outpatient treatment for those found to have a severe mental illness.
There are consequences when these people choose not to get help. One is that the system is overworked, at great expense and without accomplishing anything. One person, according to the Seminole County sheriff, was given 41 Baker Act examinations in 2002.
Also, about 15,000 Floridians with untreated mental illnesses are homeless, and up to 10,000 are in jail. If they were treated, they might lead normal lives.
Critics oppose reform. 'If I have cancer,' one said, 'I am free not to take medication.' The difference is that cancer patients not only are generally capable of making rational decisions, they hurt no one but themselves if they deliberately avoid medication.
Mental illnesses, however, can cause people to prey on others. A Duke University study showed long-term outpatient treatment reduced the risk of arrest by 74 percent and violence by 50 percent.
It's a waste of potential for people with treatable mental illnesses to be living in cardboard boxes or jail cells.
Last year, the Florida House passed a reform bill, allowing judges to order treatment, by a vote of 113 to 2. A Senate committee approved the bill unanimously, but it did not reach the Senate floor.
Perhaps Bush's ringing endorsement during a speech to Florida's sheriffs Monday will influence the Senate leadership to give Baker Act reform a higher priority this year.