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Florida Today

August 6, 2004

Reprinted with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

Baker Act reforms will bring savings

The Florida Sheriff's Association appreciates FLORIDA TODAY's continued strong editorial page support for Baker Act reform, which will remedy a deficiency in current law by allowing a court to order someone to mental-health treatment on an outpatient basis.

However, this new law was designed to be implemented using existing services -- its success does not require new funding as implied by the July 27 editorial headlined "Help for mentally ill: Court-ordered treatment could be effective, but lawmakers failed to fund it."

The state currently funds 31 Florida Assertive Community Treatment mobile treatment teams consisting of a doctor, nurses, social workers and other professionals who provide round-the-clock care. They are high-quality but pricey -- each costs $1 million and serves 100 clients.

Unlike the ACT model as applied elsehwhere, Florida's teams cannot require clients to take medication.

A recent study showed hospital costs were more than three times higher for people with schizophrenia if they wouldn't take their meds, which up to 40 percent of Medicaid recipients with schizophrenia won't do. Increasing medication compliance can reduce hospitalization and reduce the cost of services.

Court orders will increase treatment compliance. That not only makes existing services more effective, but it reduces reliance on prohibitively expensive crisis services like emergency hospitalization, 911 calls, and repeated arrests and incarcerations.

It is always true that more people can be helped if more resources are available. Making existing services more cost-efficient will free up more services without needing additional funding.

Donald Eslinger, Sheriff of Seminole County
Sanford