Women In Government Hosts Florida State Briefing
Pictured Left to Right: Representative Audrey Gibson, Mary Brooks Beatty, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp, Senator Evelyn Lynn

 

Women In Government (WIG) welcomed Florida female state legislators in Tallahassee on Tuesday, October 6, at the Florida State Briefing and Luncheon. The Briefing was hosted by Senator Evelyn Lynn and Representative Audrey Gibson. WIG President Mary Brooks Beatty greeted the legislators and spoke about WIG’s work both in Florida and nationally.

Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp also joined the luncheon to reaffirm Florida’s commitment to addressing mental health access issues.

Judi Evans, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Florida, spoke about alternatives to incarcerating the mentally ill. She reported the following statistics about the connections between imprisonment and mental illness:

  • On any given day, over 70,000 Florida residents under some form of confinement have serious mental illnesses or co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders
  • There are more than 10 times as many people with mental illnesses in Florida’s jails and prisons than in all state psychiatric hospitals combined
  • Those with mental illnesses account for almost one-third of the growth in Florida’s incarcerated population

Ms. Evans discussed the Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Crime Reduction Act, which creates specialized community treatment services to divert people with mental illnesses from the criminal justice system by investing funding, setting accountability standards and requiring cross-system collaboration.

She also talked about current Florida diversion plans that could be applied in any state. Florida’s plans include:

  • Reducing re-arrest rates
  • Enhancing public safety
  • Saving money for law enforcement agencies and county jails
  • Providing effective treatment at a lower cost than in state forensic treatment facilities
  • Linking former inmates to treatment, helping them get training, jobs and housing

Many thanks to our hosts and all who participated! For more information on NAMI, please visit www.nami.org.
 

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