Contact: Ann Arnall, Lee County Human Services, (941) 656-7920

PARTNERS IN CRISIS TO ASK LEGISLATURE FOR MENTAL HEALTH FUNDS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (January 10, 2000) – A local coalition of mental health advocates and professionals is joining a statewide lobbying effort for funding that ultimately could net Southwest Florida millions of dollars more for mental health and substance abuse programs and treatment.

The group – called Partners in Crisis – will hold an 11:30 a.m. kickoff lunch and panel discussion Monday (Jan. 24) at the Salvation Army Fellowship Hall, 10291 McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers. Representatives of the Courts System, State Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff’s Office, Human Rights Advocacy Committee, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Florida Department of Children and Families, Lee County Human Services Department and medical community will discuss how this problem is impacting Lee County.

“Mental health and substance abuse treatment has reached a crisis both nationally and locally because of inadequate funding to meet growing demand,” says Ann Arnall with Lee County Human Services. “The problem locally has become especially acute with recent financial problems at both Charter Glade Behavioral Health System and the Ruth Cooper Center, two of the area’s major providers of mental heath and substance abuse care for the indigent.”

Partners in Crisis groups have been forming throughout Florida after the first group – in Orlando – formed last year and was successful in gaining more state funding for Central Florida. Statewide, the groups are asking the Legislature this year for $150 million more in funding. Southwest Florida’s share could be up to $11.9 million. The Florida Department of Children and Families currently spends about $18.1 million a year for mental health and substance abuse services in Southwest Florida, which includes Collier, Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Sarasota counties. That amount, however, serves only between 15-to-25 percent of our residents who need treatment. The increased funding could raise that to 20-to-33 percent.

Late last year both Ruth Cooper and Charter Glade said they might have to stop accepting indigent – or non-paying – cases because of financial losses and lack of funding. Under that scenario, those with mental health and substance abuse problems remain untreated and often end up in the county’s jail facilities, where treatment is not readily available. These low-level, chronic patients are very expensive to the community because they sometimes turn to crime and cause financial stresses on their families and the community.

Just in Lee County, the number of these patients committed to jail because of lack of beds at treatment facilities has increased significantly in the last several years. “Because of a lack of resources, we’ve been forced to make bad choices such as sending these patients to jail to be stabilized,” says Arnall.

Note to Editors: If your reporters want to be put in touch with a family for a personal story, call Ann Arnall at 656-7920.