Palm Beach Post (Florida)

May 29, 2024 Wednesday

1 Edition

As we come to the end of Mental Health Awareness Month, it is imperative that we focus on mental health advocacy. For far too long, there has been a stigma associated with seeking treatment for mental health disorders whether it be cerebral issues, such as depression, or physical issues, such as anorexia, cutting and bulimia.

When not properly treated, individuals can fall into a tailspin that can escalate well beyond what preventative treatment can address. Preventative treatment can help address the root cause of mental health issues well before reactive care does. Once an individual’s mental well-being has spiraled to where the primary provider is local law enforcement, the likelihood of getting stuck in a cycle of receiving public mental health services is extremely high.

This is the primary reason I have focused on children’s mental health once I was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. If we can address these issues at a younger age and provide preventative care, then the wellbeing of so many children can be preserved.

Some progress but more to be done

Over the past eight legislative sessions, I have filed, passed and had signed into law five mental-health bills by two different governors. In 2017, I passed House Bill 1183. The bill created a Baker Act Task Force to investigate the use of the Baker Act on minors, with particular focus on children sent for medical evaluation by school authorities. The task force met for six months and provided a list of recommendations to the Florida Legislature.

In 2019, I filed bills based on several of the task force’s recommendations, HB 361 and HB 363. Both were enacted. I followed that up in 2020 with HB 945, which requires the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration to identify children who are frequent users of crisis stabilization services and to meet their behavioral health needs. This bill also created protocols for Mobile Response Teams (“MRTs”) for de-escalation of behavioral health events at schools, a measure lauded in a statewide grand jury report assessing Florida’s mental health framework.

In 2023, I filed and passed HB 829, which requires the Department of Children and Families to update and maintain key information resources that help law enforcement officers, school administrators, clinicians, facility directors and others who implement the Baker Act to understand the law and act correctly. The legislation helps preserve an individual’s liberty while ensuring those who truly need treatment will get it.

In this past session – my last due to term limits – I filed HB 951, and I am proud that all of the substantive elements of the bill were amended into the omnibus mental health bill, HB 7021. The amended language requires law enforcement officers to provide a parent or guardian with the name, address, and contact information for the facility within the designated receiving system to which the officer is transporting the minor, for a mental health evaluation. It also creates an Office of Children’s Behavioral Health Ombudsman to be a central point to receive complaints on behalf of children and adolescents with behavioral health disorders receiving state funded services. This information will be used to improve child and adolescent mental health treatment.

There is still so much that needs to be done. I would like to see a mental health professional at every school in our state. Mental health issues don’t start in high school. They build up over time, and if we can address these issues at an early age then everyone benefits.

I would also love to see a Department of Mental Health, so that all mental health services are under one roof, as opposed to having them under the Department of Children and Families, Agency for Healthcare Administration, and the Department of Health. Sometimes the agencies don’t work with one another, impairing the ability to provide services. I look to continue working to help improve the safety net for so many children that slip through the cracks.

David Silvers is a Democrat representing District 89 in the Florida House of Representatives.

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David Silvers

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