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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #203 |
| Family Emergency Treatment Center |
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| Requester: |
Julian I. Rice, Executive Director |
Organization: |
Mental Health Care, Inc. |
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| Project Title: |
Family Emergency Treatment Center |
Date Submitted |
12/20/2007 8:52:47 AM |
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| Sponsors: |
Joyner |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| The Family Emergency Treatment Center (FETC) has served as a model for the state in jail diversion, the provision of mental health and substance abuse services and law enforcement training. By the provision of standardized training to law enforcement based on a set of criteria developed by the stakeholders, law enforcement officers learn to effectively deal with persons in need of specialized services because officers typically make the initial contact with such persons. A higher level of standardized training of law enforcement is needed statewide. To this end, FETC participates in the Crisis Intervention Team Statewide Coalition. Additionally the model that the FETC has effectively established in Hillsborough County can be replicated at any county, judicial circuit or DCF regional level to better deal with mentally ill persons who otherwise get caught up in the courts, correctional systems, and emergency rooms of hospitals at a much higher cost to the state and local governments. |
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| Recipient: |
Mental Health Care, Inc. |
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Contact: |
Bob Sleczkowski |
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55707 North 22nd Street |
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Contact Phone: |
(813) 244-3017 |
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Tampa 33610 |
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Contact email: |
rslecz@mhcinc.org |
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| Counties: |
Hillsborough |
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| Gov't Entity: |
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Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
Yes |
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| Project Description: |
| The Family Emergency Treatment Center (FETC) is an "urgent care" walk-in clinic operating six days a week assessing persons with mental health and substance abuse problems. FETC's jail diversion efforts provide a less restrictive setting in the community, making it a promising practice as noted in the literature. The "urgent care" clinic provides short-term intensive outpatient treatment consisting of an immediate evaluation or assessment, medication, crisis counseling, case management, and referrals to community resources. The FETC offers a place for people to go who are in urgent need of assistance but do not meet criteria for inpatient care. It is intended to decrease use of costly emergency services and provide an alternative to jail and ultimately the court system for those who can be better served through the mental health system. Essentially, FETC functions as a psychiatric, non-medical triage for the community. A large portion of FETC's work involves law enforcement training. Law enforcement training is a key element of the program to support jail diversion efforts and implementation of Crisis Intervention Teams. The FETC has been able to assist in setting standard criteria for training statewide. This training equips officers to be part of response teams to better answer a call for service involving mentally ill people or substance abusers. The FETC's training component, because of its success and curriculum's flexibility, has assisted other departments within law enforcement agencies when they requested technical assistance with School Resource Officers, Correctional Officers, Dispatchers, etc. |
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| Is this a project related to a federal or state declared disaster? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| There would be a positive fiscal result at the state and local levels with a cheaper, more cost-efficient alternative to jail and a decrease in costly emergency room services respectively. There would be the provision of 2100+ assessments alone with case management and counseling services. The FETC would provide at least 450 staff hours for law enforcement training and 250 hours of community education. As a result of this education, FETC could potentially receive 15-20 referrals per month from law enforcement officers dropping off appropriate clients, 15-20 referrals per month from county hospital emergency departments, and 5-10 referrals per month from the county jail. The training results in cost savings by reducing the number of bookings and decreases law enforcement transports to the jail for persons with mental illness, thereby increasing patrol time.
The state would experience a cost-savings in the court and correctional systems. Court hearings related to criminal cases and Baker Act proceedings would likely be reduced as many of these persons would alternatively be served in the mental health system; likewise a reduction in the state prison system occurs as chronic offenders would be served in the same mental health system. |
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$900,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$1,180,000 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Local |
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Cash Amount |
$ |
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In-kind Amount |
$280,000 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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Yes |
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Fiscal Year: |
2007-08 |
Amount: |
$100,000 |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$900,000 |
To Fund: |
Operations |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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No |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
Unknown |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
State Mental Health Program Office strategy |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation |
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| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? |
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No |
