| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to behavioral health; creating the |
| 3 | Behavioral Health Community Solutions Pilot Program in |
| 4 | Polk County; providing purposes for the program; providing |
| 5 | for cooperative efforts; creating the Behavioral Health |
| 6 | Forensic Project for the Tenth Judicial Circuit; providing |
| 7 | goals; expanding the current crisis response team; |
| 8 | creating three forensic teams; expanding the mental health |
| 9 | court; providing for a step-down residential facility; |
| 10 | providing for a central receiving facility; providing an |
| 11 | effective date. |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Section 1. Behavioral Health Community Solutions Pilot |
| 16 | Program; creation; purpose; membership.-- |
| 17 | (1) There is created the Behavioral Health Community |
| 18 | Solutions Pilot Program in Polk County. The purposes of the |
| 19 | program are to identify gaps in service in relation to |
| 20 | behavioral health issues in the criminal justice system and to |
| 21 | design a comprehensive system to mitigate problems. |
| 22 | (2) The pilot program shall consist of the cooperative |
| 23 | efforts of the Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Peace River |
| 24 | Center. |
| 25 | (3) The Behavioral Health Community Solutions Pilot |
| 26 | Program is created in the Tenth Judicial Circuit. |
| 27 | Section 2. Behavioral Health Forensic Project for the |
| 28 | Tenth Judicial Circuit; creation; goals.-- |
| 29 | (1) There is created a Behavioral Health Forensic Project |
| 30 | for the Tenth Judicial Circuit. The purpose of the project is to |
| 31 | divert people from the community jails and criminal justice |
| 32 | system who would benefit from other available community services |
| 33 | and treatments. The following changes shall be implemented to |
| 34 | assist in the success of this project: |
| 35 | (2) Expansion of the crisis response team: |
| 36 | (a) Twenty new members of the crisis response team shall |
| 37 | be hired to cover the three counties in the Tenth Judicial |
| 38 | Circuit of Florida. Team members shall be located in the sheriff |
| 39 | department's substations, allowing the team members to work |
| 40 | closely in collaboration with each of the three county sheriff's |
| 41 | departments. |
| 42 | (b) The purpose of the team is to provide local law |
| 43 | enforcement officers with 24-hour support to help prevent arrest |
| 44 | by: |
| 45 | 1. Assisting law enforcement officers in the field with |
| 46 | calls pertaining to behavioral health issues. |
| 47 | 2. Assisting law enforcement with assessing and |
| 48 | determining if issues involving mental health or substance abuse |
| 49 | exist, such as those necessitating the use of the Baker Act or |
| 50 | substance abuse detoxification programs, and by accessing |
| 51 | immediate resources. |
| 52 | 3. Supporting law enforcement officers by providing the |
| 53 | followup contact, communication, and monitoring of previous |
| 54 | crisis call-outs, thereby preventing recurrences of individual |
| 55 | crisis situations. |
| 56 | (3) Creation of three forensic teams: |
| 57 | (a) There shall be three forensic teams, each consisting |
| 58 | of seven people. Six of the people on the team shall be |
| 59 | qualified in mental health or co-occurring services and trained |
| 60 | in forensic evaluations. One person shall have training and |
| 61 | experience from the criminal justice system and shall serve as |
| 62 | the liaison from the criminal justice system to the team. |
| 63 | (b) Each team shall be located in community behavioral |
| 64 | health offices in close proximity to each of the three counties' |
| 65 | judicial or correctional facilities. |
| 66 | (c) The purpose of each forensic team is to reduce the |
| 67 | amount of time people suffering from mental illness or co- |
| 68 | occurring issues spend in county jails and the criminal justice |
| 69 | system. |
| 70 | (4) Expansion of the mental health court: |
| 71 | (a) The current criminal judicial system within the Tenth |
| 72 | Judicial Circuit shall be expanded to provide for the specific |
| 73 | recognition of judicial cases that are complicated by behavioral |
| 74 | health issues, especially misdemeanor cases. Funding of the |
| 75 | previously identified forensic teams shall provide for the case |
| 76 | management of behavioral health cases involving misdemeanor |
| 77 | charges. |
| 78 | (b) Attention to the mental health cases shall decrease |
| 79 | the amount of time people with behavioral health issues spend in |
| 80 | county jails and the criminal justice system. |
| 81 | (5) Conversion of an existing facility into a step-down |
| 82 | residential facility: |
| 83 | (a) The Peace River Center has an existing facility in |
| 84 | Lakeland that shall be converted into an eight-bed step-down |
| 85 | residential facility for individuals released from the state |
| 86 | forensic facilities. Funds shall be allocated to provide for the |
| 87 | daily food, shelter, activity, programming, and increased |
| 88 | supervision and monitoring of people residing in this unlocked |
| 89 | community facility. |
| 90 | (b) The purpose of this step-down residential facility is |
| 91 | to increase the number of individuals that would be discharged |
| 92 | from the state forensic hospitals in areas that lack community |
| 93 | housing resources. |
| 94 | (6) Conversion of an existing facility into a central |
| 95 | receiving facility: |
| 96 | (a) The Peace River Center shall provide a facility that |
| 97 | may be converted into a central receiving facility. This |
| 98 | facility shall be at a location in which people are assessed and |
| 99 | either transferred to the most appropriate stabilization or |
| 100 | detoxification inpatient facility or connected and referred to |
| 101 | outpatient community resources. This central receiving facility |
| 102 | shall be similar to the Orange County Central Receiving |
| 103 | Facility. |
| 104 | (b) The facility shall be located in the area that has the |
| 105 | highest volume of cases handled under the Baker Act, with |
| 106 | satellite offices located in other areas of the Tenth Judicial |
| 107 | Circuit. |
| 108 | (c) A collaborative group shall be responsible for |
| 109 | developing a system of transportation between participating |
| 110 | facilities and agencies. |
| 111 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |