Florida’s Legislative Session

Watch videos of specific committee hearings, which are available via the respective Committee pages on the websites of both legislative chambers: www.flsenate.gov and www.myfloridahouse.gov

Also, when you bookmark those two key websites, use the “bills” pages to access information on all the bills that have been filed. If you want to receive email notices from the legislature, check out the “Tracker” on the Senate pages. And when you communicate with a particular legislator or their staff, find them easily on listings of “Senators” and “Representatives” on the two sites. Florida’s legislative offices have also provided helpful guidelines when contacting a local legislator.

For a summary of Florida’s legislative session as related to mental health bills of interest, link here to NAMI Florida’s Legislative Update.

Our own Beth Dees, on the steps of the Florida Capitol as a featured speaker at NAMI Florida’s Rally in Tally event.

NAMI-Tallahassee Lobbys for Mental Health Court from the Beginning

NAMI Tallahassee Board of Directors submitted individual letters of support to all Leon County Commissioners, with copies to relative officials, for the continuation of the Leon County Mental Health Court. For an explanation of the Court and NAMI Tallahassee’s position, please refer to the letter linked here.

History:

Leon County’s Mental Health Court is widely considered a model for other judicial circuits in Florida, a cost-effective investment that is nonetheless in a financial pinch. Mental Health Court is a diversionary program that attempts to connect nonviolent defendants who have mental illnesses with resources that will help them avoid a recurrence of behaviors that led to their arrests in the first place.

While treatment costs less than recurring incarceration, these community-based programs do cost something, and are funded largely by grants. We encourage you to contact your Commissioner to voice both the fiscal and moral importance of Mental Health Court.

Mental Health Court has widespread support from law enforcement. Longtime Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey has been an outspoken champion of this diversionary program, contending that law enforcement “cannot serve as both front-line responders and a treatment system for the indigent mentally ill … who commit crimes as a direct consequence of their illness.”

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mentally ill inmates are among the most expensive, often requiring close confinement and additional medical attention, including expensive psychotropic medications, in addition to the ordinary costs of confinement.

Investing a little bit in a system proven to be a cost-saver would be a solid decision by Leon County commissioners today.

Fighting for Medicaid Expansion: NAMI’s Florida Mental Health Advocacy Coalition (FMHAC) joins Health Care for Florida Coalition

With many of our daily routines gone in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be difficult for some individuals to cope with the new normal. According to the CDC, social distancing can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness that can increases chances of or worsen anxiety and depression. This is why it is important now more than ever for individuals have access to resources they need to support and treat their mental health, especially in the most severe cases. Advocating for Medicaid expansion is one way to ensure the availability of these resources for all.

Florida Mental Health Advocacy Coalition (FMHAC) is a statewide organization that functions as an advocacy component of NAMI Florida in collaboration with Mental Health America. One of the main initiatives FMHAC takes is to promote Medicaid expansion, believing that the impact of expansion can allow currently unserved low-income adults to receive healthcare and eliminate the limited, lengthy and difficult process uninsured adults face to receive potential Medicaid healthcare. Recently FMHAC has joined the Health Care for Florida Coalition to further and strengthen advocacy efforts to improve the lives of those with mental illness and demonstrate to legislators just how important access to mental health resources is.
You as well can help with spreading this message to Florida legislators. NAMI Smarts for Advocacy is offering training in the NAMI Tallahassee sector! By joining our advocacy efforts, you can help promote Medicaid expansion and ensure a future where everyone gets the opportunity for recovery and support.

Please contact us at admin@nami-tallahassee.org if you are interested.