By C1 Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A mental health panel grilled state office candidates about the status of mental health services in the state, after two events raised more questions.
News 4 Jax reports that a 911 call of a grandfather killing his daughter and six children, along with mounting reports of mistreatment of mentally ill inmates, has many questioning if Florida is doing enough for the mentally ill.
“We wait and spend money after the fact rather than being proactive and spending it up front, which would decrease our end finances,” said Donna Duncan of Big Bend Mental Health Coalition.
George Sheldon, who used to run the Department of Children and Families, said that budget cuts haven’t helped. Former corrections secretary Walt McNeil said changes in prisoner treatment has to start with how some inmates serve time.
DCF and the Department of Corrections have implemented sweeping changes to policies in the last month. DCF has reassigned staff to better handle certain domestic cases, and in a complete opposite move, the DOC let go of some corrections officers involved in prisoner mistreatment cases.