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| Orange County's Goal -- Help Mentally Ill Avoid Time in Jail |
| By Orlando Sentinel |
| Published: 12/16/2002 |
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Rather than taking mentally ill and drug-addled lawbreakers to the Orange County, Fla., Jail or one of the county's busy hospital emergency rooms, law enforcement will have another option come April. The Orange County Commission voted 4-0 to open an innovative facility that would offer drug and mental-health screenings, short-term treatment and recommendations for care to misdemeanor offenders, often in lieu of jail time. The idea behind the Central Receiving Center is to end the cycle of illness, petty crime and jail that often plagues the mentally ill, drug-addicted and homeless -- and to reduce the population at the overcrowded county jail, where the inmate population has risen to 4,020. The facility is licensed to hold 3,118. Last year, law-enforcement officers in Orange County transported more than 4,000 people with drug or mental problems to eight emergency rooms and to Lakeside Alternative's crisis unit for medical evaluations and treatment, according to county estimates. Currently, the only alternative to the jail for drug abusers is the Center for Drug-Free Living, which operates 37 treatment beds. Supporters say it will also save law-enforcement manpower hours. The county commission approved spending $1.2 million a year for three years to help fund the Central Receiving Center, which will be in the former Princeton Hospital on Mercy Drive in west Orlando, which also holds a mental-health-treatment center run by Lakeside Alternatives Inc. The roughly $5.1 million project is a joint effort of the county, state, Florida Hospital and Orlando Regional Healthcare. In addition to 20 beds, Lakeside has agreed to provide staffers to help run the program. It also agreed Tuesday to pay Orange $896,994 it overcharged the county more than a year ago. Because Lakeside also overbilled the state Department of Children and Families last year by $1.3 million, Commissioners Homer Hartage and Linda Stewart asked that County Comptroller Martha Haynie review its accounting practices and keep tabs on the finances of the Central Receiving Center. The Central Receiving Center will be an alternative for mentally ill and drug-addicted residents arrested for committing misdemeanors only -- those picked up for felonies will be taken to the county jail. If the government and health officials' theory holds true, the center could help solve the underlying problems leading those suffering from mental illness or drug addiction to criminal behavior. |
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