How Florida Failed The Mentally Ill

How The Department Of Children And Families Failed The Mentally Sick

For those who fall into the category of normal, the prison experience is dehumanizing at best, at worst, it can turn small timers into broken down human wreckage, drug addicts or much worse. For the the mentally ill, it is an experience that is goes beyond ones fear of hell. For one major reason, the often violent environment of prison lacks the contusive atmosphere that a mentally sick individual must have in order to get through each day. The lack of training that police receive in dealing with this population leads to abuse and in some cases unindented shootings of the mentally ill. So it is little wonder why so many families in Florida are up in arms over the situation the Department of Children and Families have put their loved ones into.

At last count there are  222 mentally ill patience in prison waiting for their transfer to a state hospital that can care for them. Florida law states that these inmates must be transferred within 15 days after their arrest but, unfortunately many go months before they are moved to a mental facility. And for patients like Joseph Van Buren, this has his wife extremely worried. Joseph entered the prison system while attempting suicide. When the police arrived, he fought them off but, was found incompetent to stand trial. He also suffers form  schizophrenia with symptoms of  auditorial  delusions. It is believed his desire to silence these voices led to his attempted suicide. He is also known to fall into mental stages where has his wife stated, he didn't recognize her.

This situation created by The Department of Children And Families could lead to the arrest of the head of the agency, Lucy Hadi. Under her watch the state of mental care in the Tampa area has  deuterated to the point that judge Debra Behnke feels forced to speak out. She questions why they expect anyone would follow the law after witnessing the stages of corruption within the DCF. And she is certainly not the only one who is pushing for meaningful changes to be made in the agency from top to bottom. But one most wonder if the imprisonment of Hadi is going to make any difference. For one thing, the list of those prisoners that are waiting for a transfer is long and has helped to create this log jam. Second, corruption is like cock roaches, if you can see it then the problem is far worse than you think. And getting rid of Hadi still leaves the foundation in place.

For more information, please check out the link below. Until Next time. 

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