Palm Beach County invests in mental health care. Well done
The board voted unanimously last month to contribute $10 million toward construction of a $60 million facility, possibly near Riviera Beach or Lake Worth Beach.
The challenge now will be how to adequately serve those in need during the five years it will take to get the new center up and running. The board plans to consider funding for treatment of children in the meantime, at an upcoming workshop.
The vote represents a serious response to a complex issue that affects many thousands of Palm Beach County residents and their families. Data provided by the county listed 27,397 mental disorders in 2022 that required emergency room visits or hospitalization. More than 2,000 of those hospitalized were children.
More: Palm Beach County upset hospital ends Baker Act services for troubled children under 12
The vote comes with the realization that Palm Beach County cannot rely upon private-sector providers to handle the demand.
HCA Florida JFK North Hospital in West Palm Beach, for example, decided as of Dec. 1 to stop hospitalizing Baker Act patients under the age of 12, forcing them to be shuttled to Martin County for in-patient treatment. Florida's Baker Act law allows a person to be held involuntarily in a mental health center for up to three days.
That means there's no room at the inn, so to speak, for 100 of our children a year in this county. One can only imagine what a cruelty that imposes on the children and their families already suffering from the heartache such circumstances present. That it should happen in a county with such a huge abundance of wealth is unforgivable.
The facility plan, presented to commissioners by County Administrator Verdenia Baker, calls for an in-patient treatment center of about 60,000 square feet, at a 6-to-8-acre site yet to be determined. The facility, whose $30 million in annual operating costs will be covered by the county's taxpayer-funded Health Care District, will treat those with substance abuse as well as mental health problems. More than just a stand-alone center, it's intended to be part of a countywide strategy to develop "a coordinated, centralized mental health system," as reported by Palm Beach Post reporter Mike Diamond.
The more in-patient capacity the county builds, the more it appropriately takes the burden and expense off police and jails to address individuals in crisis. They'll benefit instead from more sustained treatment by trained mental health professionals.
The decision won support from the Palm Beach County Chiefs of Police Association, as well as prosecutors and public defenders. "It is the only program that is a solution from start to finish," Gulfstream Police Chief Richard Jones, president of the county chiefs association, told the commission. "There is clearly a void."
Thanks again, to the county staff and commissioners, for stepping up. We look forward to them seeing this project through and to their building upon it.
Tony Doris is editorial page editor for The Palm Beach Post.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County smart to fill mental health care gap | Opinion
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