Subject:
Title
Approval, RE: Re-Designation letter identifying Central Florida Cares Health Systems as the Official Organization to submit Florida Department of Children and Families Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grants for Brevard County
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Fiscal Impact:
There will be no fiscal impact to the General Fund. Any awarded grants will not require matching funds from Brevard County.
Dept/Office:
Housing and Human Services
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested that the Board of County Commissioners approve and authorize the Chair to sign the attached letter re-designating Central Florida Cares Health Systems, Inc. as the official organization to submit, on behalf of Brevard County, Florida Department of Children and Families Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grants and re-delegating the local Public Safety Coordinating Council as the Planning Council for future grants.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
The Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grant Program (CJMHSA) was created by the 2007 Florida Legislature (394.656, Florida Statutes), and is housed within the Florida Department of Children and Families. On January 9, 2018, the Board of County Commissioners approved Central Florida Care Health Systems, Inc. (CFCHS) to apply on behalf of Brevard County for a Planning Grant, which is focused on creating a strategic plan for systemic change in the identification, intervention, and treatment for adults with behavioral healthcare needs. The Commission also appointed the Brevard County Public Safety Coordinating Council as the planning council for the grant as is required by Florida Statute 394.657.
CFCHS is a not-for-profit organization contracted by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to act as the local Managing Entity (ME) overseeing state-funded mental health and substance abuse treatment services in Circuits 9 and 18 (Brevard, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties). Nineteen members make up the Board of Directors for CFCHS, including six members from Brevard County, with Ian Golden, Housing and Human Services Department Director, serving as the Vice President. As an ME, they are a behavioral health administrative and management organization, and their primary focus is to promote a comprehensive, seamless system of recovery and resiliency to those individuals in the community who need these services.
A Planning Grant was awarded in 2019 and subsequently, in 2022 an Implementation Grant was given to expand Crisis Intervention Team Training (CIT) and Adult Mobile Crisis Co-Responder Teams (MRT). CIT is a community partnership of law enforcement, mental health and addiction professionals, individuals who live with mental illness and/or addiction disorders, their families, and other partners to improve community responses to mental health crises. While CIT programs are known for CIT-trained law enforcement officers, successful programs also focus on improving the crisis response system, advocating for needed services, and strengthening partnerships across the community. The primary goal of the adult MRT program is to increase public safety, allow for a more immediate response for an individual in a behavioral health crisis to access mental health services, and divert individuals in behavioral health crisis from entering the criminal justice system and emergency department admissions. A secondary goal is to connect individuals with community resources and treatment services for adults who have a mental illness, substance use disorders, or co-occurring disorders who are at risk of entering the criminal justice system.
Future grant applications will seek to supplement existing services and where possible expand to underserved areas of the County. The target population will remain adults, who are “at-risk” of involvement in the criminal justice system and who have factors associated with possible criminal behavior, such as: homelessness and other unstable living conditions, a history of victimization or abuse, significant transitions (recent release from jail, re-entry to the community from prison or a forensic facility, etc.), or a history of involvement in the justice system.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
None