As Florida's legislative session begins on Tuesday, the Florida Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use is urging lawmakers to prioritize the creation of a statewide behavioral health data repository.

The recommendation, highlighted in the commission's Annual Interim Report released in January, aims to centralize data on mental health trends, costs, access and outcomes to improve care quality and ensure Floridians receive the help they need.

Jay Reeve, chair of the commission and CEO of Apalachee Center in Tallahassee, is a clinical psychologist with 40 years of experience and stressed the repository would follow strict federal guidelines to protect patient privacy.

"We're going to have to develop a data governance structure that's very transparent and make sure that there is really no way to breach any of the data we receive that is identified data," Reeve urged.

Reeve is particularly focused on de-identified data, which the proposed repository would use to track mental health trends, improve treatment and guide statewide planning. The commission's work influenced last year's Live Healthy Act and Senate Bill 330. This year, its data repository proposal is gaining traction, with language included in Senate Bill 168.

The recommendation of the repository comes as Florida faces increasing demand for mental health services, particularly among children. Reeve noted while the state has made strides in expanding access to care, such as through mobile crisis response teams, stigma remains a major barrier to treatment.

"Every year I'm increasingly convinced that the biggest barrier to services and service utilization is stigma," Reeve stressed. "I think that's the number one through 50."

Opponents, including some privacy advocates, worry even de-identified data could be reidentified with advanced technology, putting vulnerable populations at risk. Additionally, some mental health advocacy groups have proposed alternative solutions, such as increasing funding for community-based mental health programs rather than investing in a centralized data system.


get more stories like this via email

"Uplift Wisconsin" is just one of the latest casualties from a $210 million cut in federal health funds to the state.

The "warmline" operates seven days a week for 10 hours a day and provides peer-led support through certified professionals with lived experiences.

Martina Gollin Graves, president and CEO of Mental Health America of Wisconsin, which runs the program, said people are able to talk to peers who could empathize with them in a way a therapist or family member might not be able to.

"There is lots of testimony from the callers who actually utilize the warmline," Graves explained. "Talking about if they hadn't called our warmline they wouldn't have reached out for support to anyone else."

She pointed out some people called daily and added the program had been crucial in preventing costly emergency room visits and reducing suicide rates across the state. Last year, more than 24,000 people called into the warmline.

The program was initially funded three years ago through pandemic grants the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently axed in an effort to curb what it called taxpayer waste on a crisis it said is over.

Graves countered in these uncertain times, the service has never been more needed.

"It couldn't have come at a worse time when we are seeing increased rates of anxiety and depression," Graves argued. "People are struggling, kids and adolescents are struggling in school settings as well as adults in their workplaces."

The program's annual funds were set to expire in September but the last six months of funding were abruptly canceled due to federal cuts. Graves noted they will have to furlough 20 people in the next week.

"These cuts are impacting real people," Graves emphasized. "I'm really worried about the fallout and what that's going to look like in your community and my community in the upcoming days and weeks."

Continued funding for the program was earmarked in the recent state budget proposal but the funds are not a sure thing and would not be available until the fall. To bridge the gap, Graves added they have launched a campaign to try and save the warmline, but for now, it will stop service on Saturday.


get more stories like this via email

Tennessee advocates are gathering at the state Capitol Wednesday to urge lawmakers to prioritize mental health funding and policies to strengthen families, communities and youth.

According to state records, 937,000 adults in the state have a mental health condition.

Katrina Gay, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Tennessee, said her grassroots group is backing Gov. Bill Lee's budget with more investments in mental health and advocating for PTSD treatment for first responders. She explained the legislation they are opposing.

"We're also going to advocate to make sure that only qualified medical professionals have prescribing privileges for people with mental health conditions," Gay explained. "There's a bill in the House and Senate that would grant medication prescriptive authority to psychologists, and we are strongly opposed to that."

Gay added over the years, they have pushed for key legislation, starting with Tennessee's first mental health parity bill in the late '90s, and continue advocating for funding for services and support of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and more.

One in six Tennesseans aged 6 through 17 experiences a mental health disorder each year. Gay noted they advocate year-round with community engagement, which includes the Young Adult Advisory Group and NAMI on Campus clubs, webinars for college students who are emerging advocates. She added an in-person training session for advocates is Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Cordell Hull Building.

"We have more than 50 leaders coming from across the state in person to meet with members of the General Assembly that are in the districts in which they live," Gay pointed out. "They can educate lawmakers, reinforce their experiences and forge stronger relationships."

Gay stressed there is plenty of legislation on mass violence, and while her group is not addressing specific bills, they urged lawmakers to consider the effect on youth, especially those with disabilities. This summer, they will promote approaches supporting positive youth-adult relationships, better educator training and student empowerment to create safer schools without fear or trauma.


get more stories like this via email

As Mississippi grapples with a growing mental health crisis, state and local leaders are being urged to prioritize diversion programs and crisis care systems to prevent the unnecessary incarceration of people with mental illness.

It is estimated 2 million people with serious mental illness are booked into jails across the U.S. each year.

Shannon Scully, director of justice policy and initiatives for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said in Mississippi, where mental health resources are often scarce and the incarceration rate is among the highest in the nation, it means more than 19,000 people in state custody.

"The criminal justice system disproportionately impacts people with mental illness," Scully explained. "They are overrepresented in those spaces, and that's mostly because historically, our communities have underfunded and under-resourced behavioral health."

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports 44% of people in jails and 43% in state and federal prisons have a mental illness. The Magnolia State has made some progress in recent years, leveraging federal funding to expand mental health services. However, advocates warned proposed budget cuts could jeopardize the gains.

Mississippi's prison system has long been under scrutiny for overcrowding and poor conditions, and a lack of mental health services exacerbates the problem. Scully pointed to "nuisance laws" criminalizing behaviors associated with untreated mental illness, such as public disturbances or sleeping in public, as key drivers of incarceration.

"Instead of implementing policies that may connect these folks to crisis services or to supportive housing, they are charged with a crime or they are ticketed," Scully emphasized. "They become involved with the criminal justice system."

As March marks Criminal Justice Awareness Month, she urged Mississippians to learn more about how mental health intersects with the justice system and to push for reforms. Scully promotes the importance of community engagement, pointing to resources like reimaginecrisis.org, where people can track legislation and advocacy efforts for mental health diversion and crisis care in their state.