MIAMI \u2014 Steven Leifman, a judge and finance chair of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, has been on a quest to help address a societal problem he has experienced in his courtroom. <\/p>\n
The issue, he says, are defendants with untreated mental health issues leading to a revolving door of arrest and release. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome people need involuntary commitment,\u201d said Leifman, who has been advocating for a new mental health center<\/a> to treat people suffering from severe mental health illnesses in order to keep them off the street and out of jail. \u201cThe problem is, community mental health, only deals with the immediate crisis. There is no long-term care after that and these are chronic illnesses and the system is so fragmented you can\u2019t even get people to the other parts of the system that they need to maintain recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n Leifman has even secured funds, which includes opioid settlement dollars, to launch a two-year pilot program at a facility located at 2200 NW Seventh Ave. in Miami\u2019s Allapattah neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cThe building has every service under one roof so that it is seamless,\u201d said Leifman. \u201cThere is a crisis stabilization unit, a short-term residential facility, there is housing, there is psychological treatment, primary, dental, there is a courtroom in there so we can have a hearing right there so we don\u2019t break the chain and people get they need the services they need.\u201d <\/p>\n What remains to open the new mental health center is approval from county commissioners. <\/p>\n But during a Miami-Dade County Intergovernmental and Economic Impact meeting Wednesday, an agenda item sponsored by District 7 County Commissioner Raquel Regalado<\/a> didn\u2019t make it out of committee. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is very sad that it has been deferred without a time certain,\u201d said Regalado. \u201cWe have people who are bipolar and schizophrenic and they need to be put into a facility like this in order to receive the care. Some \u2018want\u2019 to live on the street because of their mental health. We have a need, I think the board understands the need, I just don\u2019t think they understand the Center and the work that has been done, this is important to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the commissioners are concerned about what the long-term costs will be to run the facility with programming partners once the one-time installment of funds is exhausted. Others wanted to learn more about eligibility requirements. <\/p>\n Commissioners decided to defer the item without a time certain date of return. The committee\u2019s chairwoman, District 5 Commissioner Vicki Lopez, is calling for a workshop to gather a variety of community stakeholders together before the item comes back.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd every day that goes by, we are not providing the service, and that is really the sad part,\u201d said Regalado. \u201cSo I ask that everyone reach out to the commissioners. This should go before the full board of county commission. This has no reason to be continue to be stuck in committee, it needs to go to the full board so the full board can have this conversation and vote it up or down once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n Added Leifman: \u201cWe are not asking them to allocate one penny at this point. I don\u2019t know what the politics are that got involved with this, it is a little frustrating candidly, but I do believe if we do a workshop and we can show the all the dollars, how we got to all of the numbers, they should be quite comfortable getting this project opened.\u201d<\/p>\n BY THE NUMBERS<\/p>\n The Homeless Trust tells Local 10 News that 25% of its population self-reports having a mental health illness, and 10% report having substance use. <\/p>\n Leifman says about two-thirds of Miami-Dade\u2019s jail population suffers from mental health problems.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you want to keep doing the same thing,\u201d said Leifman. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense to me. This building pays for itself, and you know what, if it doesn\u2019t, you can repurpose the building in 2-3 years.\u201d <\/p>\n The budget breakdown for the center at can be found on Appendix A<\/a> of the linked document.<\/p>\n MAYOR\u2019S MARCH 3 MEMO<\/p>\n