Thank you, Chairman Rodriguez, for putting the Mental Health Center before the County’s Appropriations Committee this Wednesday. This legislation represents the culmination of 20 years of effort, following 2004 voter approval of General Obligation Bonds (GOB) to construct a new Mental Health Center. The Resolution before the Miami-Dade County Commission Appropriations Committee seeks approval of the operating plan and budget necessary to open the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery (MCMHR)—a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive diversion and treatment facility designed to replace the costly and ineffective cycle of jail, homelessness, and acute-care hospitalization with a coordinated system of care.
For decades, Miami-Dade County has lived with one of the most shameful statistics in America — our jail has become the largest psychiatric facility in Florida. Every night, roughly 3,500 people with serious mental illness sit behind bars not because they’re dangerous, but because they’re sick and untreated. They cycle endlessly between jail, homelessness, and hospitals — draining our system, our officers, and our taxpayers.
This is not news. Over the last decade, Miami-Dade Corrections has spent nearly $3.9 billion operating our jails — and a staggering $2.5 billion of that went toward inmates with mental health needs. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 16,000 individuals accounted for 1.27 million jail days, costing taxpayers $414 million. Most were charged with nonviolent offenses — people who could have been diverted to treatment. That’s not public safety. That’s public waste.
And yet, a ready-made solution sits empty.
The Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery — a seven-story, 181,000-square-foot facility — has been renovated, inspected, certified, and waiting to open for over a year. Built to consolidate crisis stabilization, addiction treatment, outpatient care, medical and dental services, housing, vocational programs, and even an on-site courtroom — this center is a national model for humane, cost-effective recovery.
It’s fully funded for its first two and a half years through federal ARPA and opioid settlement dollars. Not one cent from local taxpayers. And yet, it remains closed — costing the County more than $5 million a year in maintenance just to sit idle.
Here’s the bottom line: $50 million has already been invested in this project by prior Commissions. The blueprints are complete. The renovations are finished. The paint is dry. The lights are on. The Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery is fully built, fully certified, and ready to serve our community.
All that remains is for the Appropriations Committee to approve the resolution on Wednesday, followed by a full Commission vote at the next meeting. That’s it. After twenty years of planning, construction, and unprecedented community need, we are two votes away from opening a facility that will save lives, enhance public safety, reduce homelessness, and save taxpayers millions of dollars each year.
The Mayor and the Commission need to send a message that Miami-Dade’s priorities must reflect compassion, logic, and fiscal responsibility.
This isn’t about politics — it’s about people. This isn’t about delay — it’s about doing what’s right.
The Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery represents the promise voters made to themselves back in 2004: to create a cost-efficient, humane alternative to incarceration for the people with mental illnesses. It fulfills that promise, upholds our values, and saves taxpayers millions.
Mayor Levine Cava and Commissioners, Miami-Dade County is depending on you to take the bold step our community needs. Every day that facility stays closed, our most vulnerable residents suffer — and our taxpayers foot the bill.
You can change that. You can end this costly stalemate. Open the doors. Lead with courage. The time for study and delay has long passed. The time to open the Center is now.
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