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County commissioners are to vote this week on creation of a Miami-Dade County Mental Health Advisory Board that would develop a needs assessment of mental health services in the county and monitor a new county mental health center that is about to open.
The 13-member volunteer board could also advise commissioners on ordinances, policies and programming related to mental health matters, including on improving access to mental health treatment in the county.
The ordinance sponsored by Commissioner René García says the board would “review and monitor the management and operations of all mental health centers owned, operated or under the control of Miami-Dade County” including the yet-to-open Miami-Dade Mental Health Center at 2200 NW Second Ave., a new 150,000-square foot, seven-story building that includes a receiving center, integrated crisis stabilization unit, residential treatment, outpatient behavioral health and primary care, and dental and optometric services.
Construction of that center is nearly complete. Its development has been spearheaded by 11th Circuit Court Judge Steven Leifman, who told Miami Today last month that talks were then ongoing with multiple providers to run different parts of the facility, including the short-term psychiatric wing, primary health care, podiatry, dental, and eye care services. The center is targeted to open this year.
Other tasks of the proposed Mental Health Advisory Board would include reviewing and monitoring program achievements of the mental health programming and services provided or founded by the county through its departments, grants, or contracts with third parties.
An aim also would be to “promote and support research into the causes, early symptoms, and treatment of mental health disorders.”
The advisory board would be tasked with identifying best practices to improve mental health care and to publish a comprehensive list of mental health service providers in the county.
Sen. Garcia’s proposed ordinance would see the mayor appoint the entire 13-member board and choose the chair. The unpaid members would serve four-year terms, with officers serving two-year terms in those offices and limited to four years total in each office on the board.
While the mayor would appoint board members and the chair, the ordinance as written requires that one member be employed by the Public Health Trust, one employed by the Miami-Dade Corrections Department and one be a sitting county commissioner.
The other ten members would have to include people involved in veteran services, the county police or future sheriff’s office, licensed Florida mental health providers, the county’s Homeless Trust, the Miami-Dade Juvenile Justice Department, and the county public schools. Also in that group would be “a person who is diagnosed with or has suffered from mental illness” and a family member of someone with mental illness.
Staffing for the board would be provided by the county, according to the legislation.
The legislation notes that any ordinance that creates a new county board requires a detailed report from the mayor for a public hearing. Six weeks are required between passage of the ordinance on its first reading and the public hearing. Only after that hearing could a final vote be taken on the advisory board’s creation.