In the wake of the Newtown, CT, mass shooting of children by a troubled adolescent late last year, many states are trying to improve monitoring and require treatment for those who are deemed a danger to themselves or others.
But in Florida, which already spends much less than the national average on mental-health services, there has been no move by the governor or Legislature to increase that spending, the Palm Beach Post's Dara Kam reports. In fact, she writes, there has been talk of trying to cut spending by outsourcing the oversight of private contractors to another private contractor.
Meanwhile in Delray Beach, reporter Stacey Singer writes about life inside an overcrowded crisis stabilization center. Singer and photographer Gary Coronado spent 50 hours over several weeks in the locked units, talking to those who have severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, the many patients of all ages who are suicidal, and the patients who have to go through withdrawal before their mental illness can even be addressed.