Lori Berman files "Mental Health First Aid" bill

Democratic Rep. Lori Berman of Lantana recently filed a mental health crisis prevention bill in the Florida House designed to increase preventative mental health care, a social service offered on a very limited basis if at all by Florida’s lean state government.

“While the Mental Health First Aid Act is only a small step towards improving our mental health care crisis, it is a step in the right direction,” said Berman, who chairs the Palm Beach County legislative delegation, in a prepared statement. “I am happy to sponsor this legislation so that we can begin to eliminate the stigma regarding mental health and help individuals get appropriate recognition and treatment.”

After public spectacles of violence at educational facilities such as the Sandy Hook and Florida State University shootings, rhetoric began that while gun possession laws need not be regulated, mental health ought to be bolstered. Toward that end Berman’s bill would direct the Department of Education to create a program that would teach educators and first responders “information about potential risk factors and warning signs of mental illness” or substance use disorders.

This is not Berman’s first bite of the mental-health apple. She’s also sponsoring a bill to reform the Baker Act with fellow Democrat Sen. Joe Abruzzo of nearby Boynton Beach.

Her bill matches that of Sen. Eleanor Sobel of Hollywood, who introduced identical legislation in mid-January. Her SB 344 awaits a hearing in the Senate Education Pre-K-12 Subcommittee.

The legislation figures to have a difficult path forward after that since it must then navigate committees on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; Education Appropriations; and Appropriations, no mean feat for a minority party-sponsored bill that requires funding appropriation.