Gov. DeSantis announces deal to name substance abuse center for Darryl Rouson after all

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 5/2/25-Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, is embraced by Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, after the Senate passed CS/CS/CS/SB1620 concerning the assessment and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders Friday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. The bill now moves to the Governor. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

After drama late in Session appeared to leave the plan dead, Gov. Ron DeSantis says a drug treatment research center will be named for Sen. Darryl Rouson after all.

The Republican Governor revealed that the Senate and the University of South Florida reached a deal to honor the Democratic lawmaker, who has shared his own story of addiction publicly throughout his political career.

Rouson told that personal tale again as he stressed the importance of studying the causes of drug dependency.

“Twenty-seven years, three months ago, when I woke up in Hanley-Hazelden treatment facility, I will never forget the day I asked for help,” Rouson said. “The hopelessness, the loneliness, the anger, the fear, the deep gut rage, the gift of desperation. The bottom was my gift of desperation. I became desperate to change, and whether I believed I could, or whether I believed I couldn’t, I knew I was right.”

That experience shaped Rouson’s work on addiction through his years in the House and Senate, and during his recent tenure on the Commission on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders. That panel ultimately issued policy recommendations that became part of a mental health package (SB 1620) passed this year by the Legislature and signed by DeSantis on Wednesday.

The legislation at one point included Senate language to establish the research center at USF and to name it in Rouson’s honor. But the House resisted that and killed the project in statute before kicking it back to the upper chamber.

That created a tense standoff between the chambers late in the Legislative Session. DeSantis, as well as First Lady Casey DeSantis, also engaged in that conversation, with the Governor calling the omission “pettiness.”

But Rouson called on colleagues to pass the larger bill anyway, saying other items in the package were more important than the naming of the center.

DeSantis said his Office worked with Senate leaders and the university to make sure the naming still occurred. Rouson learned about it only the day of the bill’s signing.

“They were trying to get this into statute, and there was a little bit of a hiccup on that,” DeSantis said. “Nevertheless, we’re happy that we were able to work together with the Senate to get this done, and thanks to USF for also working with us on this.”

USF Trustee Mike Griffin said administration at the university worked to preserve the Senator’s legacy with the new project. He also shared the story of losing his own sister, Katie, to mental health issues.

“This challenge is everywhere,” he said. “It’s on the doorsteps of every household in the state and in America. And I say her name, and I share that because I’m proud of her, and her fight was a fight every day.”

Besides the center, the legislation requires reevaluation of individualized treatment plans by mental health and substance abuse service providers across the state, best practices about use of first-person language in professional behavioral guidelines, integration of the Daily Living Activities-20 assessments in care in the state, and a prioritization by state agencies of licensing for short-term residential treatment facilities in underserved counties and high-need areas.

“This legislation addresses several key changes and opportunities to set individuals up for success, maximize collaboration in key moments and settings and improve the state’s ability to utilize behavioral health data to measure outcomes and identify future opportunities,” said Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch.

She credited Rouson for championing a “person-centered approach” to drug addiction and mental health treatment. She said the new center will improve the state’s ability to monitor outcomes, identify trends and align behavioral health services with broader criminal justice reform efforts.