After the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting, investigators learned that the suspect, Esteban Santiago, told the FBI in Alaska in November that he was hearing voices. Following that revelation, state Democratic legislators convened in Tallahassee to argue for more gun control and more mental health funding.
One of the legislators to sound off was State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), who opined that mental health care funding in Florida was lacking. Smith said this:
"Florida is ranked 50th in the nation for mental health care funding."
Our partners at PolitiFact Florida decided to look into Smith's claim. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that the claim rates MOSTLY TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin says that, for the most part, Smith has his information in order.
"We checked with a research institute that tracks this kind of spending," said Gillin. "We were told that Florida ranks 51st out of the 52 places measured. The 52, by the way, includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Florida ranks higher than Puerto Rico in per capita funding, but trails the other 49 states as well as D.C."
Gillin says that the reason for a tick down on the meter comes to measurement and disbursal of funds. "The caveat to that ranking is that Florida administers mental health programs differently," said Gillin. "That funding is funneled through the Department of Children and Families, and they also handle Medicaid money in a different way than the other states. There's a possibility that Florida's overall ranking could come up if the administration of funds were the same, and measured the same, between the states."
Despite the caveat, Gillin says that the number cited is pretty accurate, and is cited by a variety of entities, which leads to Smith's claim rating MOSTLY TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Mental Health Funding in Florida
- PolitiFact ruling
- Interview, State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Jan. 12, 2017
- Florida Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, Press conference, Jan. 10, 2017
- State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, Inc. data on Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation website, State mental health funding, 2004-2013
- Florida Policy Institute, "Florida’s Provision of Mental Health Services Ranks 49th Out of 50 States," Feb. 16, 2017
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, "Medicaid Per Enrollee Spending: Variation Across States," Jan. 28, 2015
- Fort Myers News-Press, "Locked in: Mentally ill languish in state hospitals," Oct. 2, 2015
- PolitiFact Florida, "Gov. Rick Scott shifts again on Medicaid expansion," April 7, 2015
- PolitiFact Florida, "Chiles says Florida ranks 49th in per capita mental health spending," Aug. 31, 2010
- PolitiFact Texas, "Sacramento Bee editorial says Texas is last in mental health care spending," Feb. 8, 2013
- Interview, Craig Palosky, director of communications, Kaiser Family Foundation, Jan. 12, 2017
- Interview Ted Lutterman Senior Director, Government & Commercial Research NRI - National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, Jan. 12, 2017
- Interview, Bob Carolla, National Alliance on Mental Illness spokesman, Jan. 12, 2017
- Interview, Jessica Sims, Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman, Jan. 12, 2017
- Interview, Phil Walls, U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration spokesman, Jan. 13, 2016