{"id":309,"date":"2026-05-14T05:05:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=309"},"modified":"2026-05-14T05:05:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:05:50","slug":"miami-dade-commissioners-discuss-long-delayed-mental-health-facility-but-still-not-on-agenda-for-a-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=309","title":{"rendered":"Miami-Dade commissioners discuss long-delayed mental health facility, but still not on agenda for a vote"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

More than two decades after voters approved funding for a mental health facility, Miami-Dade County leaders are still debating when \u2014 or how \u2014 it will finally open.<\/p>\n

Read more Mom speaks out after man pleads guilty to son\u2019s 2021 murder in Miami Beach<\/a><\/p>\n

At a commission workshop Wednesday, officials discussed next steps for\u00a0launching the $51 million Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery, a long-planned facility designed to serve people with severe mental illness.<\/p>\n

Advocates say the need is urgent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis population shouldn\u2019t be in the criminal justice system,\u201d said retired Judge Steven Leifman, who has championed the project for years.<\/p>\n

The building that would house the center remains closed \u2014 despite voters approving millions in funding to renovate it back in 2004.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt has been more than 20 years since Miami-Dade County voters approved funding for a facility intended to help people living with mental illness. Yet today, the $51 million Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery remains unopened despite being fully constructed and ready for use.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

Leifman said he hopes the latest discussions will move the project forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hopeful after today this will help move the item and it\u2019ll help put it on an agenda,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The proposed facility would include 75 beds and offer a range of services, including medical care, education and job support.<\/p>\n

Funding sources \u2014 including federal dollars and opioid settlement money \u2014 would cover operations for the first two to three years. But what happens after that remains a sticking point for some commissioners.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez raised questions about sustainability.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we going to start printing money from in somebody\u2019s backyard in Hialeah?\u201d Rodriguez asked.<\/p>\n

He and others say they want clearer answers about long-term funding.<\/p>\n

Other commissioners argue delays have already gone on too long.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for us to take a building that we paid all a pretty penny for that I believe the voters want us to know, whether or not we\u2019re going to vote on it or not,\u201d said Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez.<\/p>\n

Fellow Commissioner Raquel Regalado emphasized the potential benefits of moving forward, even with a pilot program.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, these people are going into the jails,\u201d Regalado said. \u201cWe want to prove the pilot and show that they don\u2019t need to be there and that they shouldn\u2019t be there and we can give them better care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debate comes amid growing concern about how the criminal justice system handles people with mental illness.<\/p>\n

Read more Former Spirit workers claim they are still owed pay and benefits, lawsuit says<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, NBC6 Investigates\u00a0reported on an attack\u00a0on April 14 inside a Miami-Dade jail involving two inmates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dispatch audio captured the initial response: \u201cFight that occurred on scene between two inmates, one inmate has a head injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

A homeless man, Henry Diaz, suffered a brain injury while in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK), a county jail, allegedly at the hands of his cellmate.<\/p>\n

Both men had been deemed mentally incompetent, and the accused cellmate had already been ordered transferred out of jail to a state facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA homeless man was left with serious injuries after a brutal attack inside a Miami-Dade County jail \u2014 an incident now raising serious questions about whether it could have been prevented and highlighting a growing shortage of mental health resources for inmates. NBC6’s Amy Viteri reports\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

For some leaders, cases like this underscore the need for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so concerned because every time that we have one of these incidents, it just proves the point about why we\u2019ve been talking about this for 20 years,\u201d Regalado said.<\/p>\n

Still, there is some disagreement about who the facility would actually serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mental health asset is not a state hospital,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cSo none of those inmates will qualify to be transferred over there. So we\u2019re really not even solving a need.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez, whose office represents Diaz, says the center could help ease the system\u2019s backlog. He says some inmates would be eligible for services at the center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHenry Diaz is a man who, were this place open, he would not be in a coma right now,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

For the center to move forward, the proposal must be placed on the commission agenda for a full vote.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the office of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava expressed support for moving ahead:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a viable path to open this Center, and we should move ahead with it. The need is clear, funding for the first three years has been identified, and the community has waited long enough. We will continue working with the Board and our partners to get this done.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For now, the timeline remains uncertain \u2014 but the debate highlights a growing urgency to address mental health needs across Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n

Read more Mother of slain Coral Springs vice mayor running to fill her seat, records show<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than two decades after voters approved funding for a mental health facility, Miami-Dade County leaders are still debating when \u2014 or how \u2014 it will\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health"],"yoast_head":"\nMiami-Dade commissioners discuss long-delayed mental health facility, but still not on agenda for a vote - Jacksonville Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=309\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miami-Dade commissioners discuss long-delayed mental health facility, but still not on agenda for a vote - 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