TAMPA, Fla. – The race to be Florida’s next governor is still ongoing, but both Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum told 10Investigates’ addressing mental health would be an important part of their first term in office.
On Thursday, 10Investigates exposed how, despite the Parkland massacre, state leaders again failed to properly address Florida’s biggest school security threat: mental illness.
When briefed on the investigation, DeSantis said Florida needs to do more on mental health across-the-board, but especially with children supervised by the Depart of Children and Families (DCF).
“If you talk with law enforcement, a lot of people who end up in the system, they can trace back to some type of mental health issue,” DeSantis said. “(Many) are victims of some type of childhood trauma...if that is treated at an early age, a lot of times those folks can end up living productive lives. But if that’s not dealt with, those are the types of people that end up having problems as they get older.”
Gillum, who trails DeSantis by approximately 36,000 votes, said the state ranks 50th out of 50 states in mental health funding. He supports expanding Medicaid so low-income adults with mental health issues have access to care and can avoid bigger problems down the road.
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