TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A local woman contacted 8 On Your Side to raise awareness about deficits in Florida’s mental health system. Her son, who has a mental health disorder, was arrested, and she believes that more proactive measures could have been taken to assist him.
“He’s brilliant, he’s creative, he’s highly intelligent. When he is not medicated and goes for extended periods without treatment, he becomes a risk to himself and others,” Kelly Mullis described her son, choosing to keep his identity private for privacy reasons. “My son is not defined by his illness; he is everything outside of it, yet the illness affects his life.”
The 23-year-old was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2021.
Mullis explained that managing his condition has been difficult, but she remains determined to support him. She said her son has been Baker Acted on six occasions, with two instances occurring in just the past month, and she believes the system isn’t providing him with adequate care.
“It doesn’t matter if it happens twice or three times in 30 days, if he’s a danger to himself or society, they let him go very quickly,” Mullis said.
Paul Figueroa, an attorney who deals with Baker Act cases explained why this happens.
“Once the person is stabilized and no longer meets that criteria, they shall be released,” Figueroa said. “We do have liberty interests that we’re not just locked up and placed away because of a mental illness.”
Figueroa said risk protection orders and court systems to address the individual’s treatment are available. Mullis said she wants to see policies that would enforce the tracking of patient treatment and medication, storing emergency contacts, and support for caregivers, like herself.
“If we could stop pulling people out of the water and go up stream and find out why they’re falling in for once,” Mullis said. “I need for this to work for my son and I need for this to work for my community.”
Through this trying journey, Mullis has been writing a book where she speaks with law enforcement, clinicians, and people working in the prison system about the mental health system and the solutions to the problems they see.
