Identifying and treating mentally ill individuals who may become violent is an issue many states struggle to address. This Article discusses the states’ attempts to implement involuntarily assisted outpatient treatment laws that provide these individuals with both the medication and treatment they need and remove them from a situation where the individuals may act violently toward others. These laws allow a treating doctor, among others, to petition the court to require outpatient treatment as a requirement for these individuals’ release into the general public. Florida instituted such a law in 2004; however, it has only been used seventy-one times since its introduction because of multiple flaws, including a lack of funding.
To assist Florida’s outpatient treatment laws, this Article proposes using Florida’s homeless ordinances to identify at-risk individuals and provide medical services that the individuals need. While jails and prisons are not ideal treatment facilities, they have become the country’s de facto mental health institutions. This Article evaluates the links between mental illness and violence and the part that the Florida law plays within the mental health arena, and then it discusses how to revitalize Florida’s current outpatient treatment law. Finally, this Article concludes that the current outpatient treatment law is simply not working, and by using the ideas suggested, including the homeless ordinances already in place, Florida can provide a cost-effective method of fixing the problem.