Officials from four powerful Palm Beach County organizations financed by taxpayers met last week to talk about the health and welfare of the county’s children. They expressed concern about whether their legislative priorities, such as full-day prekindergarten, were realistic, given scrutiny by Florida DOGE and a push to eliminate some property taxes.
County Administrator Joe Abruzzo said he’s been questioned already about the county’s need for its youth and community services departments as about 30 officials from the County Commission, School District, Health Care District and Children’s Services Council gathered Dec. 9 at the South County Civic Center.
Chronic absences from school, high rates of depression
In addition to DOGE, officials found mental health a pressing concern as children committed for treatment under the Baker Act are bused out of the county since HCA Florida JFK North Hospital quit treating them a year ago.
The four groups play a role in dealing with issues affecting children from infancy to age 22 from prenatal care to preschool to career readiness.
The county’s Youth Services Department, for example, works with homeless families and provides adoption assistance.
Among the problems all four are grappling with:
- Chronic absenteeism from schools has nearly doubled since the pandemic.
- One-quarter of middle and high school students report clinical depression.
- Children under age 12 committed involuntarily for mental health treatment under the Baker Act are bused out of the county for treatment. HCA Florida JFK North Hospital quit treating them a year ago. A hospital linked with St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach is expected to start taking them in March or April, said Health Care District CEO Darcy Davis. The district will take over when its crisis stabilization center opens in 2029.
“It’s our responsibility to fight for what we want, not wake up and start asking for less,” said County Commissioner and former legislator Bobby Powell after school board member Edwin Ferguson said full-day pre-K should be taken off a list of proposed legislative priorities in light of DOGE.
The Children’s Services Council, school board and county officials first met in 2013 after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Twenty-six people, including 20 first-graders, died. The Health Care District was added to the summit lineup because of its role in mental health.
Since then, the county can count a number of successes, including higher graduation rates, a lower child poverty rate, improved grade-level reading, fewer kids arrested and fewer kids who smoke or drink alcohol.
Still, they say they need to work on prenatal care for women in the first trimester of pregnancy, low birth weight, premature births and infant mortality as well as child deaths and physical bullying.
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia this month said his review found $344 million in county waste this year. Ingoglia based the number on growth of government spending vs. population growth and inflation. Abruzzo pushed back, saying, “We have no idea how they came up with that number.”
The Florida Legislature is expected to put on the 2026 ballot a measure that could eliminate or greatly reduce property taxes, which pay for the services the groups provide.
While elected officials have talked about fighting all the proposals, County Mayor Sara Baxter had the last word: She suggested backing one of the property tax plans.
“Then we might have some say in what we would like to see going forward,” she said.
Children forced out of the county for involuntary mental health treatment
Among the issues dubbed urgently important: Children under 12 hospitalized involuntarily under the Baker Act are being bused out of the county for mental health treatment.
HCA Florida JFK North Hospital quit treating those children a year ago, and now they are transported to hospitals in Martin or Broward counties. JFK North is still evaluating the children and deciding within 72 hours whether they need the treatment to be inpatient or outpatient.
By March or April, pediatric beds should be available at Neurobehavioral Hospitals on the campus of St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, said Darcy Davis, CEO of the Health Care District.
Ultimately, the district plans to take over treatment when its mental health crisis center opens in 2029, she said.
Under Florida’s Mental Health Act, known as the Baker Act, police, judges and mental health professionals can commit to psychiatric evaluation anyone who poses a threat to themselves or others.
The Southern Poverty Law Center found in 2021 that the Palm Beach County School District had Baker-Acted 1,217 students, 20% elementary school age. Fifty-nine were under age 8, and some were as young as 5.
It sued along with the NAACP, Disability Rights Florida and five children and their families, claiming the commitments were traumatic to children, deprived them of educational opportunities and were wielded most often against minorities and disabled children.
In the wake of the lawsuit and an extensive new policy by the school district, that number has decreased to about 100 a year in the county overall.
The policy still allows children to be handcuffed and taken to evaluations in police cars, though the use of unmarked cars is encouraged.
It requires a “reasonable attempt” to get parental consent even though federal courts have ruled the evaluation unconstitutional without it.
Click here to watch the Dec. 9 meeting.
This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
