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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bills to promote mental health and addiction recovery

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Published  June 25, 2025 11:20am EDT
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

The Brief

    • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed new legislation on Wednesday to promote mental health and addiction recovery.
    • State Bill 1620 amends various sections of Florida Statutes to enhance mental health and substance-use disorder services, focusing on improving assessment and treatment standards.
    • State Bill 168 focuses on the Tristin Murphy Act, which creates model processes for diverting defendants to mental health treatment.

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed new legislation on Wednesday to promote mental health and addiction recovery.

What are the new bills?

What we know:

DeSantis signed the new legislation at a press conference on Wednesday morning in Tampa.

State Bill 1620 implements key recommendations made by the Florida Commission on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorder. The bill allows the Department of Children and Families to require certain providers to use a specified assessment tool, requires facilities to update treatment plans within specified timeframes and more. The bill also renames the Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida (USF) to the Senator Darryl Rouson Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Research. 

State Bill 168 focuses on the Tristin Murphy Act, which creates model processes for diverting defendants to mental health treatment. The legislation is named after Tristin Murphy, who tragically took his own life in a Florida prison in 2021. 

The legislation also allows municipalities to establish midemeanor mental health programs and pretrial felon programs so people that are incarcerated with mental health issues can have support. In addition, the legislation expands the criminal justice mental health and substance abuse reinvestment grant programs, as well as requires mental health evaluations for people with a history of incompetency adjuctations before they're placed on probation and return to society.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke on the legislation at a press conference on June 25, 2025. 

What's next:

SB 1620 is set to take effect on July 1, while the Tristin Murphy Act will take effect on Oct. 1.

‘They’re not bad people'

What they're saying:

"This legislation is a product of people really looking and trying to see what goes on in this space," DeSantis said. "The root cause is not that they're bad people trying to harm others. It's that they've got a lot of mental health problems that are leading to behavior that is antisocial."

"There are people today in Florida that are suffering, people that could just use a hand up," Sen. Ben Albritton said. "It's not a hand out. It's an opportunity to show the best parts of us and show them to those folks struggling. Everyone needs an advocate."

Mental health in Florida

Big picture view:

According to the Florida Hospital Association (FHA), 21% of adults, or 50 million, American adults, are experiencing a mental illness. Fifty-five percent of adults with a mental illness, over 28 million individuals, receive no treatment.

Florida faces a significant mental health challenge, with high rates of mental illness among adults and youth, as well as struggles with access to care. 

According to a behavioral health report from the FHA, The state ranks first in the nation for the number of adults experiencing mental illness, and 13th for the prevalence of major depressive episodes among youth. However, Florida also ranks low in per capita mental health funding and faces high rates of individuals with untreated mental illness. 

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The Source: This story was written based on information gathered from the Florida Hospital Association and shared by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a press conference on June 25, 2025. 

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