The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Baker Act

WUSF wins National Edward R. Murrow Award

By

A joint investigation between WUSF Public Media’s Health News Florida and WFSU News has received a 2021 national Edward R. Murrow Award, according to a news release.

The recognition came for an in-depth news series entitled “Committed” that focused on a Florida law known as the Baker Act, and the skyrocketing number of Florida children involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluations.

The award, in the small radio news series category, was a collaborative project that highlighted the stories of children sent into confinement by school officials, often without notifying their parents, the release adds.

WUSF Public Media also recently received 12 honors in the Society of Professional Journalists Sunshine State Awards, including first place in two categories, according to an earlier news release.

Journalists who were singled out for honors are: Stephanie Colombini, Daylina Miller, Carl Lisciandrello, Lisa Peakes, Kerry Sheridan, Steve Newborn, Cathy Carter, Dalia Colon and Robin Sussingham. WUSF News Director Mary Shedden also shared a third-place award with Matthew Peddie from Orlando’s WMFE for their collaboration entitled “The State We’re In.”

The Society of Professional Journalists is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States.

These awards follow a number of other distinctions achieved by WUSF, during the past year.

Pasco clerk fights for budget hike

By

Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles has been in the news in recent weeks, as she pushes for a massive budget increase for her office.

She raised the issue again, during a July 13 talk with members of the East Pasco Networking Group at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center in Zephyrhills.

Alvarez-Sowles is requesting about $13.3 million in her fiscal 2021-2022 budget, which represents nearly $9 million more than the constitutional officer’s budget this year.

Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles was the featured guest speaker during a July 13 East Pasco Networking Group meeting at the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center, in Zephyrhills. (File)

She claims the budget hike is needed for her office to fulfill statutory responsibilities for the coming year.

Alvarez-Sowles also mentioned a timely concern.

She noted she anticipates an increased workload for her office with an influx of court trials and eviction notices, amid the easing of pandemic-related restrictions and moratoriums.

“I am concerned that when the court starts ramping up, being able to support the customers when that happens. I want to make sure that we’re there for them, and I don’t want to kill my staff at the same time, in providing those services,” Alvarez-Sowles said.

The clerk initially presented her budget increase request in an April 30 letter to Pasco County Commission Chairman Ron Oakley and his county board colleagues.

But, the county’s administration has pushed back against the request, particularly Pasco County Administrator Dan Biles and Pasco County Budget Director Robert Goehig.

The clerk said the additional funding is needed to satisfy Florida Statute 29.008, which addresses county funding of court-related functions.

Generally, the statute details “the county’s obligation to pay on certain things, for technology and for the court-related items that I’m not allowed by law to use my fee-funded budget from courts to pay for,” Alvarez-Sowles said.

Because of this finding, she reasoned, “I submitted a budget to the board that was a lot higher than it had ever been in prior years, ever.”

The breakdown of Alvarez-Sowles’ budgetary increase is as follows:

  • County funding of court-related local requirements computes to about $7.4 million
  • County funding of board and court-related technology costs (hardware, software, programming) totaling nearly $1.25 milllion
  • Increases for retirement costs and group health insurance, as well as a pay adjustment of 3%, totaling about $366,000

During the speaking engagement, Alvarez-Sowles told The Laker/Lutz News “the rub” or main disconnect between her office and county leadership “is agreeing on what is and what is not a local requirement,” particularly the $7.4 million request.

She contends the county is obligated to fund full-service expenses for the West Pasco Judicial Center courthouse annex in New Port Richey — as opposed to using the clerk’s fee-funded budget for civil and criminal jury trials, and so on.

Part of the disagreement, Alvarez-Sowles said, centers around state law only requiring one courthouse in the county seat, which is the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City.

With that, county officials have stated they’re not responsible for funding the West Pasco courthouse annex, Alvarez-Sowles explained.

She disagrees with their stance: “(They say) like, ‘There’s no way we’re responsible to pay for the (West Pasco) courthouse,’ and I’m saying, ‘Well, you could have one (courthouse in Dade City) and I wouldn’t have this many expenses,’ but we don’t, and you duplicated services, and I am doing double the work in some situations.”

Of lesser note, county administration has since agreed to fund 40% of the clerk’s information technology (IT) costs, or just under $500,000 of the roughly $1.2 million mark.

Alvarez-Sowles said that’s inadequate.

She claimed the county is obligated to fund technology for the multi-agency criminal justice system (which includes state attorney’s, public defender, courts and clerk).

The Pasco Clerk & Comptroller Office is seeking a $13.3 million budget for fiscal year 2021-2022 — an increase of nearly $9 million this year — in order to fulfill statutory responsibilities and provide adequate services countywide, the clerk says. (Courtesy of the Office of the Pasco County Clerk and Comptroller)

Said Alvarez-Sowles, “All of these services requires IT funding to be able to bring about, so I’m going to continue discussions with the county, because I really need that money for the technologies and things we have planned to serve our community.”

Alvarez-Sowles emphasized that she wants to ensure her office is “properly funded” in order to “provide a higher level of service, better services to our community, and I also want to provide the tools to the team.”

The constitutional officer, too, underscored the need to be able to offer higher salaries, from entry-level to supervisorial roles within the clerk structure.

The entry-level wage at the clerk’s office is $13.28 per hour.

This reality makes it tough to compete with area businesses and organizations offering around $15 an hour and, in some cases, paying potential employees to interview for vacancies, she said.

“I need to have competitive salaries,” said Alvarez-Sowles. “Our office is paid very low in our community, and even in comparison to other local government agencies in the community, so there is a big discrepancy.”

The situation has caused turnover and has made it difficult to fill vacancies.

Employees stay for a year or two and then transfer to another county role or up through the court or state attorney’s office, Alvarez-Sowles said.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the clerk’s office had about 320 employees, she said.

It’s since dropped down to 283 employees, she said.

That hampers her operations, she said.

“I feel like we are training ground (for other agencies), so I need to have longevity, and I need to be able to plan for succession, and be able to have a stellar team, so I need the funding to pay for the proper salaries,” she said.

During the breakfast talk, the clerk also touched on some ongoing initiatives in her office.

Those include:

  • Implementation of a multi-year strategic plan in regards to services and other projects
  • Partnership with Amscot, authorizing them to accept payments on behalf of the clerk’s office
  • Online payment expansion to include Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo and debit card capabilities (expected by November)
  • Development of a customer queue management system allowing residents to check wait times and make service appointments online
  • Provide affordable legal help and attorney consultations for self-represented individuals in civil matters related to divorce, residential landlord/tenant, small claims and so on
  • E-certification document capabilities for deeds, liens, closings and so on

In most jurisdictions, the clerk & comptroller is vested with a large number of administrative duties.

This includes clerk of the circuit court, as well as county auditor, ex-officio, clerk of the county commission, finance officer, recorder and treasurer.

Residents often use the clerk’s office to pay traffic and criminal fines, initiate or contest a civil case, pursue probate issues and make child support payments. The office also handles domestic violence injunctions, Baker Act and Marchman Act petitions, passport applications, marriage licenses and more.

Published August 04, 2021

Speakers address mental health needs

By

Suicide prevention and partnerships between law enforcement and mental health providers were the focus of talks delivered in a Zoom Session, on May 11, hosted by Saint Leo University’s East Pasco Education Center.

Sarah Shirina, licensed supervisor of behavioral health with BayCare Behavioral Health, shared her expertise on the topic of suicide prevention, while also discussing local services that are available to help people struggling with mental illness.

Sarah Shirina addressed suicide prevention during a speaker series hosted by Saint Leo University. (Courtesy of University of Saint Leo)

Shirina is the supervisor over BayCare Behavioral Health’s mobile response team in Hernando County.

She’s also an adjunct professor for Saint Leo University, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from the university.

She began by sharing national suicide data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Suicide, unfortunately, is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming over 48,000 lives.

“Suicide was the second-leading cause of death in individuals, between the ages of 10 and 34, and the fourth leading cause of death, among individuals between the ages of 35 and 54,” she said.

“There were actually 2½ times as many suicides in the United States as there were homicides, in 2018.

“So, what does that look like for our state? In 2019, Florida had a total of 3,427 deaths by suicide.

“In Florida, suicide is the eighth-leading cause of death,” Shirina said, adding the age group of 55 to 64 is most affected.

Shirina shared information derived from a research project by BayCare Behavioral Health and the University of South Florida, focusing on suicide in the Tampa Bay region.

Hot spots have been identified in all five counties in the Tampa Bay area, Shirina said.

“Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas, unfortunately, are all ahead and have higher averages of suicide deaths than the state of Florida.

“You’ll see that all of Florida had a total of 15 deaths per 100,000. And Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas are all in the 20s (per 100,000),” she said.

“Suicide affects men at a much greater percentage than it does women.

The study found that from 2010 to 2016, the suicide rate for men was twice as great as it was for women, she said.

“As our age groups increase, our military population is at a greater risk to be affected by suicide,” she added.

One of the big conclusions of the research was that Pasco, Hernando and Pinellas bear a disproportionate burden of death by suicide, in comparison to the state and surrounding counties, Shirina said.

Another conclusion: These are the same counties that bear the burden of the opioid addiction crisis.

She also noted that “80% of people who died by suicide had never had an involuntary examination, also known as the Baker Act.

“This, to me, was an alarming statistic,” Shirina said.

Among those who had undergone a Baker Act examination, 60% of those who died by suicide did so one or more years after their involuntary examination.

The study also found that middle- and older-aged white men had the highest rates of suicide, and among those who died by suicide, many had military backgrounds.

The research showed that guns were the most common method of suicide by men in all five counties.

By comparison, in Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, more women died by overdose than did by guns, Shirina said.

“So, what can we do to help those who may be struggling?” Shirina asked.

Safety planning can help.

“When we’re safety planning with someone, we’re identifying their warning signs, their triggers and their stressful events that could lead to a crisis. We’re discussing with that person what they can do, what coping skills they can use to feel better.

“We’re discussing their support network. Who can they call when they need help? Who can they lean on?

“If possible, we often use that support network, when we’re creating these safety plans,” she said.

“We talk about what they look forward to in the future. What is important to them and what is worth living for? This is a great reminder, when someone is having these deep thoughts, that there are things in their future that they look forward to, and really, what is worth living for?

“We give a copy of this plan to them and to their support system, if possible, and we encourage them to keep it somewhere safe, so they can use it when they’re feeling upset,” Shirina said.

Dawn Wever addressed efforts being made to help mentally ill people get the help they need, instead of being locked up in jail.

Dawn Wever, the second speaker during the session, is a practicing mental health counselor.

She’s been an instructor in Crisis Intervention Team training for a number of law enforcement agencies. She’s also been a presenter on the topic at state conferences, is a former board member for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Hernando and has done considerable research on collaborations between law enforcement and mental health professionals.

One in five Americans are affected by mental illness in any given year, according to statistics from NAMI, Wever said. That equates to approximately 57.7 million Americans living with mental illness. Of those, just 41% will receive treatment in any given year.

Research also shows that the average length of time from initial diagnosis to the onset of treatment is 10 years, she said.

She shared the story of the Memphis Police Department Crisis Intervention Team, which in later years came to be known as the Memphis Model.

The model stemmed from a 1987 incident in which police officers were called to an area of public housing in Memphis, where a young man was threatening with a knife, she said. Police officers ordered him to put down the knife. He refused. Eventually, police opened fire and the man was killed, she said.

“The mayor of Memphis turned to local advocates from NAMI and enlisted police, community mental health professionals, university leaders, hospital administrators, church officials to find a new approach to working with persons with mental illness, who are in crisis,” she said.

The approach involves a 40-hour, weeklong training for officers, deputies, detention personnel and dispatch, as well, regarding the recognition and understanding of signs and symptoms of mental illness, and focuses on verbal, de-escalation techniques, said Wever, who holds a master of arts/psychology from Saint Leo University.

Encounters between police and the mentally ill began increasing after the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric facilities began happening in the 1980s and 1990s, she said.

The expectation was that community-based mental health care facilities would provide treatment to those individuals released from psychiatric hospitals. Instead, county jails have become the largest mental health facilities in the country, added Wever, who has been in private practice since 2012.

The Rand Corporation estimated in 2020 that 15% of the men and 31% of the women incarcerated across the country have a serious and persistent mental illness, Wever said.

According to NAMI estimates, at least 400,000 currently behind bars in the United States suffer from some type of mental illness, Wever added. The organization also estimates that 25% to 40% of all mentally ill Americans will be incarcerated at some point in their lives.

She told Zoom listeners about a mental health unit operated by the San Antonio (Texas) Police Department .

“That’s regarded as one of the best law enforcement-based mental health units in the country,” she said.

“It was established in 2008 and to date, they have maintained zero use of force in a mental health call for service,” Wever said.

Shirina and Wever gave the final two presentations during a Social Services Speaker Series, which began on April 13.

Besides being informative, the series was intended to give participants exposure to a wide range of career opportunities in the helping professions.

To find out more about Saint Leo University’s East Pasco Education Center, email Derek Saunier, center director, at  or call 352-588-7451.

Warning signs of suicide

  • Increased alcohol and drug use
  • Aggressive behavior
  • Withdrawal from friends, family and community
  • Dramatic mood swings
  • Impulsive or reckless behavior
  • Collecting and saving pills or buying a weapon
  • Giving away possessions
  • Tying up loose ends, like organizing personal papers or paying off debts
  • Saying goodbye to friends and family

Suicidal behaviors are a psychiatric emergency. If you or a loved one exhibits these behaviors, seek immediate help from a health care provider or call 911.

If you are unsure, a licensed mental health professional can help assess.

Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness

Suicide Myths
Sarah Shirina, licensed supervisor of behavioral health with BayCare Behavioral Health, discussed some myths about suicide during a recent Zoom presentation hosted by the University of Saint Leo.

Here’s an excerpt from what she shared:

Myth: Talking about suicide or asking someone if they feel suicidal will encourage suicide attempts.

Fact: Talking about suicide provides the opportunity for communication. Fears that are shared are more likely to diminish.

Myth: People who talk about suicide never attempt or die by suicide.

Fact: Talking about suicide can be a plea for help, and it can be a late sign in the progression toward a suicide attempt. Those who are most at risk will show other signs, apart from talking about suicide.

Myth: If a person attempts suicide and survives, they will never make a further attempt.

Fact: A suicide attempt is regarded as an indicator of further attempts. It is likely that the level of danger will increase with each further suicide attempt. Just because someone has attempted suicide previously does not mean they are no longer at risk of attempting in the future.

Myth: Once a person has suicidal intent, there is no way of stopping them.

Fact: This is so far from the truth because suicides can be prevented. People can be helped. Suicidal crises can be relatively short-lived. Immediate practical help, such as staying with the person, encouraging them to talk and helping them build plans for the future can avert an intention to attempt or die by suicide. Such immediate help is valuable at the time of a crisis, but appropriate counseling also will be needed.

Need help?
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255.
Call 2-1-1 for additional resources.

Want to help?
BayCare offers free Mental Health First Aid Training. To find out more, call 800-878-5470.

Published June 09, 2021

Pasco Sheriff’s Office appreciates community’s support

By

Amid nationwide protests and movements for widespread police reform, Pasco County is fortunate to receive considerable community support, said Pasco Sheriff District 2 Cpt. Joseph Irizarry during a breakfast meeting with the East Pasco Networking Group.

Protesters have been persistent, and sometimes violent, in calls for reform in the wake of multiple officer-involved shootings across U.S. cities, but Pasco deputies have felt appreciated by the “support that’s been pouring out of the community,” said Irizarry said, whose patrol division runs east of U. S. Highway 41 north to the Hernando County line, south to the Hillsborough County line, and east to Polk and Sumter counties.

Pasco Sheriff’s Office District 2 Cpt. Joseph Irizarry, right, pictured with East Pasco Networking Group chairman Nils Lenz. Irizarry was the featured guest speaker at the group’s Aug. 25 breakfast meeting at IHOP in Dade City. (Kevin Weiss)

“You know, you can’t go anywhere in Pasco County pretty much without getting ‘thank yous’ and someone offering to pay for my meal or to buy me a cup of coffee — so it’s greatly appreciated,” he told the group, gathered for the Aug. 25 breakfast meeting at the IHOP in Dade City. “Unfortunately, many other law enforcement agencies aren’t experiencing the same support that we experience here in Pasco County.”

The district 2 captain said the reelection of Sheriff Chris Nocco has helped the department stay focused on county issues. No one stepped forward to challenge the sheriff, in his bid for reelection.

Touching on the county’s more pressing issues, Irizarry said the agency has placed a significant emphasis on the issues of homelessness and mental health.

He applauded Nocco’s progressive approach in addressing community issues. For instance, the sheriff used grant money to form the Behavioral Health Intervention Team (BHIT) last year.

The unit, made up of 12 detectives, partners with local hospitals and mental health facilities to conduct frequent visitations and welfare checks. It also helps expedite referrals for behavioral health resources and criminal justice diversion programs for the county’s Baker Act repeats.

For example, an individual struggling with addiction may be referred to outpatient substance abuse treatment. Or, someone struggling financially might be referred to Pasco County’s Human Services department and the county’s homeless coalition.

Before the proactive program began, Irizarry said, the sheriff’s office would be called to a scene and make initial contact with someone who was in the midst of a mental health crisis — and that individual might be arrested or submitted for an involuntary mental health evaluation (Baker Act).

From there, it was left to others to address the problems.

But, the law enforcement agency discovered that many struggling people end up going back to square one — spiraling into their various issues, without knowing how or where to turn for help, he said.

“The sheriff kind of took the reins, ‘Hey, we’re going to create a unit, we’re going to be that ‘somebody else,’ and we’re going to follow up,” said Irizarry, who’s held various roles in his 20 years with the law enforcement agency, including patrol deputy, K-9 deputy, and vice and narcotics detective.

Meanwhile, the high-level officer noted that less than 20% of service calls are related to criminal complaints, so the majority of calls are related to non-criminal matters such as mental health and substance abuse problems, among others.

“A lot of our time is spent doing things other than arresting people and taking people to jail,” Irizarry said. “It’s trying to get people help, and use resources in the community or in the area.”

That seems more important than ever, as many individuals and families have been struggling through layoffs and furloughs due to COVID-19.

Recently, the sheriff’s office has been partnering with Feeding Tampa Bay to deliver hundreds of meals to families at the Pasco County Fairgrounds.

It’s about making the county “a better place for everybody to live,” the captain said.

“In this day and age with the pandemic, a lot of people are laid off, so they don’t have the money to pay the bills or pay the rent or pay for food…so there’s a lot of things that the sheriff’s office does to help the community.”

Published September 02, 2020

Therapy dog helps address mental illness

By

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has added a therapy dog to expand its efforts to better serve the needs of people facing significant mental health and substance abuse issues.

The therapy dog is the newest member of a Behavioral Health Intervention Team (BHIT) the law enforcement agency established last year.

The team’s primary task is to keep tabs on individuals who have been held involuntarily in a mental health treatment facility for up to 72 hours, through a state law known as the Baker Act.

Pasco Sheriff’s Office Det. Pedro Leos with new animal assisted therapy dog K9 Charlie. Charlie will be used with the agency’s Behavioral Health Intervention Team to provide a calming presence to those that may be experiencing a mental health crisis. (Courtesy of Pasco Sheriff’s Office)

They focus on approximately 500 people who are Baker Act repeats — through a proactive approach that includes frequent visitations, welfare checks, expedited behavioral health resources and criminal justice diversion programs.

Now, K9 Charlie, a 1-year-old pitbull-mix, has joined the team, to aid and comfort those who are struggling.

Charlie came to the local law enforcement agency by way of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Paws and Stripes program.

That program trains dogs from local animal shelters, preparing them to become PTSD dogs,  therapy dogs, and child victim advocate dogs.

Charlie was rescued from the streets in October.

The new animal assisted therapy dog program strives to better “build a connection” between law enforcement and the mental health community, said Cpt. Toni Roach, who oversees the 15-member BHIT, which includes a captain, two sergeants and 12 detectives.

Charlie helps “to comfort and ease some anxiety and build that stress relief,” when the sheriff’s office comes knocking on the door for visitations and welfare checks, Roach explained.

“Law enforcement and people with mental illness, there’s that stigma that we’re there to take them into custody or arrest them for a crime,” Roach said.

But, Charlie’s calming presence for someone facing a mental health crisis could break the ice, Roach said. And, that can help to open lines of communications, so responders can get to the root of problems and identify ways to resolve them.

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office Behavioral Health Intervention Team (BHIT) recently added animal assisted therapy dog Charlie to the team. Charlie is partnered with BHIT Det. Pedro Leos, and aims to provide a calming presence for those that may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

An individual struggling with addiction may be referred to outpatient substance abuse treatment, for instance. Or, someone undergoing financial struggles may be referred to Pasco County Human Services and the county’s homeless coalition.

Roach said the idea is to help bridge the gap for services and shorten the time it takes to receive them.

A therapy dog can help in that process, she said.

Charlie’s handler, Det. Pedro Leos, agrees.

Leos said the therapy dog was needed to “better help me make contact with those people in need, break down those barriers between law enforcement and the community, and open up conversation.”

Leos has been with the sheriff’s office in 2014. He said he joined the BHIT “because there’s a stigma with mental illness and I want to break that cycle.

“I want to be there to help people in need, and give them the resources they need to have a better quality of life in order to continue on with their daily activities,” the detective said.

When approached a few months ago to become a therapy dog handler, Leos, who loves pets, said he “was all for it.”

Leos noted there was an immediate connection between him and Charlie during the eight-week Paws and Stripes training program.

“When I met him, I absolutely loved him,” Leos said. “It was like we clicked. He listened to me. We started doing obedience training, and he was awesome. It was just one of those things where we both bonded very quickly.”

The detective said every time he puts on his uniform — a black polo and green spruce pants — Charlie knows it’s time to go to work “and help people in the community.”

Though still a young canine, Charlie has already settled into his role, Leos said.

The detective described Charlie’s demeanor this way: “He’s awesome with kids, awesome with people, awesome with the community. He loves hugs and he loves kisses. He loves to make people happy, and he knows that’s his main goal, to make people happy. He understands it, and he’s out there doing what he needs to do, to help fulfill this desire to help people in need.”

The sheriff’s office plans to add additional therapy dogs at some point, so that at least one can be available seven days a week, officials say.

Published March 11, 2020

Spreading smiles, through mini horse therapy

By

Senior living residents and staff at Beach House at Wiregrass recently welcomed some special guests — a pair of miniature horses and their handlers.

The 3-foot-tall ponies, Honey and Belle, stopped by the facility’s memory care center on Feb. 18, to provide therapeutic interaction with Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, in the form of comfort, love and smiles.

Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care resident Sarah Sherman smiles, as she is greeted by mini horse Belle and her handler, Lisa Slaughter. Belle is a mini therapy horse with the organization Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures. (Christine Holtzman)

It’s a visit the horses make monthly.

Patients spent time bonding with the animals through eye contact, touching, petting and even a few kisses on the horses’ foreheads.

Memory care resident Rachella Rey voiced her appreciation for the visit.

“It’s nice of you to bring them in and let all of us see them,” she told the handlers during the hourlong visit.

She immediately bonded with 8-year-old Belle.

“This is amazing, you’re amazing,” Rey said, while continuously petting the friendly Belle.

The Beach House is one of the first places that handler Mary Rose Gullet visited about two years ago when she began the journey of launching her 501c3 nonprofit organization, Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures.

“It’s one of our favorite places to go,” said Gullet, adding it’s “where we really started seeing the impact that they make.

“This is where I first realized, ‘We need to keep doing this,’” Gullet said.

Added fellow handler Lisa Slaughter, of Land O’ Lakes: “It’s like they (horses) know what they’re going through. They’re just very spiritual animals; they just have a sense about them.”

Gullet began taking her Honey, a 7-year-old mare, on friendly visits throughout Central Florida in 2018.

The horse is named Honey because “she’s sweet like Honey,” Gullet said.

Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care resident Mary Davenport, pets mini horse Belle, while Honey, the founding horse for Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures, looks on. Also seen is Belle’s handler, Lisa Slaughter. Honey’s handler, Mary Rose Gullet, is slightly off camera.

For Gullet, it was a way to “have a good impact in the community and make a difference in someone’s day.”

Gullet, now 30, has owned and bred horses since she was a teenager growing up in Wesley Chapel.

After she graduated from Pasco-Hernando State College, Gullet had the option to become a full-time, stay-at-home mom to her children.

But, she felt compelled to bring joy to individuals of all ages and limitations, whether it be physical, cognitive, emotional or behavioral disabilities, through mini horse therapy.

In a short time, Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures has grown significantly.

The nonprofit has two sister facilities in Lutz and Wesley Chapel, in addition to Gullet’s 12-acre horse farm in Webster.

In total, the organization has six mini horses and a board of directors/volunteers serving throughout Central Florida.

Last year, the group went on more than 275 visits — spending time at schools, hospitals, senior living facilities and behavioral health centers, and other locations.

Gullet swears by horse therapy, noting it has helped her in her personal life.

It has helped her to cope with a traumatic childhood, which included sexual abuse and subsequent battles with mental health issues.

“Horses are probably the only reason why I’m still here today,” Gullet said passionately. “It’s continually healing me; it’s ongoing therapy.”

Because of her personal trauma, Gullet felt it her duty to share the joy of horses with others, to help alleviate suffering and to provide comfort.

She put it like this: “Looking back, it’s the silver lining, the good that came out of the bad for me because I’m able to help people, and it did give me the drive and passion to share horses with people.”

Gullet went on to describe that horses are empathic creatures.

Mini therapy horse Belle and her handler, Lisa Slaughter, greet Beach House Assisted Living & Memory Care resident Bruce Patron, during a visit on Feb. 18. Belle is with the organization, Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures.

“They have feelings. They love being connected with people, and I think they have a different way of connecting to people. When you have a relationship with a horse that you trust, there’s like a calming piece to it,” she said.

And, with the mini horses, “I get to hand a piece of that to people in these facilities,” she said.

Slaughter said some of the most powerful moments come when they take the minis into mental/behavioral health facilities — meeting with veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or those who’ve been placed there for emergency mental health, through the state’s Baker Act.

Slaughter said the minis bring “little package of smiles” to those who “don’t have much to smile about.”

“It’s a lot of joy that we bring around,” Slaughter said.

“The first time I went to a visit, it was a little anxiety going on, and within seconds you just see there’s just calmness because you’re with this animal that’s just calming you.

“It’s emotional. It’s pretty rewarding to be able to do it. You wake up every day and you look forward to it,” Slaughter added.

The organization plans to use the horses to help celebrate birthdays for foster children.

It also hopes to serve more as a crisis response team in the future — something handlers did recently at a Pasco County school following a student who died by suicide, to aid students, teachers and faculty.

Said Gullet, “I want to be able to call up one of our handlers and say, ‘Hey, we have a crisis, we need a horse there, let’s throw the horses in a trailer and get there.”

For more information about Honey’s Mini Therapy Adventures, visit MiniTherapy.org.

Published March 4, 2020

Judge enjoys challenges in civil court cases

By

Judge Kent Compton recently paid a visit to the East Pasco Networking Group —where he discussed his duties in the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida.

The former Zephyrhills city councilman, and longtime lawyer and prosecutor took up the post in January, after being elected in August 2018.

While still settling in, Compton clearly enjoys his new gig at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse building in Dade City.

“I feel like I’ve got the best job in the state of Florida,” Compton said, during the Nov. 26 breakfast meeting at IHOP in Dade City. He said he finds the position to be “very refreshing.”

Pasco County judge Kent Compton was a guest speaker at a Nov. 26 East Pasco Networking Group breakfast meeting at IHOP in Dade City. (Kevin Weiss)

He went on: “I love criminal law, but I love the civil law and I love everything new about it, and the challenges and the opportunity to do something different, to research something different, to hear the stories, —I enjoy that.”

Compton presides over county civil cases handling principal issues $15,000 or less, small claims and traffic court, as well as first appearance advisories. He also is on-call for emergency petitions for arrest warrants, search warrants, Marchman Acts, Baker Acts and so on.

On an emotional level, Compton said eviction hearings are “the hardest part of my job.”

He explained: “I’ve had some very unhappy people, particular in evictions. I’m human, but I have to follow the law, and Chapter 83 (of the Florida state landlord-tenant statutes) gives me fantastic direction on what to do. If the money’s not paid, if the right motion isn’t made, then people are disappointed.”

Compton added, “it can be kind of hairy — very specific notices, requirements of what the landlord has to do, what the tenant has to do.”

He also mentioned that conducting traffic court can become “quite a scene,” noting his courtroom will be filled with 20 or 25 law enforcement officers and another 50 people waiting for their case to be heard. There also can be “a little gamesmanship” between law enforcement officers and violators who’ve been issued a ticket or citation.

Violators “will come to court taking the gamble the law enforcement officer doesn’t show up,” he said. If that happens, Compton said he will dismiss the case “99% of the time.”

If the law enforcement officer is present, however, Compton said the violator usually will enter a plea to close the case.

In more substantial traffic matters, such as car accidents, Compton said there’ll be “a full-blown hearing” between a defendant and plaintiff.

That typically includes witness testimony, as well as video and photographic evidence.

Those cases, he said, can be challenging because it becomes “a credibility contest.”

Testimony between defendants and plaintiffs can be “just unbelievably 180 degrees separate,” Compton said.

In judging those matters, he said: “You rely upon your common sense and your life experience to try and decide who’s telling the truth, but sometimes I can’t tell, and if that’s the case, it’s not guilty.”

On the other hand, though, “Sometimes it’s pretty obvious the person is caught in their own lying,” he said.

When he’s unsure how to decide a case, the judge said, he’ll take it under advisement to research an issue further, study case law and lean on the experience of his fellow peers in the courthouse and judges throughout the state.

“I have the great resource of all the other judges who are very helpful to me if I have any indecision,” Compton said.

The speaker drew parallels between the courtroom and his dozen-plus years on the city council:

“It’s a people business. You must listen, and you must be fair and courteous. It’s the same job, there’s just a lot more legal mumbo jumbo to go along with it.”

Those qualities are something Compton reminds lawyers and others that enter his courtroom, he said.

Said Compton, “The lawyers, it’s basically a confrontation of business, but while we have to do zealous representation, we also need to have professional courtesy amongst each other and the court.”

When asked how the job differs from what he expected, Compton said, “I didn’t realize that I would see a stack of paper every day. I spend an hour and a half, two hours every day just going through paperwork and processing evictions or motions for summary judgement or credit cards, stuff like that.”

He also was surprised by the quantity of nonjury trials that he handles in the civil division.

Published December 04, 2019

School district expands mental health services

By

The Pasco County school district has been ramping up training and tapping into outside sources, in its quest to build a better mental health support network for students.

Statistics from across the school district underscore a compelling need for increased services.

District figures show that more than 1,200 suicide assessments were done last year of students in elementary, middle and high schools.

The breakdown showed that 463 suicide assessments were reported at the elementary school level; 408 at the middle school level; and, 308 at the high school level.

There also were nearly 600 threat assessments across the district, with 278 reported at the elementary level; 134 at the middle school level; and, 186 at the high school level.

Jeannine Welch, Melissa Musselwhite and Vicki Papaemanuel are leading up efforts to expand mental health services within Pasco County Schools. (B.C. Manion)

District data regarding Baker Act cases reported 171 at the elementary level; 211 at the middle school level; and, 207 at the high school level.

Baker Act cases involve individuals who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others who are referred for mental evaluation.

“We obviously have many students that need significant support from us, relating to mental health,” said Melissa Musselwhite, the district’s director of student support programs, during a school board session on mental health held this summer.

Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning pointed to the suicide assessments.

“Twelve hundred and sixty — 463 just in elementary school alone,” Browning noted.

He also observed there were more suicide assessments at elementary level, than in high school.

“The same with threats,” noted School Board Chairwoman Alison Crumbley. “It’s (threats) higher at elementary.”

Jeannine Welch, senior supervisor for student support services, told board members that it’s  difficult to pinpoint what the statistics mean. For instance, a suicide assessment could refer to a student who was assessed, but not in any danger.

Musselwhite also said more information is needed: “Do we have the same standard for kids we are referring, let’s say for suicide assessment?

“If the kid has scissors and says, ‘I’m going to stab you,’ or ‘I’m going to stab myself,’ do we have a common practice across the district how we respond to that?

“Those are questions. I don’t know. We really need to analyze the data more deeply,” Musselwhite said.

Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools David Scanga said the statistics are telling.

“It does reflect the stress level of elementary that probably 10 years ago we didn’t see,” he said. “So, the stress on the families, the stress on the communities, the stress within the building. I hear what Melissa is saying, but we also know and agree that there are things in elementary that we’re dealing with that are more frequent — not that they were never there — but they are more frequent than they were in the past.”

To help address the needs, the district has been collaborating with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network, which has allowed the district to expand its services.

Central Florida has worked out a memorandum of understanding with all of the providers, so the district doesn’t have to obtain a separate contract for a specialized service, Welch said.

Students receiving services are run through a voucher system.

That helps stretch the district’s spending capacity because if a child is eligible for Medicaid, or would be potentially eligible, those dollars are used first, Welch said.

The district has added key personnel and has expanded training efforts.

It has added mental health coaches to coach school-based student services staff regarding mental health initiatives.

The mental health liaison has been able to help analyze data, and also has provided “literally, someone to call instantly in order to be able to problem-solve with some of the situations we have within schools,” Musselwhite said.

The district is working to improve its supports for students.

When a student has been Baker-acted, for instance, the district wants to be sure it supports that student when he or sure returns to school.

“We want to make sure that it’s truly done as a safety net for them,” Welch said.

“We’ve had kids that have been gone for a week and come back, and said they’ve been on a Disney cruise. They weren’t on the Disney cruise,” Welch said.

The district has ramped up training.

“We are required to train staff and make sure they have first-aiders at schools. When this first came out, we had zero trainers,” Welch said. “This summer we’ve trained 688 staff members.”

The district continues to build on its capacity, she said.

“We spent this year building up trainers,” she said.

“It shouldn’t just be the administrator. It should be others that, these are embedded practices that live on, regardless of the leadership,” she said.

“The state has rolled out a new threat assessment  protocol that we’ll be training all student services and administrative staff, in the next month (by Oct. 1),” Musselwhite said.

“The majority of the day will be around the threat assessment, behavioral threat assessment that the state mandated, using a specific  tool and a training platform,” said Vicki Papaemanuel, who will be overseeing the training for the district.

“The second half of the day will be around threat to self or suicide assessment,” she said.

Threat assessments
Elementary: 278
Middle: 134
High School: 186
Total: 598

Suicide assessments
Elementary: 463
Middle: 408
High School: 308
Total: 1,260

2018-2019 Baker Act Data
Elementary: 171
Middle: 211
High school: 207

Source: Pasco County Schools

Published September 18, 2019

Pasco Sheriff beefs up mental health services

By

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco is ramping up efforts to address mental health issues, in his agency’s daily work.

The sheriff explained his team’s approach to those attending the September breakfast meeting of The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

Nocco said mental health issues are expanding in a way that affects public safety, during remarks to dozens of chamber members at the Golden Corral in Zephyrhills.

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco was the featured guest speaker at The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce September breakfast meeting at the Golden Corral in Zephyrhills. (Kevin Weiss)

About 11 percent of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office’s calls for service last year were mental-health related, which equates to approximately 19,000 calls.

But, Nocco estimates the figure is even higher because the agency data doesn’t take into account calls that are related to overdoses, runaways, domestic violence linked to addiction and substance abuse, and other incidents possibly rooted in mental illness.

“I can tell you,” Nocco said, “roughly 20 percent of our calls for service are mental-health related.

“The meat of what we deal with is mental health and substance abuse issues,” Nocco said, “so what we’re doing is identifying the highest usage of individuals that have mental health issues and are consistently calling us.”

In an attempt “to get ahead of the curve,” the sheriff’s office has implemented some new approaches, Nocco said.

Foremost among them is the agency’s new Mental Health and Threat Assessment Team (MHTAT), he said. The unit consists of 15 sworn personnel and Baycare Behavioral Health case managers, aimed to better serve the needs of people facing significant mental health issues.

The team’s primary task is to keep tabs on individuals who have been held involuntarily in a mental health treatment facility for up to 72 hours, through a state law known as the Baker Act. They focus on approximately 500 people who are Baker Act repeats.

The team uses a proactive approach that includes frequent visitations, welfare checks, expedited behavioral health resources and criminal justice diversion programs.

By getting to the “root issues” of problems and offering resources, the unit will help reduce the number of calls to 911 — thereby enabling patrol deputies to respond more quickly to urgent or violent calls, Nocco said.

Another unit component includes threat assessments and interventions for troubled students in the school system  —  as a measure to prevent school violence acts, or school shootings.

The county’s most at-risk kids are identified with assistance from school resource officers and the agency’s Child Protective Investigations Divisions, the sheriff said.

The at-risk kids typically include runaways, students with frequent school changes, those with prior run-ins with law enforcement or those with parents under child welfare investigations, he said.

The idea is to provide early intervention to help prevent future problems, Nocco said.

“I’m not saying we’re going to be perfect. There’s always that lone wolf, that one individual that just decides to do something, but, for the majority of people, if we can be smart about how we operate, we’re going to be way more successful.”

In Nocco’s opinion, the general rise of mental illness is tied to the proliferation of the digital age and the rise of social media. He displayed his own smartphone and said: “These are destroying us.”

The sheriff also noted that his agency is working to reduce the recidivism rate for inmates at the Land O’ Lakes detention center.

To that end, the jail has various inmate labor programs and vocational programs, including a welding program that allows inmates to get certified skills, with the aim of equipping them for jobs upon their release.

Said Nocco: “There are people that have addictions or people that have gone through problems  that made bad decisions, but now this is the first time in the jail that they actually get up at 4 o’clock in the morning, they’re actually doing work, they’re actually going, ‘Huh, if I do this I can succeed.’”

The sheriff also shared some other information about his department, including:

  • A memorandum of understanding his agency has with the City of Zephyrhills to operate a portion of the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport in emergencies and natural disasters, such as hurricanes. The agency will use the location to distribute various resources (food, water, first aid supplies, etc.) throughout the county.
  • The K9 Tactical Center/Florida’s Forensic Institute for Research, Security and Tactics (F.I.R.S.T.) is expected to have some of its first operations up and running by next spring. Construction on Land O’ Lakes-based forensics research and training center campus began in September 2018. The $4.3 million state-funded project is designed to provide “a holistic approach” to crime scene operations and investigations, as a collaborative resource for universities, forensic scientists and law enforcement.

Published September 11, 2019

Pasco Sheriff launches unit to help mentally ill

By

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is launching a new unit aimed to better serve the needs of people facing significant mental health issues.

The new unit — called the Mental Health and Threat Assessment Team (MHTAT) — will feature six deputies, two caseworkers, a clinical social worker, a sergeant and a lieutenant, who will collaborate with local behavioral health providers to provide tailored, long-term programs for citizens in need.

The Pasco Sheriff’s Office is launching a new unit to better serve the needs of local citizens facing significant mental health issues. The Mental Health and Threat Assessment Team (MHTAT) will collaborate with local behavioral health partners to provide long-term care and criminal diversion to the county’s Baker Act repeats. (File)

The team’s primary task is to keep tabs on the county’s Baker Act repeats — through a proactive approach that includes frequent visitations, welfare checks, expedited behavioral health resources and criminal justice diversion programs.

An individual struggling with addiction may be referred to outpatient substance abuse treatment, for instance. Or, someone undergoing financial struggles may be referred to Pasco County Human Services and the county’s homeless coalition.

The unit will have partnerships with BayCare Behavioral Health, Chrysalis Health, Novus Medical Detox Center, HCA Florida Hospitals, AdventHealth and others, “working towards a common goal in our community,” Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said.

The program ultimately will put the agency “ahead of the curve” in crime prevention, the sheriff said.

“We see mental health and substance abuse are the two drivers of criminal justice issues in our county. That’s why we’re creating this unit,” Nocco said.

It’s also about crisis mitigation, said Lt. Toni Roach, who will head up the MHTAT unit.

“Everybody has a baseline, and when they start to dip below that baseline we can provide some intervention strategies, connect them with a case manager or whatever other behavioral health resources are in the community that could help them stabilize,” Roach said.

The unit is expected to be up and running by October. It will cost roughly $1.5 million annually.

About 11 percent of the sheriff’s calls for service in 2018 were mental-health related.

That included roughly 3,400 Baker Act reports and more than 2,100 calls involving suicides or suicide attempts.

Of those reports, 503 individuals had multiple interactions with the agency, including some who’ve been Baker Acted as many as four or five times, Nocco said.

The MHTAT will be concentrating on the population who have had multiple interactions with the county, Nocco said. The unit will help divert those people from having to call 911 and thereby free patrol deputies to respond more quickly to urgent or violent calls.

As an example, the sheriff pointed out that, last year alone, one individual with a history of mental illness called county dispatch 124 times.

But, through a personal visit from the sheriff’s office back in May, those calls have stopped, the sheriff said.  “A lot of times they just need to talk to somebody. They just need somebody to help them out.”

“It’s all about connection,” added Roach. “Interacting with anybody is just that communication piece, being able to sit down with somebody and have a conversation with people, to listen to what’s going on, what are their concerns, what are their barriers.”

And, it’s those types of soft skills that will be required for those selected to the 11-person unit.

“It takes a special person to want to be in this unit,” Nocco said. “You want somebody that has that compassion and care. Somebody who says, ‘I’m not just going to be here for an hour, I might be here two to three hours working with somebody.’”

In recent years, the sheriff’s office has placed an emphasis on training law enforcement personnel to respond better to people who are mentally ill.

The office has an eight-hour foundational course in mental health first aid and a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program held quarterly in Shady Hills. About 50 percent of the agency’s patrol deputies are CIT certified.

Published July 03, 2019