by Teresa M. Goff
When a Gainesville mother reached out last spring, her voice trembled with desperation. She wasn’t calling about a broken pipe or overdue rent. She was calling because her 10-year-old, shaken by a traumatic experience, needed help. But the soonest appointment available with a counselor was three months away. Three months for a child in crisis. Three months of sleepless nights. Three months when despair only deepens. In a community still healing from the upheavals of recent years, that kind of delay isn’t just unfair – it can be devastating.
Across Alachua County, stories like this are becoming more common. Teachers see children struggling with anxiety and behavior problems without access to timely support. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed by patients in psychiatric crisis because outpatient care is underfunded or unavailable. Nonprofit organizations and clinics do everything they can to bridge the gap, but the truth is stark: Florida is failing its residents when it comes to mental health funding.
A National Problem, a Florida Emergency
Mental health remains chronically underfunded compared to physical health despite its growing human and economic costs. Nationally, less than 5% of state health budgets are dedicated to mental health services, despite decades of evidence that untreated mental illness fuels school dropout, unemployment, homelessness, and even incarceration.
Florida’s ranking is especially dire. Reports place the state 49th in the nation for per-capita mental health spending, about $36 per person, compared to over $360 in Maine. In a state where nearly 3 million adults experience mental illness each year, and more than 1 million live with a serious condition, this underinvestment is catastrophic. Families are left waiting, children fall behind in school, and crises escalate until emergency services become the only option.
When Federal Cuts Hit Home: Gainesville on the Front Lines
Florida’s fragile mental health system is further strained by recent federal rollbacks. The Trump administration has proposed cutting more than $22 billion from federal health agencies, including programs that support suicide prevention, overdose response, and community mental health services. Rules that once required insurers to cover mental health care on par with physical health have been paused, and the federal agency charged with enforcing those protections was itself defunded. Programs that offered critical lifelines to LGBTQ+ youth, such as specialized crisis lines through the 988 system, are being dismantled.
These decisions in Washington are not abstract. They reverberate directly in Gainesville. Parents are told their child’s first counseling appointment won’t be for months. Counselors in Alachua County report caseloads so large they can only respond to the most urgent needs, leaving many children unsupported. Schools are left scrambling to manage students’ behavioral crises without adequate staff. Pediatric clinics do their best to connect families with care, but too often the only option left is the emergency room. Providers at UF Health, the Alachua County Crisis Center, and local nonprofits work tirelessly, but even the most dedicated professionals cannot keep pace when the safety nets beneath them are pulled away.
For families living in poverty, the impact is especially harsh. Limited insurance coverage, transportation challenges, and language barriers make already scarce services even harder to access. Meanwhile, families who can afford private care often bypass the waitlists, creating a two-tiered system where access depends more on income than need.
The result is a community stretched thin, where the dismantling of federal supports and the chronic underfunding of state systems converge, leaving Gainesville families caught in the middle.
The Hidden Costs of Inaction
Underfunding mental health care is not just a moral failure; it is fiscally shortsighted. Studies show that every dollar invested in mental health treatment saves several dollars in emergency care, law enforcement, and lost productivity. When children do not receive help for trauma or anxiety, they are more likely to disengage from school. When adults go untreated for depression or substance use, workplace absenteeism and family instability rise.
The hidden costs ripple outward, affecting our schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods. Failing to invest in mental health today guarantees higher expenses tomorrow —financially and socially.
Building a Healthier, More Equitable Gainesville
Despite the challenges, Gainesville is home to people and organizations fighting for change. The Alachua County Crisis Center offers 24/7 support lines. Local nonprofits like Peaceful Paths, Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, and various school-based programs provide vital services despite funding shortfalls. Community organizers and advocacy groups have pushed for more equitable distribution of resources and greater public awareness of the crisis.
But these efforts cannot succeed without systemic change. Florida must dramatically increase its investment in mental health if Gainesville and other communities are to meet the growing demand. This means shifting our priorities away from punitive systems and toward prevention, early intervention, and sustained care.
A Call to Action
If we want to build a healthier, more resilient community, mental health funding cannot remain an afterthought. It must be a priority. Here are concrete steps we can take as individuals and as a community:
Contact your legislators. Tell your state representatives and senators that Florida’s ranking of 49th in mental health funding is unacceptable. Demand increased per-capita funding and expansion of Medicaid to cover more families. Even a short monthly email or tagging them on social media with articles and stats keeps the pressure on.
Support local organizations. Nonprofits like Meridian Behavioral Healthcare, Peaceful Paths, and the Alachua County Crisis Center rely on donations and volunteers. Even modest contributions help sustain services for families who would otherwise go without.
Advocate in schools. Parents and educators can push for stronger investment in school counselors, social workers, and behavioral health staff. Every child deserves access to emotional and behavioral support as part of their education.
Talk openly about mental health. Reducing stigma is part of increasing funding. When we speak honestly about our own struggles and needs, we create a culture where mental health is valued equally with physical health. Share hotline numbers like 988 on your fridge, in your email signature, or with family members so support is always visible.
Model community care. Small acts make a big difference. Offering a ride to therapy, babysitting for a parent who needs an appointment, or simply listening without judgment can help chip away at barriers families face.
Vote with equity in mind. Pay attention to candidates’ platforms on health care and education funding. Elect leaders who recognize that healthy communities depend on strong, accessible mental health care.
Moving Forward Together
The challenges are daunting, but they are not insurmountable. Gainesville has a long tradition of grassroots organizing and progressive advocacy. By raising our voices and demanding better, we can push for a future where no parent has to wait months for their child’s counseling appointment, where no student has to suffer in silence at school, and where no family is left without support during a crisis.
Our community deserves better. Our children deserve better. Florida deserves better. It is time to stop treating mental health as optional, and start funding it as essential.
Teresa M. Goff, PhD, PLMPH, is a postdoctoral fellow at UF Health Psychiatry. She is a graduate of LEND Autism Leadership Academy and has an Integrated Behavioral Health Scholar Certificate.