<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2117852/open_sms">Send us a text</a></p><p>Judge Stephen Leifman shares his remarkable journey from witnessing horrific conditions in a state psychiatric hospital as a teenager to becoming a leading judicial advocate for mental health reform. </p><p>His work in Miami-Dade County has transformed how the criminal justice system handles people with mental illness, saving millions of dollars while giving thousands a path to recovery.<br><br>• Began his advocacy at 17 when investigating abuse at a state psychiatric hospital where he found an autistic young man being improperly treated as psychotic<br>• Discovered as a judge that our system has transferred responsibility for the mentally ill from inadequate state hospitals to equally inadequate jails<br>• Found that just 97 people with severe mental illness were arrested 2,200 times over five years, costing Miami taxpayers tens of millions<br>• Created a comprehensive diversion program that reduced Miami arrests from 118,000 to 53,000 annually and closed one jail, saving $168 million<br>• Building a first-of-its-kind mental health facility with crisis stabilization, housing, employment support, primary healthcare, and court services<br>• Working with Chief Justices nationwide to replicate Miami's successful model in communities across America<br>• Emphasizes that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime<br>• Advocates for early trauma intervention since 92% of incarcerated women and 75% of men with mental illness have histories of severe trauma<br><br>If you know anyone who would like to share their story on our show, please send them to TonyMantor.com/Contact.<br><br><br></p><p>https://tonymantor.com<br>https://Facebook.com/tonymantor<br>https://instagram.com/tonymantor<br>https://twitter.com/tonymantor<br>https://youtube.com/tonymantormusic<br>intro/outro music bed written by T. Wild<br>Why Not Me the World music published by Mantor Music (BMI)</p>